Music education instructors’ perceptions about pre-service music teacher education in Spain

In this paper we report the results of a questionnaire administered to university faculty members in charge of the initial training of music teachers in Spain at both primary and secondary levels. For this purpose, an ad hoc questionnaire was used to collect information on issues such as access to the degree, programme design and evaluation, students, faculty members, as well as teaching conditions and availability of resources. By means of a descriptive statistical analysis, the results obtained show, in general, the programmes to be rated ‘acceptable’. An inferential study was also carried out on the basis of various demographics, and very few differences were found, which indicates a homogeneous perception of programmes. The article concludes with a reflection on what the results indicate about the poor role that research plays in programmes development, as well as the subtle but evident differences found among male and female faculty members, and other topics.