A Comparative Study on Preference/Non-Preference Aspects of Subjects and Music Teaching Methods According to Preliminary Elementary School Teachers’ Brain Preference

The purpose of this study is to conduct a brain preference test (L. Crane’s Alert Scale of Cognitive Style) on preliminary elementary school teachers and to compare and analyze their preference/non-preference aspects of subjects and music teaching methods according to brain preference. A total of 126 preliminary elementary school teachers from University A have been subjected to this study’s research and they were asked to complete a simple survey questionnaire after their brain preference test. The results of this study are as followed. First, most participants were either left-brain dominant (46.7%) or bilateral (44.2%). Second, in general, the most preferred subject was ‘Math’ (15.4%), followed by ‘Music’ and ‘Science’ (13.2% each), and ‘Korean’ (11.2%). ‘PE’ showed the highest percentage of least preferred subjects with 16.4%, followed by ‘Art’ (12.6%), then ‘Korean’ and ‘Ethics’ (10.7% each). However, there was a distinctive difference in terms of analyzing brain preference. Third, students tended to prefer an in-depth class of the subject they took part in. Fourth, in overall music teaching methods, ‘eurhythmics’ was highly preferred while ‘hand signs’ were the least preferred, but a difference was shown in the brain preference analysis. If most elementary school students are right-brain dominant (Koh, 1989), learners’ learning style and the instructor’s cognitive style may not correspond in a music class should it be taught by a left-brained instructor. This study provides a learning point that more interest should be shed on teacher education.