An investigation of music education in theater departments in Türkiye according to the opinions of instructors and students

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the level and duration of music education in these departments and the gains obtained from these courses in line with the opinions of the students in theatre/acting departments studying at state universities in Turkey and the instructors who give music education in these departments. The population of the research consists of nineteen theatre/acting departments at the undergraduate level actively providing education in state universities in the Republic of Turkey. A sample was not taken in the research, the whole population was included in the study. In this study, convergent parallel mixed design method was used with 3rd and 4th year students of theatre/acting departments in Turkey. One of the aims of the convergent parallel design is to explain the qualitative findings in line with the results obtained from the quantitative questions posed, and to synthesise the quantitative and qualitative results in a complementary manner in order to fully understand a phenomenon. In this context, a five-point Likert-type questionnaire prepared for the students (152) was applied first. Depending on the method, in the qualitative dimension of the research, semi-structured interview forms were approved by expert opinion and interviews were conducted with students (12) studying in these departments in parallel with the questionnaire application. All the data obtained were analysed simultaneously. For the part of the study that includes the opinions of the instructors, content analysis method based on a qualitative research approach was used to obtain the opinions of the instructors who teach music courses in the mentioned departments (6). Content analysis generally refers to the analysis of interview transcripts. In general, in this research, a convergent parallel mixed design study, which is a type of mixed method, was used to examine the opinions of instructors and students about the music education given in theatre/acting departments in state universities of the Republic of Turkey, and content analysis method, which is based on a qualitative research approach, was used to obtain the opinions of instructors. In the research, it was concluded that the duration of music courses taught in theatre/acting departments is insufficient for both students and instructors, and in this respect, music course hours should be increased, and the lessons that should be done individually in the music courses taught in these departments cannot be efficient due to the lack of instructors. The students who participated in the research reported that the music courses in the curriculum should be reduced theoretically and updated more for practice and the courses in the curriculum should be enriched in terms of content. It is one of the important results of the research that the music education given in theatre/acting departments contributes positively to the professional careers of prospective actors, positively affects their stage performances, and increases their level of preferability throughout their careers.