The purpose of this study was to determine if participation in a composition competition influenced four K–12 students’ self-concepts as musicians. Research questions explored motivations for these four students to enter into a composition competition, influences of the competition on students’ self-concepts as musicians (if at all), and effects of the competition besides those of self-concept as a musician (if at all). Data sources for this multiple case design study included semi-structured interviews, journals, and wiki interactions. Findings determined that acceptance to the competition, performance of students’ works, and the reception that students received validated and strengthened their self-concepts as musicians. Suggestions for teaching practice include providing constructive feedback from competition adjudicators, creating face-to-face and online experiences for student composers to network, and offering non-adjudicated composition festival experiences for students.
AbrilC.GaultB. (2008). The state of music in secondary schools: The principal’s perspective. Journal of Research in Music Education, 56, 68–81. doi:10.1177/0022429408317516
2.
AmabileT. M. (1996). Creativity in context. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
3.
American Psychological Association. (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/
4.
AustinJ. R. (1988). The effect of music contest format on self-concept, motivation, achievement, and attitude of elementary band students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 36, 95–107. doi:10.2307/3345243
5.
AustinJ. R. (1990). Competition: Is music education the loser?Music Educators Journal, 76(6), 21–25.
6.
AustinJ. R. (1991). Competitive and non-competitive goal structures: An analysis of motivation and achievement among elementary band students. Psychology of Music, 19, 142–158.
7.
AustinJ.RenwickJ.McPhersonG. E. (2006). Developing motivation. In McPhersonG. E. (Ed.), The child as musician: A handbook of musical development (pp. 213–238). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
BergeeM. J. (2006). Validation of a model of extramusical influences on solo and small- ensemble festival ratings. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54, 244–256. doi:10.1177/0022429400605400307
10.
BoltonJ. (2008). Technologically mediated composition learning: Josh’s story. British Journal of Music Education, 25, 41–55.
11.
BurlandK.DavidsonJ. W. (2002). Training the talented. Music Education Research, 4, 121–140.
12.
CarterB. A. (2008). A qualitative examination of undergraduate music students’ compositional identity (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3303535)
13.
CharmazK. (2006). Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.
14.
CoxP. (1997). The professional socialization of music teachers as musicians and educators. In RideoutR. (Ed.), On the sociology of music education (pp. 112–120). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
15.
CsikszentmihalyiM. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
16.
DeciE. L.PoracJ. (1978). Cognitive evaluation theory and the study of human motivation. In LepperM. R.GreeneD. (Eds.), The hidden costs of reward: New perspectives on the psychology of human motivation (pp. 149–176). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
17.
DeciE. L.RyanR. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behavior. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
18.
DeciE. L.RyanR. M. (1987). The support of autonomy and the control of behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 1024–1037.
19.
ForbesG. W. (1994). Evaluative music festivals and contests – Are they fair?Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 12(2), 16–20.
20.
HargreavesD. J.NorthA. C. (2001). Conclusions: The international perspective. In HargreavesD. J.NorthA. C. (Eds.), Musical development and learning: The international perspective (pp. 220–234). London, UK: Continuum.
21.
HennesseyB. A. (2003). Is the social psychology of creativity really social? Moving beyond a focus on the individual. In PaulusP. B. (Ed.), Group creativity: Innovation through collaboration (pp. 181–201). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
22.
HennesseyB. A.AmabileT. M. (1988). The conditions of creativity. In SternbergR. J. (Ed.), The nature of creativity (pp. 11–38). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
23.
HewittA. (2002). A comparative analysis of process and product with specialist and generalist pre-service teachers involved in a group composition activity. Music Education Research, 4, 25–36.
24.
HickeyM. (1997). The computer as a tool in creative music making. Research Studies in Music Education, 8, 56–70.
25.
HickeyM. (2012). Music outside the lines: Ideas for composing in K–12 music classrooms. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
26.
HoffmanA. R. (2012). Exclusion, engagement, and identity construction in a socioeconomically diverse middle school wind band classroom. Music Education Research, 14, 209–226.
27.
KaschubM. (2013). Advancing composition in music education through strategic professional development. In KaschubM.SmithJ. P. (Eds.), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition (pp. 319–337). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
28.
KaschubM.SmithJ. (2009). Minds on music: Composition for creative and critical thinking. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Education.
29.
KaschubM.SmithJ. P. (Eds.). (2013). Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
30.
KennedyM. A. (2002). Listening to the music: Compositional processes of high school composers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50, 94–110.
31.
KratusJ. (2007). Music education at the tipping point. Music Educators Journal, 94(2), 42–48.
32.
KratusJ. (2013). Preparing music educators to facilitate songwriting. In KaschubM.SmithJ. P. (Eds.), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition (pp. 267–283). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
33.
KratusJ. (2016). Songwriting: A new direction for secondary music education. Music Educators Journal, 102(3), 60–65.
34.
LeblerD. (2008). Popular music pedagogy: Peer learning in practice. Music Education Research, 10, 193–213.
35.
LincolnY. S.GubaE. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publishing.
36.
L’RoyD. (1983). The development of occupational identity in undergraduate music education majors (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). North Texas State University, Denton, TX.
37.
MacLeodS. (2013). The Vermont MIDI Project: Fostering mentorships in multiple environments. In KaschubM.SmithJ. P. (Eds.), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition (pp. 211–224). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
38.
MarkD. (1998). The music teacher’s dilemma: Musician or teacher?International Journal of Music Education, 32, 3–22.
39.
MarshH. W.ByrneB. M.ShavelsonR. (1988). A multifaceted academic self- concept: Its hierarchical structure and its relation to academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 366–380.
40.
MarshH. W.CairnsL.RelichJ.BarnesJ.DebusR. (1984). The relationship between dimensions of self-attribution and dimensions of self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 3–32.
41.
MerriamS. B. (1998). Qualitative research and case study applications in education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
42.
MilesM. B.HubermanA. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishing.
OdenaO. (2012). Creativity in the secondary music classroom. In McPhersonG. E.WelchG. F. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of music education (Vol. 1, pp. 512–528). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
45.
OdenaO.WelchG. F. (2007). The influence of teachers’ backgrounds on their perceptions of musical creativity: A qualitative study with secondary school music teachers. Research Studies in Music Education, 28, 71–81.
46.
PattonM. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
47.
RandlesC. (2010). The relationship of compositional experiences of high school instrumentalists to music self-concept. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 184, 9–20. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27861479
48.
RandlesC.SmithG. D. (2012). A first comparison of pre-service music teachers’ identities as creative musicians in the United States and England. Research Studies in Music Education, 34, 173–187.
49.
ReeseS. (2003). Responding to student compositions. In HickeyM. (Ed.), Why and how to teach music composition: A new horizon for music education (pp. 211–232). Reston, VA: MENC: The National Association for Music Education.
50.
ReimerB. (2003). A philosophy of music education: Advancing the vision (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
51.
RobertsB. A. (1991). Music teacher education as identity construction. International Journal of Music Education, 18, 30–39.
52.
RobinsonM. (2008). From competition to collaboration: Lessons from theSecond Chair. Research Studies in Music Education, 30, 202–208.
53.
RohrerT. P. (2002). The debate on competition in music in the twentieth century. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 21(1), 38–47.
54.
SaldañaJ. (2013). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
55.
SchmidtC. P. (2005). Relations among motivation, performance achievement, and music experience variables in secondary instrumental music students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 53, 134–147.
56.
SchwartzH. (1996). The changing nature of teacher education. In SikulaJ.ButteryT. J.GuytonE. (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 2–13). New York, NY: Macmillan.
57.
SheldonD. A. (1994). The effects of competitive versus noncompetitive performance goals on music students’ ratings of band performances. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 121, 29–41. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40318665
58.
SongI.HattieJ. (1984). Home environment, self-concept, and academic achievement: A causal modeling approach. Journal of Educational Psychology, 76, 1269–1281.
59.
StaufferS. L. (2013). Preparing to engage children in musical creating. In KaschubM.SmithJ. P. (Eds.), Composing our future: Preparing music educators to teach composition (pp. 75–108). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
60.
WebsterP. (2009). Children as creative thinkers in music: Focus on composition. In HallamS.CrossI.ThautM. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of music psychology (pp. 421–428). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
61.
WebsterP. (2012). Towards pedagogies of revision: Guiding a student’s music composition. In OdenaO. (Ed.), Musical creativity: Insights from music education research (pp. 93–112). Burlington, VT: Ashgate.
62.
WeinerB. (1985). An attributional theory perspective of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 92, 548–573.
WoodA. (1973). The relationship of selected factors to achievement motivation and self-esteem among senior high school band members (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 7418381)
