Browsing by Author "Boyack, Jennifer Elizabeth"
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- ItemSing? not me! : a study of student teachers' singing self-efficacy : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education, Massey University(Massey University, 2000) Boyack, Jennifer ElizabethThis study documents the singing self-efficacy beliefs of 165 primary teacher education students at a New Zealand university. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used in order to establish a singing self-efficacy profile for the group under investigation, and to explore the factors which influenced the development of their beliefs. Participants completed a questionnaire containing Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. Data on gender, age and ethnicity were also collected. In-depth interviews were conducted with three students who identified as having low self-efficacy. Analysis of the quantitative data revealed a wide range of singing self-efficacy beliefs. Although the study found no differences in self-efficacy on the basis of gender or age, Maori students appeared to hold more positive beliefs about their singing capability than European/Pakeha students. Three factors, other people, the self, and musical experiences, emerged as significant in the development of students' singing self-efficacy. Because of the prevalence of performance-oriented goal structures in New Zealand school music programmes, and because of fixed rather than incremental conceptions of singing ability, individuals who learn to sing accurately early in their lives are more likely to develop high self-efficacy in singing. The study revealed little evidence of the impact of vocal development research on beliefs about singing capability. Student teachers with low self-efficacy in singing often express anxiety about how they will meet the requirement to teach singing as part of the classroom programme. There is also a strong likelihood that teachers will perpetuate the practices which contributed to their own beliefs about singing capability. It is important therefore to understand how singing self-efficacy develops and to identify classroom goal structures which facilitate the development of both singing skills and positive singing self-efficacy.
- ItemSinging a joyful song : an exploratory study of primary school music leaders in Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2011) Boyack, Jennifer ElizabethThis thesis explores the work of generalist primary school teachers who work in music leadership roles in their schools. There is an absence of research into the work of such teachers who play a key role in children’s formal and informal music learning, and who represent the musical ‘face’ of their primary schools. This study addresses this music research gap by collecting and analysing the stories and observing the work of a sample of teachers for whom music is both a personal and professional passion, and contributes to our general understanding of the work of primary school teachers who love music and share it in their schools and classrooms. Five men and five women representing a range of personal and teaching experience and demographics participated in the study. All participants were interviewed about their work as primary school music leaders and were also observed undertaking a regular music leadership activity of their choice. Interview transcripts and observation notes were analysed in relation to the three research questions that address who the teachers are and how they came to be music leaders; the work they do and the skills, knowledge and understandings that underpin that work; and the significance of their work. Key findings related to the interplay of personal and professional factors in the development of these teachers’ identities as primary school music leaders, the complex and multi-faceted nature of the role, and the broad significance of their work to the teachers themselves, the children they teach, and their wider school communities. In addition, themes of identity, emotionality and curriculum context emerged as important frameworks for understanding the data with Wenger’s (1998) ‘communities of practice’ utilised as a unifying theory. The study contributes to a body of locally-based and international research concerned with music’s place in the primary school curriculum, the role of music teachers and leaders in sustaining music in the curriculum, and the value and benefits associated with music teaching and learning. In addition, it has practical and theoretical implications for teachers, teacher educators, and curriculum leaders at institutional and policy levels.