Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemStudents' participation, motivation and commitment to extra-curricular music( 1994)Students involved in the major extra-curricular activities of sport, music, drama and debating, the staff co-ordinators of these activities and the Principal, Vice-principal or Director of Studies at three Independent girls' schools of similar socio-economic standing, size and proximity in Victoria, were surveyed in 1992 to identify practices and influences on participation, motivation and commitment. Weiner's (1974) Attribution Theory was the initial basis on which the study was derived and Professor Edward P. Asmus's studies on motivation in music in the curriculum in American schools provided .a foundation on which to commence the research. 272 female students encompassing Years 7 to 12 were selected from the groups which the co-ordinators of each extra-curricular area ranked as having the highest, second highest, third highest and lowest status within each school. The data observes the overall responses of the three schools and also the schools' individual responses, thus allowing a comparison between them. Intrinsic and external determinants were identified as the student's perception of her own ability, the effort the student makes in an activity, the enjoyment the student gets from an activity, recognition and awards, the duration of an activity, the performance opportunities available, the achievement and success of a group, the role of the staff leader, student leadership, the difficulty of a task, the workload at Years 11 and 12, the means of travelling to and from practices and when practices are held. The outcomes of the research indicate that the participation in an extra-curricular music activity requires a much greater level of commitment than does commitment to the other extracurricular areas and that extra-curricular music introduces students to adult concepts. The findings also stress the importance of the role of the conductor not only in working directly with the ensemble but in the promotion of it. The enjoyment of an extra-curricular activity was strongly cited by students as their reason for joining and staying in the particular activity. Implications of these results and recommendations for further research were then discussed.
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Item"They think it's girl's stuff": gender issues surrounding playing the violin at lower primary and lower secondary levels( 1995)Recent research in Arts education has focussed on the influence that gender has in terms of boys' and girls' participation. This study, drawing from Post-structuralist feminist theories, looks specifically at students' beliefs about playing the violin, and the subsequent restrictions to participation, particularly by boys, that may be influenced by gendered attitudes. Students from lower primary and lower secondary levels were interviewed. The results confirmed previous research that identifies two significant areas: school subject hierarchy, and the labelling of the Arts as 'feminine'. Music, and specifically violin, held a very low position in the hierarchy of subjects. While this did not influence a student's involvement in lower primary years, students in lower secondary years favoured subjects that they felt had specific career relevance. Furthermore, playing the violin was identified by students from Year Three to Year Eight as being associated with the 'feminine'. This association directly confronted the gender identity of boys who chose to play the violin. However, a number of contradictory findings arose, where students' involvement in playing the violin, irrespective of their gender, was positively celebrated. Firstly, this seemed to occur where students showed clear talent at playing, supporting the idea that a 'genius culture' exists. Students were proud to receive recognition from peers, teachers and family for both the hard work, and perhaps natural talent that achieved satisfying musical results. Secondly, a student's popularity was inversely related.to the amount and nature of teasing they suffered for participation in a subject that was labelled 'feminine'. Students who were popular, received much less teasing.