REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 241–260, June 2022 PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AND TEACHERS' APPRECIATION OF GREGORIAN SINGING Potrjeno/Accepted 31. 1. 2022 Objavljeno/Published 10. 6. 2022 JELENA BLAŠKOVIĆ 1 & TIHOMIR PRŠA 1 1 University of Zagreb, Faculty of Teacher Education, Zagreb, Croatia CORRESPONDING AUTHOR/KORESPONDENČNI AVTOR jelena.blašković@ufzg.hr Keywords: Gregorian singing, music lessons, music preferences, primary education Ključne besede: gregorijansko petje, glasbena kultura, glasbene preference, primarno izobraževanje UDK/UDC: 783.51:373.3 Abstract/Izvleček The ai m o f t h i s s tudy was to e x ami n e th e at ti tude s o f primary school students and teachers towards Gregorian singing. The research was conducted during the academic year 2019/2020 and included 381 students and thirty-five primary school teachers in Croatia. The results of the t-test showed a statistically significant high appreciation of Gregorian singing among students and teachers. Using the Kruskal Wallis test, we established that younger student showed greater appreciation compared to older students. Students and teachers expressed positive attitudes towards the examples of Gregorian singing to which they listened. Most subjects indicated that they liked Gregorian singing and desired to get to know it more deeply during music lessons in primary education. Preference učencev in učiteljev primarnega izobraževanja do gregorijanskega petja Cilj prispevka je bil raziskati odnos učencev in učiteljev razrednega pouka do predmeta glasbena kultura in do gregorijanskega petja. Raziskava je bila izvedena v študijskem letu 2019/2020, v njej pa so sodelovali učenci (N=381) in učitelji (N=35) iz osnovnih šol na Hrvaškem (Zagreb in Sisak). Rezultati t - testa so pokazali statistično pomembno visoko naklonjenost učencev in učiteljev do gregorijanskega petja. Kruskal-Walliso v t e s t j e p o k a z a l , d a s o mlajši učenci v primerjavi s starejšimi bolj naklonjeni gregorijanskemu petju. Večina vprašanih je poudarila, da jim je gregorijansko petje všeč in da bi ga radi poslušali pri pouku glasbene kulture na primarni stopnji izobraževanja. DOI https://doi.org/10.18690/rei.15.2.241-260.2022 Besedilo / Text © 2022 Avtor(ji) / The Author(s) To delo je objavljeno pod licenco Creative Commons CC BY Priznanje avtorstva 4.0 Mednarodna. Uporabnikom je dovoljeno tako nekomercialno kot tudi komercialno reproduciranje, distribuiranje, dajanje v najem, javna priobčitev in predelava avtorskega dela, pod pogojem, da navedejo avtorja izvirnega dela. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 242 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Uvod Music is a part of people's everyday lives. An individual experiences music subjectively, which is related to “individual aptitudes, taste, aesthetic attitude, musical upbringing and psychological constitution” (Supičić, 2006, p. 247). Listening to music creates an emotional reaction in the listener, for which the music itself partly acts as a stimulus. Schäfer (2008) stresses that preferences are shaped by the power of musical stimulus, incentive, and affect. Preference connotes giving an advantage to something, showing greater inclination (Klaić, 1985). In music, preference represents the basic affective reaction and appears in appraisal as liking or disliking (Dobrota and Reić Ercegovac, 2012; 2016). “As mostly music of medium potential is preferred, the degree of incentive gradually diminishes towards the extremes of motivational potential” (Berlyne, 1974, stated in Dobrota and Reić Ercegovac, 2016). In the assessment of liking, preferences are short-term and are characterised by type and power. The type of preference constitutes the kind/style for which the individual has the greatest inclination, while power relates to the degree of liking for certain musical genres (Schäfer, 2008). Because music intertwines cultural and social relationships, Hallam (2006) sees it as a genuinely human construct. Dobrota and Tomić - Ferić (2006) feel that, besides including social and cultural factors, the crucial element in forming preferences lies in individual factors, music itself and the situation in which we listen to it. Those preferences of a more permanent disposition constitute musical taste (Dobrota, 2012; Dobrota and Ćurković 2006; Dobrota and Reić Ercegovac, 2016; Mirković-Radoš, 1996). Many studies have shown that musical preferences are influenced by several factors. These include socio-demographic factors (Bunič, 2013; Dobrota, 2008; Reić Ercegovac and Dobrota, 2011), peers (Schäfer, 2008; Selfhout, Branje, ter Bogt and Meeus, 2009), media and free time (Bunič, 2013; Dobrota, 2008; North and Hargreaves, 2007; Szubertowska, 2005), family (Hirano, 2010; Szubertowska, 2005) and education (Bunič, 2013; Dobrota, 2008; Dobrota and Reić Ercegovac, 2009; Droe, 2008; Szubertowska, 2005). Numerous studies show that musical preferences are also influenced by personality traits (Kemp, 1996; Nater, Krebs and Ehlert, 2005; Pearson and Dollinger, 2004; Perkins, 2008; Popović 2006; Rawling and Leow, 2008; Rawlings, Hodge, Sheer and Dempsey, 1995; Reić Ercegovac and Dobrota, 2011; Rentfrow and Gosling, 2003; Schäfer, 2008; Schwartz and Fouts, 2003; Sigg, 2009,) and the identity of an individual (Chamarro-Permuzic and Furnham, 2007; Choen, J. Blašković & T. Prša: Primary School Students and Teachers ʼ Appreciation of Gregorian Singing 243. 1991; Firth, 1996; Hargreaves, Miell and Macdonald, 2002; Hudson, 2006; Lundberg, 2010; Rice, 2007). Link between education and musical preferences Throughout formal education, teachers who of the school subject music influence the development of children's musical taste. Droe's (2008) research has shown that teacher's acceptance of their musical taste is important for children. Approval has a powerful influence on students' behaviour and their musical preferences. Bunič (2013) states that additional musical education (music schools, private singing lessons, playing an instrument, and choir practice) has a positive influence on the popularity of more complex musical types such as classical music, jazz, film music, soul, funk, blues, ethno and church music. Blašković's research (2015) has also found that preschool education students with traditional courses in musical education show greater inclination for more complex musical genres (classical music, jazz, film music, soul, funk, blues, and church music). Dobrota (2008) stresses that music education during general schooling influences a heightened aptitude for classical music. Dobrota and Reić Ercegovec (2009) conclude that musical taste can be nourished and directed toward classical music through music education and the process of maturation. Szubertowska (2005) feels that family and colleagues are the most important source of music culture for young people because there is a positive correlation between them. Competent and interested teachers, as well as positive results from learning music, also influence the shape of musical preferences. Because of education’s positive influence on shaping children's musical taste, music lessons should include diverse content from the history of music. According to Blašković and Prša's (2017) research, Gregorian singing is not included in music teaching in primary education in the Republic of Croatia. Since Gregorian singing is considered a foundation of the Western-European musical heritage (Challey, 2006; Koprek, 2013), it should be included in primary students' musical education. According to the National Curriculum of the Ministry of Science and Education (2013) of the Republic of Croatia, listening is an obligatory component in lessons, which need to acquaint students with all forms of music. “The goal of music teaching in schools for general education is to introduce students to musical culture, familiarise them with basic elements of musical language, develop musical creativity, establish and acquire value standards for (critical and aesthetic) evaluation of music” (p. 79). 244 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION The structure of the Gregorian chant “The Roman chorale is unison singing of the Catholic liturgy. It sprang from the liturgy and has been developing in it since the earliest days of Christianity. It can be sung in a choir (a singing choir or the people's choir) or solo (when a priest or a cantor sings) “(Tomašić, 1967, p. 1). Etymologically speaking, the name chorale comes from the Latin term cantus choralis, and it stands for choral singing. The expression is related to the practice of official church singers singing chorales. The structure of Gregorian chorale is vocal in its nature (Koprek, 2013; Martinjak, 2005; Tkalec, 2008; Tomašić, 1967). Gregorian chants are characterised by a specific musical structure, comprising melody, free rhythm in close connection with the text, and modality. According to Brelet (1974), melody is the “creation of voice and the immediate expression of the act of consciousness itself and its inner dwellings . . . Melody is something unique: the immediate eminence of profound composer's singularity” (quoted in Supičić, 2006, p. 132). This is precisely the area in which the syntax, semantics and aesthetics of Gregorian melody lies. Gregorian singing, with its melodic structure, reflects the power and the semantic fulness of words (Koprek, 2006). With its syntax and semantics, it is the perfect mediator between feeling and reason. Texts are taken from the Latin Bible and are in prose, so Gregorian singing is often called “chanting” and not “music”. It reflects the traits of ritual incantation that are 'immanent' to the liturgy of the Roman Church (Koprek, 2008; 2013). Word stress is the foundation upon which metrics relies, i.e., chorale's rhythm. As such, it is mirrored in the free rhythm of binary and ternary alternations, which are in tune with the rhythmical ictus or accent (Martinjak, 2005). Koprek stresses that the “rhythm of Gregorian chant is enriched by the simple and natural melody of the accent, typical of the Latin language” (2013, p. 171). An important characteristic of this music on the tonal plane is diatonic singing based on scales without chromatics, using only one semitone in the tetrachord (Martinjak, 1997). The melodic structure of Gregorian chant comprises the modal system of eight old Church scales. The scales are divided into authentic and plagal, i.e., basic scales and those derived from basic scales. The latter begin one fourth lower and gain the prefix hypo- in the scale's name. Additionally, melodies of plagal modes are regularly of lesser volume than those in the authentic modes. Modal scales were created by adjusting old Greek scales to the theory of Gregorian chant in the Middle Ages. J. Blašković & T. Prša: Primary School Students and Teachers ʼ Appreciation of Gregorian Singing 245. Each scale in a Gregorian chorale is usually assigned a permanent ordinal number so that even scales are authentic and odd ones plagal: I Dorian (D -D), II Hypodorian (A-A), III Phrygian (E – E), IV Hypophrygian (B-B), V Lydian (F-F), VI Hypolydian (C-C), VII Myxolydian (G-G), and VIII Hypomixolydian (D-D ) . A s h a r e d characteristic of the pairs of authentic and plagal modes is the tonic note or nota finalis. According to modern views, understanding the modality of Gregorian melody is primarily related to finding the melodic structure of the whole single chant, in which concrete modal laws are then discovered, most commonly non-concurrent with the simple systematisation of the eight scales (Martinjak 2005). Gregorian singing is not exclusively functional singing or ritual singing (Koprek, 2008), but also a work of art because it is founded on a symbolic-aesthetic concept2, which makes it susceptible to the “aesthetic and formal criteria of music art as such” (Žižić, 2007, p. 307). Porterfield (2014) stresses that “the chant is generally recognized as mother to the world’s earliest surviving polyphony, and grandmother or more distant ancestor to many other instrumental and vocal repertoires” (p. 2). This study aims to point out the specificity and importance of Gregorian singing not only in the liturgical context but also in educational contexts. All the relevant facts and particularities can certainly become material to arouses student interest and sharpen their listening sensibility and observational ability. The work examines the nature of primary education teachers and students' preferences in the field of Gregorian singing. Methodology The research problem, goal, and hypotheses The research problem is derived from Gregorian singing’s non-inclusion in the process of primary education music classes in the Republic of Croatia. The principal goal of this work is based on examining the level of primary school teachers and students’ preferences in the field of Gregorian singing. The work additionally e x a m i n e d t h e a t t i t u d e s o f p r imary education students and teachers regarding the content of the school subject music. The research hypotheses are derived from the goal. H1: It is assumed that primary education students will show a statistically significant high preference for Gregorian singing. H2: It is assumed there is a statistically significant difference between the form of students and the level of preference for Gregorian singing. 246 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION H3: It is assumed that primary education teachers will display a statistically significant high preference for Gregorian singing. H4: It is assumed there is a statistically significant difference between the length of service and teacher’s positive appreciation of Gregorian singing. Methodology The basic methodology is founded on the descriptive and causal non-experimental research method. Sample Students from the first, second, third and fourth forms of primary school (N=381), and teachers (N=35) from primary schools in Croatia participated in the study. One hundred and ninety-nine boys (52.2%) and 182 girls (47.8%) were included in the study. Figure one shows students' distribution by school form. Figure 1: Sample of subjects by school form (N=381) The chart shows that most subjects are from the fourth form (26%), while the fewest students come from the second form (23.6%). Students from the first and third forms participated in equal numbers (25.2%). Thirty-five primary education teachers participated in the study. Most teachers were female (97.1%), and 31.4% teach the first form, 28.6% teach the second, 28.6% the third and 14.3 of them teach the fourth form. Most teachers had a university degree (57.1%), 37.1% had a secondary education degree, 2.9% had a high-school degree, and 5.7% of the teachers were mentors, while only 2.9% of the subjects were teacher counsellors. 26 % 25,2 % 23,6 % 25,2 % 22 22,5 23 23,5 24 24,5 25 25,5 26 26,5 4. form 3. form 2. form 1. form J. Blašković & T. Prša: Primary School Students and Teachers ʼ Appreciation of Gregorian Singing 247. Most teachers were older than 55 (37.1%), 22.9% fell into the category from 46 to 55 years of age, and 34.2% were between 26 and 45. The fewest teachers were in the youngest age group, under 25 (5.7%). Moreover, 45.7% of them had 30 years of service, 20% had between 21 and 30 years, and 11.4% had between 11 and 20 years of service. 22.8% of the teacher participants had up to 10 years of service. Of all the subjects, 54.3% of them taught music. In fourth form, music teaching is carried out by a subject teacher. If a subject teacher does not teach music, for justifiable reasons, then the primary education teacher does this. Instrument The study used a questionnaire for students from the pilot research (Blašković and Prša, 2017), the validity of which was checked using the method of internal consistency of ordinal scale (α=0.790). We gathered both objective data (gender, form level, and music content) and subjective data (opinions about certain phenomena). We used dichotomous questions and questions on a five-degree ordinal type scale. The questionnaire also had an auditory part with five examples of Gregorian singing, which the subjects appraised according to the five-degree scale of liking. Class teachers filled out a similar questionnaire. Additional questions were related to objective type data (age, years of service, level of education, professional qualifications) and subjective information (assessment of familiarity with the area of music). The questionnaire's calculated validity for teachers was acceptable (α=0.939). Data analysis and statistical methods The gathered data were processed in the Excel 2010 and SPSS 14.00 programmes. Descriptive statistics was used for the basic data analysis. For nominal and ordinal variables, we calculated the indicators stated in absolute (f) and relative frequency (%). For interval variables, arithmetic mean (M), mode (Mo), median (Md), standard deviation (SD) and the measures of normal distribution (kurtosis and skewness) were calculated. The statistical t-test and the nonparametric Kruskal Wallis test were used for verifying the hypotheses. Research results for primary education students As a musical style, Gregorian singing belongs to the area of music listening in primary education. According to the National Education Curriculum of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia (2013), other areas alongside listening are singing, playing an instrument and elements of musical creativity. 248 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION As an important segment of education in schools of general education, the listening area should be structured so that students become acquainted with various musical styles. Supičić (2006) stresses that music is “usually experienced spontaneously at first, and then is reflected upon, when we try to understand it conceptually . . .” (p. 248). Becoming acquainted with a musical work methodologically in music lessons happens in several phases. Initial music listening is experiential, after which students articulate their impression, i.e., they determine the music’s atmosphere and character. After the first listening, students pay attention to the tempo, performers, dynamics, and musical form (Dobrota, 2012; Šulentić Begić, 2010). The process of listening to musical works in music lessons in an organized way is called experiential-analytic listening (Borota, 2013). This work focuses the centre of interest on the experiential moment regarding the samples of Gregorian singing heard by each respondent and the level at which they liked each sample. The questionnaire had an auditory section in which students listened to five examples of Gregorian chant that was syllabic in character. They stated their appreciation on a five-degree scale (1- I dislike it completely to 5 - I completely like it). The results are displayed in Table 1. Table 1: Primary education students' appreciation of Gregorian chants (N=381) N Min Max M Md Mo SD Skewness Kurtosis Regina coeli 381 1 5 3.78 4 5 1.27 -0.76 -0.48 Lumen et revelationem 381 1 5 3.80 4 5 1.31 -0.77 -0.65 Ubi caritas 381 1 5 3.91 4 5 1.28 -0.93 -0.32 Ave Regina coelorum 381 1 5 4.01 5 5 1.27 -1.11 0.07 Victimae paschali laudes 381 1 5 4.19 5 5 1.27 -1.47 0.83 According to the results, primary education students like Gregorian singing. The full range of answers is covered. The mode for all the examples listened to is 5. The highest arithmetic mean appeared for the choral Victimae paschali laudes (M=4,19), while the lowest is calculated for Regina caeli (M= 3,78). As a musical repertoire, Gregorian singing is not a programme frequently performed in Croatian schools, because there is no formal or official ensemble specialising exclusively in Gregorian singing. Only occasionally does it appear in a sacral group’s programme and in the Catholic liturgy. J. Blašković & T. Prša: Primary School Students and Teachers ʼ Appreciation of Gregorian Singing 249. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that more than half the subjects stated they had never heard Gregorian singing (62.2%). Most respondents declared they liked Gregorian singing or partly liked it (86.4%), while fewer stated they disliked this type of music (13.4%). These results are in accord with the desire to familiarise themselves with Gregorian singing. Sixty-three percent of the students responded positively to this question, while one-third did not want to know anything more about this type of music (34.9%). The results of descriptive statistics show a high level of appreciation for Gregorian singing, and these results were additionally examined using the t-test. H1: It is assumed that primary education students will show a statistically significant high appreciation for Gregorian singing. Table 2: Student Appreciation of Gregorian singing (N=381) t df p Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Regina caeli 11.975 380 0,000 0.780 0.65 0.91 Lumen et revelationem 11.903 380 0.000 0.801 0.67 0.93 Ubi caritas 13.911 380 0.000 0.913 0.78 1.04 Ave Regina coelorum 15.622 380 0.000 1.013 0.89 1.14 Victimae paschali laudes 18.283 380 0.000 1.192 1.06 1.32 ** p=0.01 Using the t-test, we compared the means in one sample. We found statistical significance on all five samples of the Gregorian chants. The results confirm the hypothesis that primary education students would show high levels of appreciation for Gregorian singing. Considering the positive inclinations expressed towards Gregorian singing, we continued to examine potential links between the children’s’ age, i.e., their school form and the degree of appreciation for Gregorian singing. A hypothesis was set: H2: It is assumed there is a statistically significant difference between students’ form levels and the level of appreciation for Gregorian singing. We used the Kruskal Wallis test to examine the differences in the factors statistically (Table 3). 250 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Table 3: The results of Kruskal Wallis test for differences between form levels and the degree of appreciation for Gregorian singing (N=381) Factor Form N M rank Kruskal Wallis test p Regina caeli First 96 210.30 28.171 0.000 Second 90 214.52 Third 96 198.44 Fourth 99 143.69 Total 381 Lumen et revelationem First 96 222.53 45.617 0.000 Second 90 206.19 Third 96 207.33 Fourth 99 130.78 Total 381 Ubi caritas First 96 220.46 46.439 0.000 Second 90 213.48 Third 96 202.29 Fourth 99 131.05 Total 381 Ave Regina coelorum First 96 204.22 48.409 0.000 Second 90 214.61 Third 96 218.14 Fourth 99 130.40 Total 381 Victimae paschali laudes First 96 208.73 36.135 0.000 Second 90 208.89 Third 96 207.73 Fourth 99 141.32 Total 381 The results show a statistically significant difference between younger and older students by degree of appreciation for Gregorian singing. According to rank, students in the fourth form show the lowest degree of appreciation for Gregorian singing. First- and second-form students show a considerable appreciation for most of the samples they heard. Therefore, older students display a statistically significant lower degree of appreciation for the samples of Gregorian singing, which confirms H2. De la Motte-Haber and Jehne’s (1976) research proved that, as they get older, students become less susceptible to receiving varieties of music, while students in the first forms are least contaminated and therefore more receptive to different musical styles. Younger students are positively oriented to artistic music. J. Blašković & T. Prša: Primary School Students and Teachers ʼ Appreciation of Gregorian Singing 251. This is also supported by Rojko (2012), who stresses that attitudes develop from early childhood “…which makes us think about the necessity of early musical education because, if we leave the formation of quality criteria to the media’s influence, it can easily lead to unwanted fixations, as is already the case” (p. 89). The school’s role in developing the culture of listening to music of artistic quality is crucial. The value of music relates to its function, which encompasses the cultural, historical, and psychological (Blacking, 1992; Supičić, 2006). “The listener does not perceive the beauty of musical works through concepts and ideas, but through sensory sonority and musical matter experienced by hearing intuitively” (Supičić, 2006, p. 249). Since music has a temporal dimension and art is a part of the moment (Supičić, 2006), we realise that hectic everyday life can often cloud the true beauty, aesthetics, and value of music. This is a problem that leads to difficulty in focusing and a loss of concentration when listening to artistically expressive music such as Gregorian chants. Students’ attitudes towards other types of music were additionally examined. According to the students' opinions, 79% feel happy when participating in music lessons, while as little as 4% do not participate happily in music lessons. Table 4 shows the results for the level of appreciation for certain music activities implemented in music classes in primary education. Table 4: Music activities that children like in music classes (N=381) N Min Max M Md Mo SD Skewness Kurtosis Singing songs 381 1 5 4.50 5 5 0.88 2.23 5.23 Listening to music 381 1 5 4.56 5 5 0.85 2.27 5.27 Doing rhymes 381 1 5 3.86 4 5 1.32 -0.96 -0.21 Playing instruments (claves, the triangle, shakers etc.) 381 1 5 4.48 5 5 1.01 -2.10 3.68 Music games 381 1 5 4.48 5 5 0.97 -2.04 3.66 Students participate gladly in all activities in music classes, which is visible from the arithmetic means derived from the five-degree scale. The range of answers is within the whole scale, and the median points to the most frequent answer being at the positive extreme. 252 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION The highest arithmetic value is calculated for music listening (M=4.56), followed by singing (M=4.50), and then the lowest mean for doing rhymes (M=3.86). We also examined students' additional engagement in music activities. According to the National Curriculum Framework for Primary Education (2017), elective classes are students' personal choice. Apart from elective classes in school, pupils can also attend additional music activities outside school, folklore groups, and various vocal and instrumental groups. Most students participate in a choir (20.2%). Rojko (2012) states that choir singing in primary school is the most frequent additional music activity students can join. Only 9.7% of students go to music schools. Pop-rock schools are becoming increasingly popular because they teach children electronic instruments and actual and anthology pop-rock style in a more attractive way. Accordingly, 18.9% of these respondents show interest in the pop-rock schools they attend. Research results for primary education teachers Teachers listened to the same five examples of Gregorian chant as the students. The results are shown in Table 5. Table 5: Primary education teachers' appreciation for Gregorian singing (N=35) N Min Max M Md Mo SD Skewness Kurtosis Regina caeli 35 2 5 3.98 4 4 0.79 -0.34 -0.31 Lumen et revelationem 35 2 5 3.89 4 4 0.83 -0.10 -0.85 Ubi caritas 35 2 5 4.00 4 5 0.97 -0.41 -1.07 Ave Regina coelorum 35 2 5 4.29 4 5 0.79 -0.95 0.57 Victimae paschali laudes 35 2 5 4.26 4 5 0.85 -0.84 -0.21 The arithmetic means from Table 5 show that the teachers enjoyed the music samples (1- I dislike it completely to 5-I like it completely). They like the choral Ave Regina coelorum (M=4.29) the most. None of the samples of Gregorian singing was assessed with “I dislike it completely”. The hypothesis was set: H3: It is assumed that primary education teachers will show a statistically significant high appreciation for Gregorian singing. J. Blašković & T. Prša: Primary School Students and Teachers ʼ Appreciation of Gregorian Singing 253. Table 6: Teachers’ appreciation of Gregorian singing (N=35) t df p Mean Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Regina caeli 7.006 31 0.000 0.969 0.69 1.25 Lumen et revelationem 5.638 31 0.000 0.844 0.54 1.15 Ubi caritas 5.669 31 0.000 0.969 0.62 1.32 Ave Regina coelorum 8,803 31 0.000 1.250 0.96 1.54 Victimae paschali laudes 7,924 31 0.000 1.219 0.91 1.53 ** p≤0.01 The hypothesis assuming that teachers of primary education would show a good appreciation for Gregorian singing was tested with the statistical t-test. The results showed a statistically significant difference on all the samples of Gregorian singing, which verifies H3. Among the teachers, 97.1% had never heard Gregorian singing. Most liked it (68.6%), while 31.4% stated they partly liked it; 57,1% of the teachers would readily listen to Gregorian singing in music lessons, whereas 40% would be partly ready to do so, but 2.9% would never listen to Gregorian chants in music lessons. The study aimed to establish whether there was a difference between the length of service and the attitude towards Gregorian singing. It is assumed that teachers with longer teaching careers have more experience with the content of textbooks that offer an opportunity for musical diversity and possible acquaintance with the style of Gregorian singing. H4: It is assumed there is a statistically significant difference between the length of service and teachers’ positive appreciation of Gregorian singing. The fourth hypothesis was tested with the nonparametric Kruskal Wallis test. These results show no statistically significant difference between length of service and the degree of appreciation of Gregorian chants; H4 is thus rejected. The reason for this result is probably linked to the small teacher sample. The difference might be more significant if the sample were much bigger. 254 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION Table 7: Results of the Kruskal Wallis test for differences between teachers’ length of service and the degree of appreciation for Gregorian singing (N=35) Factor Years of service N M rank Kruskal Wallis test P Regina caeli from 0-5 years 6 14.33 2.363 0.669 from 6-10 years 2 12.25 from 11-20 years 4 18.50 from 21-30 years 7 17.79 over 30 years 16 20.06 Total 35 Lumen et revelationem from 0-5 years 6 20.00 1.709 0.789 from 6-10 years 2 14,50 from 11-20 years 4 14.50 from 21-30 years 7 15.93 over 30 years 16 19.47 Total 35 Ubi caritas from 0-5 years 6 16.67 1.371 0.849 from 6-10 years 2 13.00 from 11-20 years 4 15.25 from 21-30 years 7 18.79 over 30 years 16 19.47 Total 35 Ave Regina coelorum from 0-5 years 6 19.50 6.140 0.189 from 6-10 years 2 9.50 from 11-20 years 4 11.75 from 21-30 years 7 15.00 over 30 years 16 21.38 Total 35 Victimae paschali laudes from 0-5 years 6 16.67 2.727 0.605 from 6-10 years 2 9.50 from 11-20 years 4 18.25 from 21-30 years 7 16.50 over 30 years 16 20.16 Total 35 Apart from examining musical attitudes towards Gregorian singing, we looked at teachers' attitudes concerning music lessons. Subjects addressed whether they were happy to carry out music lessons. The results show an affirmative response to this question (M=4.09). J. Blašković & T. Prša: Primary School Students and Teachers ʼ Appreciation of Gregorian Singing 255. Table 8 shows the teachers' assessment of their familiarity with the musical areas implemented in primary education music lessons. Teachers were also questioned about how readily they performed certain music lesson topics on a scale from 1-I do not perform these at all gladly, to 5 - I am fully ready to carry these out). Table 8: Assessment of familiarity with musical areas (N=35) N Min Max M Md Mo SD Skewness Kurtosis Singing 35 3 5 4.06 4 4 0.73 -0.09 -1.02 Listening to music 35 3 5 3.92 4 4 0.66 0.09 -0.56 Playing (children’s instruments) 35 1 5 3.66 4 4 0.97 -0.68 0.46 Musical creativity 35 2 5 3.92 4 4 0.74 -0.32 0.04 Teachers gave a positive assessment of their familiarity with all areas of music. The highest assessment, according to the arithmetic mean, occurs in the singing domain (M=4.06), which is represented the most in music lessons. This corroborates the findings of a study by Žarinac (2017), who determined through analysis that the majority of the content prescribed by the Ministry of Science and Education involved singing. This area is represented 30% more than music listening. According to teachers, other areas have closely equal arithmetic means. The teachers assessed the domain of playing most poorly, which is also obvious from the range of answers. Only the area of playing was evaluated using the entire scale from 1 to 5. Chart 2 displays the results in connection with teachers’ favourite music activity in lessons. The respondents could choose more than one answer. Chart 2: The display of primary education teachers’ inclinations towards musical activities implemented in Music lessons (N = 35) 37,1 % 62,9 % 60,0 % 37,1 % 65,7 % 85,7 % 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Contents from musical creativity Musical games Play children's instruments Rhymes Music listening Sing children' songs % 256 REVIJA ZA ELEMENTARNO IZOBRAŽEVANJE JOURNAL OF ELEMENTARY EDUCATION It is visible from the chart that they are most comfortable singing children's songs (85.7%), while doing rhymes (37.1%) or musical creativity activities (37,1) with children are not among the favourites. Teachers' cultural activity, i.e., attending concerts and cultural events, was additionally examined. Most teachers go to concerts, opera houses, or musicals and attend other cultural-music events several times a year (45.7%). Only 5.7% of the teachers go to concerts on a weekly basis, whereas 11.4% never attend concerts. Moreover, 34.4% of the subjects go to concerts once a year. Musical education is a linear process that implies a causal relationship between students and teachers. School, i.e., teachers have an influence on students’ musical education and their development of sensitivity to artistically valuable music. Conclusion As a crucial segment of education in schools of general education, classroom listening should be structured so that students become acquainted with as many varied musical styles as possible. Including art in the educational process is of great significance for the development of students’ musical sensibility. As with any art, m u s i c i s t i e d t o t h e t i m e i n w h i c h i t w a s c r e a t e d a n d i s a l i v i n g r e f l e c t i o n a n d expression of the society from which it sprung. Gregorian singing is unique in its musical construction. With its broad expressivity, which was noted as early as the 11th century by Guido from Arezzo, it is certainly suitable for offering deeper insight into the human inner world of feeling that can enrich the listener profoundly, particularly a child in the educational process. UNESCO’s Guidelines for Arts Education (2006) advocate the development of aesthetics, creativity, creative thinking ability and reflection through artistic education, which is the fundamental right of every child and young person. So, every student has a right to become familiar with music, including Gregorian singing, which is the foundation of the whole Western European tradition (Chailley, 2006; Koprek, 2013). Systematic musical education through listening, from the earliest age, forms a quality music consumer and critic. The results of this study reveal that students and teachers show a statistically significant appreciation of Gregorian singing and enjoy experiencing this content in music classes. 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Authors Jelena Blašković, PhD Assistant Professor, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Teacher Education, Savska 77, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia, e-mail: jelena.blaskovic@ufzg.hr Docentka, Univerza v Zagrebu, Fakulteta za izobraževanje učiteljev, Savska 77 10000 Zagreb, Hrvaška, e-pošta: jelena.blaskovic@ufzg.hr Assist. Tihomir Prša Assistant, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Teacher Education, Savska 77, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia, e- mail: tihomir.prsa@ufzg.hr Asistent, Univerza v Zagrebu, Fakulteta za izobraževanje učiteljev, Savska 77 10000 Zagreb, Hrvaška, e-pošta: tihomir.prsa@ufzg.hr