Relations between music education structures and teacher agency are under-researched and under-theorized, and scholars have indicated that the traditions and competitions of school bands in the U. S. may constrain educator agency. The need for research on teacher agency in competitive environments is compounded by policy trends toward administrators' use of festival scores in music educator evaluations. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to investigate band teacher agency in a highly competitive music education environment. I used the chordal triad of agency as the primary theoretical framework. Participants were four mid-career band educators in Texas, and I collected data through interviews, observations, journal entries, website review, and email correspondence. Throughout the data, participants' agency largely reproduced existing structures. Findings coalesced around (a) participants' core values of music, students' development, hard work, and competition, (b) an inductive, cohesive collection of band teaching norms despite participants' employment in schools of varying urbanicity and student demographics, (c) power sources that transmitted values and directed teachers' agency, and (d) a compelling story of one participant's generative agency that contrasted with the rest of the data. I provide directions for further research on music teacher agency and suggest implications for band educators, professional …

School orchestra programs are overwhelmingly concentrated in suburban districts, which are becoming increasingly racially and economically diverse. Diversifying suburbs lie at the crossroads of race, racism, and whiteness and findings drawn from these settings can have implications for racial dynamics in all educational contexts. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore how racially underrepresented students perceive race within an urban characteristic high school orchestra program through the lens of critical race theory. I developed a composite counter-story to examine the racialized experience of school orchestra told from the perspective of students of color with a particular interest on competition. Participants were six students and two teachers affiliated with the same high school orchestra program in Texas. Emergent thematic findings examined students' sense of racial belonging, mechanisms upholding the racial status quo, and fulfilling aspects of students' orchestra participation. Though the lens of critical race theory, I discuss how everyday whiteness, property of whiteness, and meritocracy function to maintain white hegemony in school orchestra.

Secondary choral directors often demonstrate a wide variety of organizational, instructional, and musical skills to promote and nurture thriving programs. Among the many tasks executed, choosing repertoire might be viewed as one of the most important duties performed. Material chosen for study is often the vehicle through which curricular concepts are taught. Multiple factors might influence middle school choral directors’ beliefs about repertoire choices. Ironically, repertoire choices might or might not reflect educators’ actual teaching philosophies; nevertheless, these decisions could influence student learning. This study surveyed a stratified random sampling of Texas middle school choral directors who participated in the 2010 University Interscholastic League Concert and Sight-reading competition (n = 209). Seventy middle school choral directors participated in the study. Each director took an online survey and indicated the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with 14 statements concerning repertoire choice. Many of the belief statements showed teachers were overwhelmingly in concordance with their beliefs (92.9%). Results indicated that beliefs were similar, regardless of who chose the curriculum or the amount of discussion perceived in undergraduate training. The only belief statement that continually showed differences between teachers concerned students’ ability to vote on repertoire.

The purpose was to investigate the career realities and occupational concerns of successful full-time performing instrumentalists. Four research problems were formulated; (1) the establishment of a demographic profile of musicians who perceived themselves successful; (2) the determination of the musicians' career realities; (3) the determination of the musicians' occupational concerns; and (4) a comparison of the relationship of the demographic profile to the career realities and occupational concerns. A pilot study was used to develop a questionnaire and an interview schedule. The sample for the main study was chosen by the questionnaire and consisted of twenty musicians, five each in the musical categories of jazz, classical, commercial and pop. To resolve research problem one, the questionnaire also collected general demographic data. Research problems two and three were fulfilled by an interview schedule based upon career realities and occupational concerns cited in previous sociological studies. The realities and concerns were either confirmed or refuted by each interviewee. The career realities were role conflict, career contingencies, musical labels, life style, hierarchies, audience relationships and environment. The occupational concerns were mobility, status, entrapment, personal contacts, dependency, security, competition, economic issues, working conditions, travel requirements, appearance, management control, auditions, maintenance of skills and training …

This study used a semistructured interview schedule to identify the music career opportunities available to students who graduate with an undergraduate music degree, and the skills, interests, work values, and personal characteristics that may determine a person's suitability for these music careers. Six university faculty members from each of the 11 NASM-accredited undergraduate music degree fields participated in the study (n = 66). Fourteen professional musicians who were recommended by these faculty members also participated in the study. Concerning the musical and non-musical skills that may determine a person's suitability for a music career, participants consistently noted the importance of performance skills in their respective fields. Participants also consistently cited people skills, and noted that most musicians interact with people on a daily basis, and use people skills to build social networks that may lead to employment. When asked about the interests that may lead someone to a music career, participants commonly cited the importance of good high school ensemble experiences in students' music career decisions. Concerning the rewarding aspects of music careers, many participants noted that they were more rewarded by the ability to support themselves doing what they loved, than by fame or wealth. Concerning the personal characteristics …

In music education, aesthetic education and praxial music education serve as two major, guiding philosophical frameworks, yet supporters of each often conflict with one another. Furthermore, both are slightly problematic with respect to the specific context of the public school. Each framework is primarily music-based, however, music education has existed in the wider context of general education since the 1830s. Given the recent core-status designation for music education, as part of all fine arts, in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, a framework from general education that supported music education could offer benefits for the domain. However, the wider context of general education is messy as well. Two groups occupy most of the space there, and remain locked in a fundamental disagreement over the purpose of a formal education. The progressive educators, historically framed by Dewey and Thorndike, contend that education functions as societal improvement. In contrast, the essentialists contend that education functions as cultural transmission. Therefore, a more specific need for music education involves selecting a framework from general education that resolves this conflict. The writings of William Chandler Bagley indicate that he balanced both considerations of a formal education while also advancing his notion of …

This study examined the musical background characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs, and practice behaviors of string students auditioning for an all-region orchestra in one large South-Central district. Purposes of the study were: (1) to describe the musical backgrounds and self-efficacy beliefs of high school string students, (2) to measure the relationship between self-efficacy scores and performance achievement, and (3) to describe the practice behaviors and thoughts of high and low self-efficacy string students. Questionnaires were given to 101 high school string students; 65 competed in all-region orchestra. Descriptive data from the questionnaire revealed information such as how many took private lessons and that those who did tended to have a higher sense of perceived self-efficacy in relation to playing their string instruments. Other descriptive items asked questions such as whether or not students started in public school and how much they practiced outside of orchestra. The relationship of summed self-efficacy scores to a competition ranking was found to be statistically significant and inverse. For all string participants (n=65) Spearman's rho was, rs= -.37, (p=.001) with 14% of the variance explained (r2 =.14). This inverse relationship documents the linear trend for students with better rankings (lower ranking numbers) to also tend to have …

This study explored factors relating to participation in public school orchestra programs and the relationship and predictability of such factors in accordance with Maehr's theory of personal investment.

The purpose of this study was to prepare music theory textbook-workbooks for students of elementary school grades four through eight who are taking private music lessons in voice, piano, or other instruments. The study was prompted by the action taken first by Texas Music Teachers Association and later by Music Teachers National Association which made the passing of comprehensive music theory examinations a prerequisite for entering all student performance and contest events sponsored by these associations.

The reasons given by thirty-three junior high school band directors for success and failure at the University Interscholastic League Concert/Sightreading Contest were studied using the methodology of Attribution Theory. All of the subjects attended the same contest and were members of a region which included urban and suburban schools. The subjects responded to a questionnaire which evaluated their attitudes towards the contest, allowed them to make judgments about other directors in hypothetical contest situations, and finally asked them to list the five most important reasons for their success or failure at the contest in an open-response format.

The purpose of this study was to assess on a national level, high school band directors' reasons for their bands' participation in six different types of competitive music activities, identify important reasons for participation in competitive music activities, and examine if statistically significant differences existed between the magnitudes of importance reasons for participation when subjects' responses were grouped by type of competitive activity, frequency of participation in a competitive activity, and by groupings of U. S. states similar in terms of general participation in competitive music activities, emphasis upon ratings or rankings as an indication of a high school band directors' success, and emphasis upon participation in competitive music activities.

This study examines the phenomenon of contemporary a cappella music making found in high school settings as curricular and extra-curricular offerings. Past music and music education literature has focused exclusively on contemporary a cappella at the collegiate level. Through application of a descriptive phenomenological method and incorporation an educational-sociological lens, this study advances an understanding of the educational benefit and social value of membership in contemporary a cappella at the high school level. Six recent members from three regions of the United States provided data through individual open-form interviews in which questions were derived from the participants’ own speech. I incorporated phenomenological reductions and processes to negate researcher bias during data collection, analysis, and the formation of a general structure and constituent meanings of membership in high school contemporary a cappella. Participants utilized traditional music skills, individual talents, conceptions of popular culture and music, and in-group socialization to facilitate music making and reify membership. Expressing the value of group membership, individuals acted to benefit the group by cultivating social bonds, developing and fostering personal/shared connections to songs, identifying and purposing individual talents and skills, and gaining an understanding of each members’ unique contribution to membership. Discussion includes implications for music …

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of character strengths that high school students reported to develop while participating in choir. I created the Character Strengths in Choir Scale (CSCS) to explore the degree to which students believed they exercised 18 character strengths. Local choir students in the pilot study (n = 44) and the main study (n = 114) completed the CSCS and revealed that gratitude, teamwork, and honesty were among the most prevalent strengths while bravery, creativity, and spirituality were among the least prevalent strengths. Student responses were also investigated by subgroups according to gender and years of experience. Results indicated that there were statistically significant differences for the ranking of various character strengths in each subgroup. Aggregately, high school choir students viewed themselves as above average on all assessed strengths.

The purpose of this study was to investigate constructions of choir identity among high school choir students in the United States public school classroom setting. The research questions were (a) what are the processes involved in construction of choir identity and (b) how are the processes related to the group identity of the choir. The data were collected through participant observations in one selected choir classroom and semi-structured interviews with students from the choir class. The results included six processes of identity construction as well as identification of the ways in which each process was related to the choir group’s identity. The processes and their links to the overall choir group identity provided further insight into the ways in which high school choir students construct their identities, and they also supported methods of teaching commonly used in high school choir settings.

Positive adaptations experienced in spite of challenges faced is known as resilience. Comparatively little research has focused on in-depth descriptions regarding how resilience is manifested in children. The purpose of this study was to add to previous research in the identification of characteristics of resilience in students, and to determine the extent to which band membership has aided their resilience in other domains. Data was collected from a random sample of band seniors from the class of 2011 (n = 3) who attended a large high school in the South. Specific research questions were: (1) What characteristics of resilience are present in the talk of participants in a high school instrumental music program? (2) To what extent has this population perceived that membership in band aided their resilience in other domains? A descriptive study design was chosen that used qualitative data. Following data analysis that included category matrices, prominent themes emerged from the participants’ responses. These included self-improvement, forward thinking, optimism, inner drive, increased achievement, determination, development of relationships to peers and adult mentors, and development of connectedness to the school. The findings of this study complemented previous research on characteristics of resilient students, and suggested that the participants derived …

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between selected personal investment behaviors and the meaning non-select choir members attach to their choral experience.

The purpose of this study was to explore adolescent self-views of singing ability through both implicit theories and self-concept meaning systems. A secondary purpose of this study was to examine these self-views specifically in the context of a choral hierarchy. Using a researcher-designed survey instrument, I gathered data from middle- and high-school students currently enrolled in a choir program organized in a hierarchical structure. I analyzed descriptive statistics of survey responses to items designed to measure implicit theories of singing ability, singing self-concept, and goal orientation. I also examined differences among participants by ensemble placement in implicit theory and self-concept scores, correlation between implicit theory and self-concept, and whether implicit theory, self-concept, goal orientation, or current enrollment could predict future enrollment decisions. In addition to these quantitative measures, I coded open-ended responses to two failure scenarios and examined participant responses by ensemble and gender. Both implicit theory and self-concept scores were higher for participants at the top of the choral hierarchy than at the bottom. Open-ended responses, however, did not align with the implicit theory scale and a number of students presented a false growth mindset. Open-ended responses also indicated that failure scenarios were likely to result in an altered …

Latinx students are underrepresented among high school music students in the United States, nationally. However, localized demographics in some parts of the country reveal secondary music programs that are comprised nearly entirely of Latinx students. Still, the experiences of such a large and racially marginalized population as Latinx students remain under-researched in the field of music education. To explore how Latinx racial identity may inform the experiences of Latinx music students and their music teachers, I conducted a post-qualitative study of students and teachers in music classes at large secondary schools in which the Latinx population is 95 percent or more. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with music students and their teachers. To guide my thinking on the role of race in the lives of the participants, I incorporated Omi and Winant's (2015) theory of racial formation throughout the data analysis. Overall findings indicated that race informs much of the experiences of the participants in varying, sometimes subtle ways. Through racism, racial resistance, the formation of racial identity, and the incorporation of both colorblind ideology and race consciousness, the participants provided nuance as to how we may regard the role and significance of race in music education. Implications …

In reviewing the events of the advances of science and technology of the past two decades one is struck by the magnificence of man's accomplishments. The first moon walk televised live in 1969, the widespread utilization of color television receivers, the educational uses of sophisticated audio-visual equipment such as overhead projectors, slide projection, sound tape recorders, close-circuit television and videotape and the almost omniscient usage of television, is ample evidence to demonstrate that the tools necessary to accomplish a task are readily accessible items in this age. We are introduced to new gadgets, innovations, and events (like the moon walk) at such a rapid pace that we have become more flexible and more receptive to change; so much so that at times many of us are even blase about nearly miraculous accomplishments.

This study investigated whether fifth-grade students would sing more accurately when responding to pitch stimuli presented to the right ear as compared to left and both ears. Students were also classified as either strongly right-handed or other (left-handed or mixed) to see if ear treatment responses would differ with handedness. Sixty-six students were tested on their attempts to match 12 model pitches. Identical tests were given to each subject on 3 different days, with a different ear treatment each day. Vocal response scores were significantly better for both-ear presentation than for left-ear. No significant difference was found between right and both ears, right and left ears, or between handedness groups.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of occupational identity in undergraduate music education majors using a Symbolic Interactionist theoretical framework. Three research problems were formulated: (1) The identification of occupational norms and values of undergraduate music education majors; (2) The determination of the commitment of under graduate music education majors to specific skills and knowledge of music education; (3) The determination of career commitment to music education by undergraduate majors. The sample consisted of undergraduate music education majors enrolled in North Texas State University; Denton, Texas, during 1981 and 1982. A questionnaire and interview schedule, which had been developed in a pilot study, were used to gather data. Questionnaire responses from 165 students were analyzed by comparing selected variables by area and by class year. These data were further clarified by information from thirty-eight interviews conducted by this researcher.

Examined in this hermeneutic phenomenological study is a transformation in the researcher's choral music teaching in which students' abilities to construct self emerged organically from interactions, or dialogues, that took place among and between the students, the teacher, and the music being studied. To allow for such interaction to emerge organically and meaningfully, students and teacher both shared in the power needed to construct a classroom environment in which the localized issues of the classroom and the specific contexts of students' lived histories were maintained and encouraged. This process of interaction, based upon dialogue among and between equal agents in the classroom, is described in the study as dialogic interactionism. In order to examine the concept of dialogic interactionism, three constructs upon which dialogic interactionism is based were developed and philosophically analyzed. They include the construction of self through the construction of self-knowledge; the localized reference system of the classroom, and the issue of power. Each construct is considered within the context of extant writings both in general education and music education philosophy. Following the analysis, a theoretical description of the dialogic interactive choral classroom is given as well a description of how such ideas might be realized in practice. …

The purpose of the study was to design and evaluate materials for integrating musical concepts and stylistic concepts into the high school choral rehearsal. Need for the study was established by examining related literature and by means of a survey of Texas high school choral directors. A systems approach model of curriculum development, consisting of a ten-step procedural outline, was adopted for formulation of the study. The following criteria for the curriculum, called Integrated Musical Information for Choirs (IMIC), were set: (1) Materials should be in the hands of each student; (2) Materials would relate directly to music being performed by the choir; (3) Use of the materials should assist the teacher in organizing his/her work; (4) Teachers should be able to put materials into use without adaptation; (5) Teachers' out-of-class preparation should be minimal.

The purpose of this study was to identify the occupational aspirations and expectations of students majoring in jazz studies, and to investigate relationships between students' aspirations, expectations and selected variables including significant others, choice of school, instrument type, academic achievement, academic level, socioeconomic status, age, gender, and early jazz experience. All jazz studies majors enrolled at the University of North Texas during the Spring 2001 academic semester responded to a pilot test questionnaire (return rate 85%, N = 211). Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations described the students' occupational aspirations, occupational expectations, backgrounds and training in jazz prior to entering UNT, and determined the extent to which parents, relatives, teachers, friends, and role models helped steer them into jazz (Pearson r, Spearman Rho and Point Biserial correlation coefficients provided). The low to moderate positive correlation between aspirations and expectations (r = 0.43) indicated that the two variables were different and measured different types of occupations. Fifty percent of students aspired to be jazz performers whereas 29.7% expected to be jazz performers. While 42% aspired to be engaged in a combination of occupational activities, 48% expected a combination of occupational activities. Only 4.7% aspired to teach; however, almost 16% expected to …