Verbal Behavior Analysis as a Supervisory Technique with Student Teachers of Music

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the differential influence of a supervisory process based on constructs derived from the Withall Social-Emotional Climate Index on verbal behavior patterns exhibited by student teachers of music, their ability to engage in objective self-assessment, and the effect of such activity on the students' percepts of teacher-role ideology. The results indicated that: (1) student teachers of music appear not to be predisposed to the employment of learner-centered instructional behavior; (2) student teachers of music can be sensitized to the employment of both learner-centered and teacher-centered verbal patterns in accordance with the purpose and nature of the instruction being provided; and (3) verbal behavior analysis supervision tends to encourage objective self-assessment and provides a functional and commonly defined basis for the systematic improvement of teaching performance.