Secondary Students’ Preferences for Various Learning Conditions and Music Courses: A Comparison of School Music,Out-of-School Music,and Nonmusic Participants

Abstract

This study was an investigation of middle and high school students’ preferences for various music learning conditions and secondary music course offerings. The stratified random sample included students who were and were not enrolled in school music classes (N = 827). Participants represented secondary school music students (n = 369), students who only participate in music outside of school (n = 254), and nonparticipants in music (n = 204). The research questions for this study concerned students’ preferences for teacher role, group size, and repertoire in the music classroom as well as interest in six different secondary music courses. Findings showed out-of-school music participants and nonparticipants had a stronger preference for small group learning environments and repertoire choice when compared to school music participants. In-school and out-of-school music participants expressed similar levels of interest in four music course offerings and ranked them as follows: (1) piano/guitar class, (2) music composition with technology class, (3) popular music groups, and (4) music history/theory class. In-school and out-of-school music participants differed on only two course offerings: large ensembles and world music groups. In-school music participants expressed high interest in large ensembles, whereas out-of-school music participants conveyed a lower interest in large ensembles.

Keywords

school music participation music class ensemble emerging music class interest

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Abril

C. R.

Bannerman

J. K.

(2015). Perceived factors impacting school music programs: The teacher’s perspective. Journal of Research in Music Education, 62(4), 344–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429414554430

Allsup

R. E.

(2016). Our “both/and” moment. Music Educators Journal, 102(2), 85–86. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432115613327

Allsup

R. E.

Westerlund

Shieh

(2012). Youth culture and secondary education. In McPherson

G. E.

Welch

G. F.

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of music education (pp. 460–475). Oxford University Press.

Bannerman

(2019). Singing in school culture: Exploring access to participation in a rural choral program. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 222, 44–62. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.222.0044

Bathgate

M. E.

Schunn

C. D.

Correnti

(2014). Children’s motivation toward science across contexts, manner of interaction, and topic. Science Education, 98(2), 189–215. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21095

Blakeslee

M. J.

(2019). Letter to NAfME members from the executive director: Popular music and the NAfME mission. Music Educators Journal, 106(1), 3–4. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432119858347

Bledsoe

R. N.

(2015). Music education for all?. General Music Today, 28(2), 18–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1048371314549888

Cavicchi

(2009). My music, their music, and the irrelevance of music education. In Regelski

T. A.

Terry Gates

(Eds.), Music education for changing times: Guiding visions for practice. Springer.

Clements

A. C.

(Ed.). (2010). Alternative approaches in music education: Case studies from the field. Rowman & Littlefield Publication.

10.

Cohen

J. J.

(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Erlbaum.

11.

Costa-Giomi

Chappell

(2007). Characteristics of band programs in a large urban school district: Diversity or inequality? Journal of Band Research, 42(2), 1–18. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1097121?accountid=14677

12.

Demorest

S. M.

Kelley

Pfordresher

P. Q.

(2017). Singing ability, musical self-concept, and future music participation. Journal of Research in Music Education, 64(4), 405–420. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429416680096

13.

De Vries

. (2010). What we want: The music preferences of upper primary school students and the ways they engage with music. Australian Journal of Music Education, 1, 3–16. https://search.informit.com/au/documentSummary;dn=691041986666884;res=IELHSS

14.

Elpus

(2014). Evaluating the effect of No Child Left Behind on U.S. music course enrollments. Journal of Research in Music Education, 62(3), 215–233. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429414530759

15.

Elpus

Abril

(2011). High school music ensemble students in the United States: A demographic profile. Journal of Research in Music Education, 59(2), 128–145. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429411405207

16.

Elpus

Abril

(2019). Who enrolls in high school music? A national profile of U.S. students, 2009–2013. Journal of Research in Music Education, 67(3), 323–338. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022429419862837

17.

Escalante

S. I.

(2019). Latinx students and secondary music education in the United States. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 37(3), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.1177/8755123318802335

18.

Faul

Erdfelder

Lang

A. G.

Buchner

(2007). G*Power 3: A flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavior Research Methods, 39(2), 175–191. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03193146

19.

Folkestad

(2006). Formal and informal learning situations or practices vs. formal and informal ways of learning. British Journal of Music Education, 23(2), 134–145. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0265051706006887

20.

Fonder

(2014). Another perspective: No default or reset necessary-large ensembles enrich many. Music Educators Journal, 101(2), 89. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432114553776

21.

Green

(2008). Music, informal learning and the school: A new classroom pedagogy. Ashgate Publishing Company.

22.

Hawkinson

(2015). A mixed methods investigation of student nonparticipation in secondary school music [Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

23.

Hidi

Renninger

K. A.

(2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 111–127. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4102_4

24.

Horne

C. J.

(2007). Recruitment, participation and retention of African Americans in high school choral ensembles [Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

25.

Isbell

D. S.

Stanley

A. M.

(2016). Code-switching musicians: An exploratory study. Music Education Research, 20(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083714568020

26.

Kaschub

Smith

J. P.

(2013). Embracing composition in music teacher education. In Kaschub

Smith

J. P.

(Eds.), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition (pp. 3–13). Oxford University Press.

27.

Kelly

S. N.

Veronee

(2019). High school students’ perceptions of nontraditional music classes. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 219(Winter), 77–89. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.219.0077

28.

Kelly-McHale

Abril

C. R.

(2015). The space between worlds: Music education and Latino children. In Benedict

Schmidt

Spruce

Woodford

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of social justice in music education (pp. 156–172). Oxford University Press.

29.

Kratus

(2007). Centennial series: Music education at the tipping point. Music Educators Journal, 94(2), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1177/002743210709400209

30.

Kruse

(2016). They wasn’t makin’ my kinda music’: A hip-hop musician’s perspective on school, schooling, and school music. Music Education Research, 18(3), 240–253. https://doi.org/0.1080/14613808.2015.1060954

31.

Lamont

Hargreaves

D. J.

Marshall

N. A.

Tarrant

(2003). Young people’s music in and out of school. British Journal of Music Education, 20(3), 229–241. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0265051703005412

32.

McPherson

G. E.

Davidson

J. W.

Faulkner

(2012). Music in our lives: Rethinking musical ability, development & identity. Oxford University Press.

33.

McPherson

G. E.

Hendricks

K. S.

(2010). Students’ motivation to study music: The United States of America. Research Studies in Music Education, 32(2), 201–213. https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X10384200

34.

Mertler

C. A.

Vannatta Reinhart

R. A.

(2017). Advanced and multivariate statistical methods: Practical application and interpretation. Routledge.

35.

Miksza

(2013). The future of music education: Continuing the dialogue about curricular reform. Music Educators Journal, 99(4), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432113476305

36.

Murdock

J. A.

(2015). Where preference meets praxis: Exploring the choral musical preferences of urban high school students and their teachers [Doctoral dissertation, University of Memphis]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

37.

North

Hargreaves

(2008). The social and applied psychology of music. Oxford University Press.

38.

O’Brien

R. G.

Kaiser

M. K.

(1985). MANOVA method for analyzing repeated measures designs: An extensive primer. Psychological Bulletin, 97(2), 316–333. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.97.2.316

39.

Odegaard

(2018). Ode to orchestrating success: Music for all, and music from all. Music Educators Journal, 104(3), 12. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432117749750

40.

Overland

(2014). Statistical power in the Journal of Research in Music Education (2000–2010): A retrospective power analysis. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 201, 43–59. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.201.0043

41.

Palmer

D. H.

Dixon

Archer

(2016). Identifying underlying causes of situational interest in a science course for preservice elementary teachers. Science Education, 100(6), 10039–1061. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21244

42.

Parsad

Spiegelman

Coppersmith

(2012). Arts education in public elementary and secondary schools: 1999–2000 and 2009–10 (NCES 2012–014). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012014rev.pdf

43.

Pendergast

(2018). A latent profile analysis of secondary students’ music participation in three Salt Lake City schools: An exploratory study [Doctoral dissertation, University of Utah]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

44.

Randles

(2015). A quest for the perfect tone: Luthiering, pedal boards and curriculum expansion. Journal of Music, Technology & Education, 8(2), 183–197. https://doi.org/10.1386/jmte.8.2.183_1

45.

Reimer

(2015). In response to Michael Mark. In Randles

(Ed.), Music education: Navigating the future (pp. 13–15). Routledge.

46.

Renninger

K. A.

Hidi

(2016). The power of interest for motivation and engagement. Routledge.

47.

Rideout

(2015). The common sense census: Media use by tweens and teens. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/census_researchreport.pdf

48.

Ruybalid

(2016). Predictors of elementary students’ intentions to continue in music when entering middle or junior high school [Doctoral dissertation, University of Oklahoma]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.

49.

Salvador

Allegood

(2014). Access to music education with regard to race in two urban areas. Arts Education Policy Review, 115(3), 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2014.914389

50.

Shuler

S. C.

(2011). Music education for life: Building inclusive, effective twenty-first-century music programs. Music Educators Journal, 98(1), 8–13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432111418748

51.

Smith

G. D.

Moir

Brennan

Rambarran

Kirkman

(Eds.). (2017). The Routledge research companion to popular music education. Routledge.

52.

Stevens

(1996). Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. Lawrence Erlbaum.

53.

Tabachnick

B. G.

Fidell

L. S.

(2007). Using multivariate statistics. Allyn & Bacon.

54.

Tobias

E. S.

(2012). Hybrid spaces and hyphenated musicians: Secondary students’ musical engagement in a songwriting and technology course. Music Education Research, 14(3), 329–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2012.685459

55.

Tobias

E. S.

(2015). Crossfading music education: Connections between secondary students’ in- and out-of-school music experience. International Journal of Music Education, 33(1), 18–35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0255761413515809

56.

Veblen

(2012). Adult music learning in formal, nonformal, and informal contexts. In McPherson

Welch

G. F.

(Eds.), The Oxford handbook of music education (Vol. 2, pp. 243–256). Oxford University Press.

57.

Williams

D. A.

(2011). The elephant in the room. Music Educators Journal, 98(1), 51–57. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432111415538

58.

Williams

D. B.

(2011). The non-traditional music student in secondary schools of the United States: Engaging non-participant students in creative music activities through technology. Journal of Music, Technology and Education, 4(2/3), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1386/jmte.4.2-3.131_1

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.10 MB

0.12 MB