There are a multitude of influences on adolescents’ decisions to enroll in elective instrumental music ensembles. While some music teachers might rely on external rewards such as end-of-year trips to encourage retention from year to year, middle school students’ sociocultural and psychological characteristics may best account for their intentions to continue in band or orchestra. I examined needs satisfaction variables from Self-Determination Theory and task values from Expectancy Value Theory alongside environmental factors such as parent and peer influence as well as socioeconomic status (SES) as predictors of adolescent instrumental students’ elective intentions ( N = 42). Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Parents tended to exert a large amount of influence over the extent to which participants’ needs were satisfied and a small amount of influence over the task values of their children. Concurrently, peers and SES played small but important roles in the development of elective intentions. Moreover, when parents and teachers were supportive of students’ autonomy, competence, and relatedness, instrumental music learning tasks were valued. Task values, in turn, strongly predicted middle school instrumental students’ intentions to persist and enroll in future instrumental music courses.
The purpose of this study was to explore music teacher migration through the lens of job fit. Using a convergent mixed-methods design, we surveyed music teachers who were in their current positions for at least 2 years and had held a previous position for at least 2 years (N = 74). Participants completed a questionnaire consisting of quantitative measures of current and previous job fit, then responded to qualitative items about the positive and negative aspects of their current and previous jobs. Results indicated that music teachers typically exhibited better fit in their current jobs than in their previous jobs. However, qualitative responses suggested that fulfillment of basic needs may have been more influential in their occupational decisions than job fit. We also determined that job fit involves multiple layers of influence including position features, local contexts, and general contexts. Implications are discussed for in-service music teachers and music teacher education.
Students’ motivation to engage in elective music courses can be complicated or nuanced and is often informed by myriad personal and environmental factors. In this review of literature, I examine general education and music education research related to organismic perspectives on the development and maintenance of academic motivation among middle school students. The motivational constructs considered were Eccles’ task values (i.e., interest, attainment, utility, and cost) and Deci and Ryan’s psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness). When adolescents evaluate the importance, usefulness, enjoyment, and cost of the electives in which they take part, they are formulating task value beliefs. The more that students value a task, the greater the likelihood they will continue to engage in the task despite the costs. Continued task engagement, however, may require that students’ psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness be met. Implications and suggestions for music teachers are also presented.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.