A Mixed Methods Investigation of the Music Home Environment and the High-School Ensemble Experience as Influences on the Continued Participation of String Players
2018-08
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A Mixed Methods Investigation of the Music Home Environment and the High-School Ensemble Experience as Influences on the Continued Participation of String Players
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2018-08
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Despite being a fundamental tenet of American music education, lifelong engagement in the arts remains low. This is particularly true of continued participation in music ensembles beyond high school. A key to better understanding continued participation may lie in the influential domains of home and school. Little is known, however, about the ways in which the music home environment and the high-school ensemble experience influence continued participation in music. Moreover, significantly less is known about how these influential domains influence the continued participation of string players. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study was to develop an understanding of how the music home environment and the high-school ensemble experience influence string players to continue participation in an orchestral setting beyond high school. In the first, quantitative phase of this study, a survey was distributed to participants (N = 241) of eight randomly selected collegiate and community orchestras within a 60-mile radius of a large metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest. Quantitative results indicated that while high-school ensemble experience influences were rated as being slightly more impactful than music home environment supports, both the school and home are important in the continued participation of string players. In addition, Chi-Square testing revealed near-significant relationships between: (a) gender and music home environment behavioral supports and (b) age and high-school ensemble experience social influence. Striking was the revelation that 91% of the survey participants had participated in private lessons during middle or high school. The second, qualitative phase of the study was informed by a collective case study approach using instrumental case study design. Interview participants (N = 6) were selected via maximal variation sampling from a pool of volunteers obtained in the quantitative phase of the study. Cross-Case analysis of the qualitative data revealed six primary themes: (a) family support, (b) family musical influence, (c) affective and intrinsic influences, (d) high school orchestra – social influence, (e) the high school orchestra experience, and (f) financial opportunity. The ensuing mixed methods analysis and discussion centered around the follow-up on near-significant quantitative results, similarities between the quantitative and qualitative data sets, and differences between the quantitative and qualitative data sets. The results of the study suggested that string educators work to increase access to private lessons (particularly for students in financial need), instill affective and intrinsic musical values within the large ensemble setting, and foster symbiosis between the school and home through working with parents as partners in music education. Implications for future research include developing a better understanding of social and affective influences at different stages of a musician’s life, determining the reasons why private lesson participation is such a strong predictor for the continued participation of string players, and exploring the ways in which outside of school youth symphony experiences serve as influences on the continued participation of string players.
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University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2018. Major: Music Education. Advisor: Keitha Hamann. 1 computer file (PDF); ix, 242 pages.
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Jannings, Christopher. (2018). A Mixed Methods Investigation of the Music Home Environment and the High-School Ensemble Experience as Influences on the Continued Participation of String Players. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/201181.
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