Secondary Band Student Perspectives on Musical and Educational Outcomes From Participation in Band Festivals

• In Event: Roundtable Session 73
  In Roundtable Session: Music Education Roundtable 1

Abstract

While it seems many music educators share the same enthusiasm for music festivals, discrepancies seem to be rooted in the perceived educational outcomes in terms of musical knowledge gained, motivation, competition, psychological impact, and social considerations. Advocates believe competitive festivals provide a “superlative” motivational factor and elevate performance quality. Most of the existing literature focuses on teacher perspectives, we examine issues solely from a student perspective. We administered a survey composed of 55 five point, Likert scale items to 528 students from 10 concert bands to examine (through descriptive and correlation analyses) the educational and musical benefits, and detriments, that evolve from participation in a band festival, as well as social benefits, or detriments, associated with band festival participation.

Authors

• Peter J. Gouzouasis, The University of British Columbia

• Martin Guhn, The University of British Columbia