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This study describes the development of the Dimensions of Community Band Participation (DCBP) Scale to measure musicians’ motivations for participating in community bands. Participants (N = 67) included members of a university-sponsored community band consisting of both university students and community members. Members ranged in age from 18 to 73 (M = 28). In addition to completing the DCBP Scale, participants responded to two additional open-ended questions that allowed researchers to assess participant involvement and retention in the community band. The DCBP provides insight into key reasons for participation across all age groupings within adulthood and calls attention to three important aspects of participation: fellowship, personal musicianship and conductor leadership. Implications for this measure include providing community band directors with insight into members’ expectations and motivations for joining and continued participation.

Online study in music teacher education at the master’s degree level has existed for more than a decade, with hundreds of music teachers pursuing professional development or completing their graduate degrees in this format. The purpose of this study was to examine music teachers who have and who have not participated in online graduate music education regarding their perceptions of these programs. The conceptual theory known as connectivism (Siemens, 2005), highlighting properties of Autonomy, Diversity, Interactivity, and Openness, guided data collection and analysis. We used a quantitative survey method through a researcher-developed instrument. Distributed nationally, 807 (2.1%) respondents offered their perspectives, with analysis via rank order, correlation, and confirmatory factor analysis linked to the theoretical framework. Results suggest that teachers find value in elements of online education that include content, pedagogy, convenience and flexibility, professional development, and career advancement. With regard to the facets of connectivism, Autonomy contributed the largest amount of variance followed by Diversity, Interaction, and Openness. The results of this study warrant consideration as distance music education in graduate settings will likely continue to grow in the coming years.

Public debate surrounds the success of charter schools in serving students and providing a generative environment for teacher innovation. Through semi-structured interviews with eleven (N = 11) K-1...

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate intragroup beliefs regarding participation in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II marching band throughout the university’s American football season. Fifty-three undergraduates from an urban midwestern university elected one of two options: (1) focus group only or (2) focus group and surveys. For the quantitative inquiry, it was hypothesized that members would report a downward concavity of group cohesion attributes and collective efficacy beliefs across time. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) found group integration–task (GI-T) and collective efficacy dipped at the midpoint of the season while beliefs regarding members’ attraction to the group, both task and social (ATG-T, ATG-S), and group integration–social (GI-S) remained consistently high. Focus groups data analysis revealed five broad themes: (1) connections, their pride in the band and its connectedness to their school and beyond; (2) family, how the band represents a family environment; (3) acceptance, belonging to the group; (4) music, the role of music in their lives; and (5) time, the temporal beliefs of the group throughout the season. These findings provide insight into the dynamic nature of group beliefs over time with musical ensembles.

Music can promote emotion regulation in individuals exposed to trauma and stress and may support positive parenting behaviors. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the use of music in the lives of a sample of expectant mothers and fathers ( N = 102), who were considered at risk for insensitive parenting due to exposure to environmental and psychosocial stressors. Interviews probed childhood memories of music, current engagement with music, and parental plans to share music with their infants after birth. Using principles of grounded theory, a thematic coding process was employed. Findings highlight the relationship-salient and culturally embedded nature of music in the lives of these parents. Parents described the intergenerational transmission of musical family traditions. They recalled memories of music, which were linked in important ways to the central caregivers in their own early lives and described their intentions to use music in similar ways when caring for their own children. Parents also described the fundamental integration of music within their communities and culture. Findings suggest that promoting parental use of music to soothe and care for their children may be one cost-effective intervention technique that supports feelings of parental competence and parent–infant connection.

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to assess the impact of the Skills Learning Support Program (SLSP) aimed to support entering first-generation college students’ motivational beliefs, use of self-regulatory strategies, and academic achievement. The study included 137 students from ethnically diverse cultural backgrounds who were in need of academic, counseling, and financial support. In addition, the study gathered academic data on 739 admitted students who did not participate in the program for comparison. The SLSP students were asked to respond to a number of scales assessing their self-regulation and motivational beliefs at the beginning and end of their freshmen year. Comparison academic data were also collected for all students during the next 4 years until graduation. It was hypothesized that students who participated in the SLSP would experience an increase in their academic self-regulation and motivation by the end of the first year. In addition, it was expected that students in the SLSP group would show similar or higher levels of achievement and graduation rates when compared with other freshman students admitted the same year. Findings revealed that students who enrolled in SLSP reported higher levels of motivation and study skills from the pretest to the posttest assessments. In addition, students enrolled in the program exhibited levels of academic achievement similar to or higher than regularly admitted college freshman during their first year and as they approached graduation. However, these differences in the two groups diminished by the time students graduated. These findings may have important implications for instructors, students, and college administrators.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore experienced general music teachers’ decision-making processes. Participants included seven experienced, American general music teachers who contributed their views during two phases of data collection: (1) responses to three classroom scenarios; and (2) in-depth, semi-structured, follow-up interviews. Analysis using a constructivist approach revealed that participants reported making distinct decisions during the planning, instruction, and reflection stages of teaching. During planning, their focus was on developing clear goals and objectives, encouraging a life-long love of music, and fostering responsible citizenship. During instruction, they made decisions guided by specific formal and informal methodologies to build on previously taught concepts and to support classroom management. After instruction, participants’ responses highlighted the importance of being flexible, their own professional development, and student assessment. While other studies have examined general music teachers’ instructional processes in methodology-specific practices, this study offers insights from experienced general music teachers regarding their decision-making processes when responding to classroom scenarios. Implications for future research include improving in-service teachers’ self-awareness, advancing professional development for experienced teachers, and enhancing the effectiveness of music teacher education programs.

This study examined the effects of the conductor’s goal orientation (mastery vs. performance) and use of shared performance cues (basic vs. interpretive vs. expressive) on instrumentalists’ self-efficacy, collective efficacy, attributions, and performance. Eighty-one college instrumentalists from two musical ensembles participated in the study. It was hypothesized that instrumentalists who undergo a mastery goal-oriented rehearsal and experience a conductor’s use of expressive shared performance cues would report higher levels in all measures than those who undergo a performance goal-oriented rehearsal and are exposed to interpretive performance cues, which in turn surpass those who experience basic performance cues. Results indicated that participants in the mastery goal orientation condition reported higher levels of collective and self-efficacy beliefs and attributed the success or failure of the ensemble most frequently to the conductor’s use of rehearsal strategies (i.e., baton technique, verbal directions regarding the music). In addition, the conductor’s use of expressive shared performance cues had a significant impact on instrumentalists’ collective efficacy, self-efficacy, performance, and attributions. Findings of this study may provide some guidance on how conductors can create effective rehearsal environments.

In the present study, we examined whether collective efficacy, group cohesion (task and social), and perceived motivational climate (task-involving and ego-involving orientations) in a music ensemble predict instrumentalists' perceived conductor support. Ninety-one (N = 91) skilled high school instrumentalists participated in the study. To assess the variables, participants responded to a number of surveys during rehearsals. It was hypothesized that instrumentalists' perceptions of collective efficacy, group cohesion, and a task-involving motivational climate cultivated by the conductor would predict conductor support. Results showed that, collectively, these variables accounted for 46% of the variance in instrumentalist perceptions of a supportive conductor. Findings of this study may provide guidance on how conductors can create learning environments that instill a strong sense of support for their instrumentalists.