Support for Professional Development of Studio Music Teachers in Malaysia: An Exploratory Survey

Music teachers who work in institutions tend to have access to professional development (PD) opportunities when formal support structures mandate it, while studio music teachers often have to find their own avenues for PD, and little is understood about this, especially in contexts outside the global North. In Malaysia, most studio music teachers work in private settings that are unregulated, and in this research project we were interested in the support that these teachers are accessing. As part of a larger mixed methods study, we developed a questionnaire that asked about the respondents’ history of training, current work situation, confidence levels, sources and availability of PD, and reasons for attending or not attending PD events. The survey was distributed using online survey management software and was advertised to various online teacher forums that have a combined membership of over 15,000. One hundred ninety-six studio music teachers responded to the invitation and completed the survey of which 194 provided usable data. Data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis. A 10-factor structure described 67.26% of the total variance in the data set. We have named the factors: music-technical motivation for development; support through personal contact; confidence levels of teaching; technology-mediated support; social and financial inhibitors of PD; institutional support; information seeking; time and priorities inhibit PD; public, in-person support; and professional organisation support. We discuss these findings in the light of the modes of support that studio music teachers’ access, the motivators and inhibitors for seeking that support. We argue that the absence of formalised support and the lack of structured PD opportunities means that studio music teachers are likely to only choose opportunities that are directly relevant to their work and earning potential, while they primarily seek support from self-created and maintained networks of other teachers.