Date

8-2019

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction (EdD)

Chair

Grania Holman

Keywords

Wind Band, MC Students, Transition, Stress, Relaxation, Music Participation Theory, Social Constructivist Theory

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Education | Fine Arts

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the role of wind band for former military-connected (MC) students that graduated Carn Schools (pseudonym) in the past five years who experienced a transition to a new school. The theories guiding this study were Gates’ music participation theory as it describes reasons and explanations of why people actively participate in music and Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory as it relates to learning in a social context. The central research question for this study was as follows: How do former MC children describe their experiences in wind band during a transition to a new school? Guiding questions included the following: How do the participants describe the role that wind band played on their stress levels during a transition? What were the participants’ expectations of wind band when they transferred schools? What are former MC students’ perceptions of wind band attributes (band size, band success), band director attributes (gender, ethnicity, years of teaching experience, years of working with MC children, teaching styles/attributes), student attributes (gender, years of band participation, instrument, ethnicity, number of transitions), and school attributes (school size, location) that affect transitioning to a new school? Participants were recruited from the researcher’s former students and included 11 former students and other recommended participants. Data collection included interviews, online discussion responses, and Chin and Rickard’s MUSE Questionnaire. Interviews were transcribed and data coded using Moustakas’s research methods to help determine emerging themes. This study found that many band participants choose to participate in band because of the social aspect, which also helped them during a transition to a new school, showing consistency with previous research. This study may contribute to available research by providing information to the Carn School System and parents and teachers of MC children to help MC children deal with stress during a PCS and transfer to a new school. Future research should include a broader pool of participants and also investigate the financial aspect of band participation.

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