Perceived Use of Democratic Teaching Strategies in Secondary Music Ensembles

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

Abstract

The purpose was to examine the perceived use of democratic teaching strategies in secondary musical ensemble rehearsals—open-ended questioning, closed-ended questioning, and justification of musical decisions. The researcher sent questionnaires to secondary music ensemble students and directors in one northeastern state. The researcher established the reliability of the subscales in the questionnaire through reliability analysis (Cronbach’s Alpha). The researcher conducted a preliminary analysis and found little difference between directors and students in perceived use of democratic teaching strategies, though students perceived that they have more input into program administration than directors reported. Assessing the perceived use of democratic strategies in secondary music ensembles is the first step in describing how music educators and students feel about democratic classrooms.

Author

• Warren Haston, University of Hartford