Kestääkö ääni? : laulunopetuksen vaikutus opettajaksi valmistuvien äänen laatuun ja ilmaisuun

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate how regular singing lessons and deliberate practice impact future teachers’ voice quality and their expression in speech and singing. Previous research about teachers’ speaking voice has shown that kindergarten teachers and classroom teachers are at high risk of showing symptoms or developing disorders, which weaken their effectiveness of expression. The study is qualitative and experimental and it includes longitudinal vocal education, which lasted one academic year. This thesis was approached theoretically through existential phenomenology with a holistic conception of man. Data was gathered from eleven subjects and divided into three research groups. Group A and B participated in singing and voice education and C was a control group. Group A received double the number of vocal coaching interventions compared to Group B. The subjects of Groups A and B took part in a lecture after their singing studies. The university students in this study were from the Department of Teacher Education and Early Childhood Education at the University of Jyväskylä. The exercises used during vocal education were based on five key principals of Balance in Phonation™ Voice Training (BiP™). The chosen training method is also suitable for untrained voice users and its key principals are derived from present research of voice and the tradition of Italian bel canto singing. Data analyzed using data triangulation. Results show that students who participated in the intervention benefitted from the voice training. After the voice pedagogy intervention students exhibited less vocal fatigue and had more knowledge and better musical skills in teaching music and singing. The recordings of the control group demonstrated that subjects’ voice quality and musical skills did not increase compared to the beginning of the experiment. The results support the outlook that deliberate voice training in singing benefits vocal well- being and increases teachers’ pedagogical and musical skills. The results of this study indicate the clear need for the development of educational programmes designed for effective use of voice. Teachers use their voice professionally and effective vocal education is also an economical investment to their future and vocal health, as well as well-being in the work place.