Preservice Music Teachers’ Soundscape Memories as Indicators of Musical Eco-Literacy

This study investigates preservice music teachers’ meaningful soundscape memories and how these memories reflect students’ general musical eco-literacy. We ask: Do sound memories reflect the factors in the Paananen model of eco-literacy? A theory-driven content analysis was performed based on the Paananen model’s competency categories. The data entries were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance. Fleiss’ kappa was used to check for inter-rater agreement. The competency areas of the Paananen model of eco-literacy in music were present in the university students’ narratives of meaningful soundscape memories. Recognition of eco-literacy from the soundscape narratives was statistically significantly different between the different competency factors, F (3.37, 236.00) = 71.79, p < .001, partial η 2 = .51. Meaningful soundscape memories as written assignments emphasize the cognitive and emotional competency factors in the eco-literate musical thinking of preservice music teachers. A large proportion of the sound memories reflected a strong sense of connection to the natural environment, was positively connected to nature, and depicted a concrete, specific location. Therefore, soundscape memories could be a pedagogical tool for promoting place-specific eco-literacy in the musical sense and in the sense of living an eco-literate life.