Music teacher training institutions in Turkey and a research about today's general condition of these institutions

Music teacher training process in Turkey started in 1924 in Ankara with the foundation of Musiki Muallim Mektebi (Music Teacher Training School). In years, the number of these institutions increased in different regions and reached the number of 23. Today, more than 800 students are being educated as a music teacher at these music teacher training schools. At all these institutions, centralized music teacher training curriculum that was prepared by the specialists working at Y.O.K. (Higher Education Council) is currently used. Despite that the same curriculum is used in each institution, there are variations among institutions both academically and physically, and even in the instruments that are taught and in their applications. In the present study the academic staff dispersions, building features, equipment adequacy, the variation of instruments that are taught, and the association with music establishments abroad of the institutions were investigated in order to determine the general conditions and the differences among the departments that graduating music teachers in 23 provinces. It is assumed that the current research will help in providing the necessary conditions to serve quality education for music teacher trainees as a result of determining the general state of the institutions that educate music teacher trainees. For this specific reason the present study is considered significant. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.