Gender Differences in Instrumental Learning,Preferences for Musical Activities and Musical Genres: A Comparative Study on Hong Kong,Shanghai and Taipei
Restricted accessResearch articleFirst published online June, 2003
Gender Differences in Instrumental Learning,Preferences for Musical Activities and Musical Genres: A Comparative Study on Hong Kong,Shanghai and Taipei
This study focuses on the collective musical practices of boys and girls within Western and non-Western musical traditions in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei. Participants were 3,864 Chinese students (1,902 boys and 1,962 girls) attending Grades 4 — 9. No significant differences were found for students' self-reported musical learning in the three Chinese communities. Most children based their preferred learning on instruments and activities based on Western music, and stated that mostly preferred popular music. Nonetheless this study found significant differences between boys and girls with regard to the types of Chinese and Western instrumental learning, participation in extra-curricular activities and musical preferences. Findings pose challenges for the music education systems and highlight the need for providing both boys and girls should with a wider choice of instruments to select from and also encouraging children to participate in varied musical activities as well as learn a wider, more comprehensive range of musical styles in schools.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abeles, H.F. & Porter, S.Y. (1978). The sex-stereotyping of musical instruments. Journal of Research in Music Education, 26, 65-75.
2.
Bruce, R. & Kemp, A. (1993). Sex-stereotyping in children's preferences for musical instruments. British Journal of Music Education, 10, 213-217.
3.
Chan, Y.H., Lee, K.K., Chan, K.W.Mok, J.L., & Lo, K.D. (1994). Xin xiaoxue yinyue do re mi (Teachers' Handbook, Primary Six, Second Term). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
4.
Chang, S.H. & Cho, Y.J. (2001). Gender stereotyping and music instrument majors' choice. In Y. Minami & M. Shinzanoh (Eds.), Proceedings of The 3rd Asia-Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research & International Symposium on `Uragoe' and Gender (Vol. 2) (pp. 138-143), August 23 — 26, Nagoya, Japan.
5.
Chen, C.Z., Zhang, S.Q., Liu, S.Y., & Sang, W.F. (1998a). Guozhong yinyue (Music for National Secondary School: Form 1) (Vol. 2). Taipei : Kang He Chu Ju.
6.
Chen, C.Z., Zhang, S.Q., Liu, S.Y., & Sang, W.F. (1998b). Guozhong yinyue (Music for National Secondary School: Form 2) (Vol. 3). Taipei : Kang He Chu Ju.
Christenson, P.G. and Peterson, J.B. (1988). Genre and gender in the structure of music preferences . Communication Research, 15(3), 282-301.
9.
Comber, C.J.F., Hargreaves, D.J. & Colley, A.M. (1993). Girls, boys and technology in music education . British Journal of Music Education, 10, 123-134.
10.
Curriculum Development Committee. (1983). Syllabus for secondary schools - syllabus for music (Forms 1 — 3). Hong Kong: Government Printer.
11.
Curriculum Development Committee.(1987). Syllabus for primary schools - Music. Hong Kong: Government Printer.
12.
Delzell, J.K. & Leppla, D.A. (1992). Gender association of musical instruments and preferences of four-grade students for selected instruments. Journal of Research in Music Education, 40, 93-103.
13.
Editorial Board of Hong Kong Music Publisher. ( 2000). Integrated music for secondary schools (Vol.1). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Music Publisher.
14.
Editorial Board of Hong Kong Music Publisher. ( 1997). Integrated music for secondary school (Vol. 2). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Music Publisher.
15.
Editorial Board of the Shanghai Music Publisher. (1996). Yinyue (Music)(Grade 4, Second Term). Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publisher.
16.
Editorial Board of the Shanghai Music Publisher. (1998). Yinyue (Music)(Grade 5, First Term). Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publisher.
17.
Editorial Board of the Shanghai Music Publisher. (1999a). Yinyue (Music)(Grade 3, Second Term). Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publisher
18.
Editorial Board of the Shanghai Music Publisher. (1999b). Yinyue (Music)(Grade 5, Second Term). Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publisher
19.
Editorial Board of the Shanghai Music Publisher. (2001a). Yinyue (Music)(Grade 4, First Term). Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publisher.
20.
Editorial Board of the Shanghai Music Publisher. (2001b). Yinyue (Music)(Grade 6, First Term). Shanghai: Shanghai Music Publisher.
21.
Fan J.M. & Liu, X.W. (1999a). Yinyue (Music) (Vol. 2). Taipei: Lungteng Cultural Enterprises Company.
Green, L. (1997). Music, gender, education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
24.
Hanley, B. (1998). Gender in secondary music education in British Columbia. British Journal of Music Education, 15(1), 51-69.
25.
Hargreaves, D., Comber, C. & Colley, A. (1995). Effects of age, gender, and training on musical preferences of British secondary school students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 43(3), 242-250.
26.
Hargreaves, D., Comber, C. & Colley, A. (1997). IT and music education: What happens to boys and girls in co-educational and single-sex schools?British Journal of Music Education, 14, 119-127.
27.
Harrison, A.C. & O'Neill, S.A. (2000). Children's gender-typed preferences for musical instruments: an intervention study. Psychology of Music, 28, 81-97.
28.
Ho, W.C. (1999). The sociopolitical transformations and Hong Kong secondary music education: politicization, culturalization, and marketization . Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education , 140, 41-56.
29.
Ho, W.C. (2000). Political impact on curriculum content and musical meaning: Hong Kong secondary music education, 1949-1997. Journal of Historical Research in Music Education, XXII(1), 5-24.
30.
Ho, W.C. (2001). Musical learning: differences between boys and girls in Hong Kong Chinese co-educational secondary schools. British Journal of Music Education, 18(1), 41-54.
31.
Ho, W.C. (in press a). The sociology of China music education: westernization and social transformations, 1895-1949. History of Education , 32(3).
32.
Ho, W.C. (in press b). Between globalization and localization: a study of Hong Kong popular music. Popular Music, 22(2).
33.
Ho, W.C. & Law, W.W. (2002). Music education in Taiwan: the dynamics and dilemmas of globalization, localization and Sinophilia. The Curriculum Journal, 13(3), 339-360.
34.
Jayaweera, S. (1997). Women, education and empowerment in Asia. Gender and Education, 9(4), 411- 424.
35.
Knodel, J. (1997). The closing of the gender gap in schooling: the case of Thailand. Comparative Education, 33(1), 61-86.
36.
Leblanc, A., Sims, W.L., Silvola, C., & Obert, M. (1996). Music style preferences of different age music listeners. Journal of Research in Music Education. 44(1), 49-59.
37.
May, W.V. (1985). Musical style preferences and aural discrimination skills of primary grade school children. Journal of Research in Music Education, 32(1), 7—22.
38.
Ministry of Education, Taiwan. (1995). Guomin Zhongke Kecheng Biao (Standard Curriculum for National Secondary Schools) . Taipei: Ministry of Education .
39.
National Institute for Compilation and Translation. (1997a, 1997b, 1997c). National Primary Music (Vols. 4, 5 & 7). Taipei: National Institute for Compilation and Translation.
40.
O'Neill, S.A. & Boulton, M.J. (1996). Boys' and girls' preferences bias towards musical instruments: A function of gender?Psychology of Music, 24, 171-83.
41.
Ordonez, V. & Maclean, R. (2000). Education in Asia: some current issues, concerns and prospects. Prospects, 30(3), 289-95.
42.
Regueiro, P.D. (2000). An analysis of gender in a Spanish music textbook . Music Education Research, 2(1), 57-73.
43.
Shanghai Committee of the Reform of Curriculum and Teaching Materials. (1999). (Mianxiang eryi shiji zhongxiao xin kecheng fangan he ge xueke jiaoyu gaige xingdong gangling: yanjiu biaogao (The new curriculum development for primary and secondary schools and the framework of the educational implementation of all subjects towards the twenty-first century). Shanghai: Shanghai Educational Publisher.
44.
State Education Commission, the People's Republic of China. (1996). Yinyue xiaoxue daigong (Guidelines of music teaching). Beijing: State Education Commission.
45.
Sugie, Y.N. (2001). Gender differences in musical tastes: focusing on private music lessons and family climate. In Y. Minami & M. Shinzanoh (Eds.), Proceedings of The 3rd Asia-Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research & International Symposium on `Uragoe' and Gender (Vol. 2) (pp. 144-145), August 23 — 26, Nagoya, Japan.
46.
Sun, A.G., Wu, S.M., Lu, M.Y. & Wu, Q.Q. (1999). Gaoji zhongxue: yinyue (Senior secondary school: music) (Vol.1)Taipei: Sanmin Shu Ju Gu Fen Company Ltd.
47.
Tamagawa, Y. (2001). A daughter playing the piano: gendered image in modern society. In Y. Minami & M. Shinzanoh (Eds.), Proceedings of The 3rd Asia-Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research & International Symposium on `Uragoe' and Gender (Vol. 2) (pp. 107-112), August 23 — 26, Nagoya, Japan.
48.
Wu, W.S. (1998). Approach to music (Vol. 2). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Music Publisher .
49.
Yuen, G.M. (1991) Yinyue chukai (First step of learning music), (Vol. 1). Hong Kong: Longman Publisher, Asia Limited Company.
50.
Yuen, G.M. & Chan, H.M. (1998a, 1998b, 1998c, 1998d). Jiji xue yinyue (Learning music together), Teachers' Handbook (Vols. 1,5,8 &10). Hong Kong: Target Publishing and Longman.
51.
Yung, H.D. (1997). New course in music (Vol. 2). Hong Kong: Sing Tao Educational Publications Ltd.
52.
Yung, H.D. (1998). New course in music (Vol. 3). Hong Kong: Sing Tao Educational Publications Ltd.
53.
Zhou, Z.Y. (1998) Haixia liangan jiaoyu bijue yanjiu (A comparative study of education between Mainland China and Taiwan). Taipei: Shi Da Shu Yuan You Xian Gong Si.
