A&HM 5001 Assignment #4 Mixed-Model Final Research Report Sean Jackman Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Introduction Since

the gender stereotyping study by Abeles and Porter (1978), a body or research has grown around gender stereotypes for musical instruments. These studies have sought to understand the factors that may cause a student to cross gender lines. This study uses both quantitative and qualitative investigative methods to explore this issue. For the quantitative part of this study, I replicated the original work of Abeles and Porter (1978) as a member of a 5-person team (Group 3). The original study looked at sex stereotyping of eight musical instruments between two groups of adults musicians and non-musicians. With the changes in attitudes towards gender in general, the purpose of the replication was to see if gender bias associated with musical instruments still exists. This replication will determine if the ranking of musical instruments as feminine or masculine by musicians and non-musicians remains constant and whether the range of scaled values is similar. The second part of this study used qualitative methods and focused on interview and portrait data from four musicians who play cross-gendered instruments. I worked as a member of a four-person team (Group 2). The interview script was designed by Sinsabaugh (2005). Our team asked the following research questions which centered around how the following factors influenced the student in their decision to play the instrument they play: instrument selection process, home/family life, school, peer/friends, personality, and gender/instrument.

2 Related Research Gender stereotyping exists and is harmful to students, especially at the middle school age. Many of the studies reviewed in this section indicate that students experience prejudice when they cross the gender line and play an instrument which is usually associated with the opposite gender. The history of this body of research begins with Abeles and Porter (1978) who focused on 4 different mini-studies related to musical instrument stereotyping. In Study One of their work conducted in Greensboro, North Carolina, 149 adults were asked to rank their top three choices for their child among a group of eight instruments taught in school music programs (cello, clarinet, drums, flute, saxophone, trombone, trumpet and violin). Half of the sheets asked for your daughter, and the other half for your son in order to determine the adults opinion of the instrument. Study Two continued to investigate the issue of sex stereotyping of musical instruments. Investigators asked 32 music majors and 236 non-music majors to complete a survey, which asked them to select between one of two instruments in 28 pairs of instruments. In Study Three, 598 children from three schools (two in Bloomington, Indian and one in Wilmington, Delaware) listened to the same piece played by 8 different instruments. Boys and girls were asked to select which instrument they would like to play if given the opportunity. Study Four asked 47 children in a Bloomington, Indiana daycare about their instrumental preference with the goal of trying to find out if the childs first introduction to the instrument affected their opinions of the instruments. In Study 2, Abeles and Porter participants were given a one-page form they termed the Musical Instrument Paired-Comparison Survey Form (MIPCSF). Participants were

3 asked to circle the instrument in each of 28 random pairs of instruments, that they considered to be the most masculine. No further explanation was given. The data produced a value of 1.00 for the Spearman-Rank Correlation Coefficient. A procedure described by Edwards (1957) was used to find normalized scaled scores for the data. In studying the chart of normalized scale scores the values closest to zero indicate the instrument which was considered the most feminine (flute) and the highest value, the most masculine (the drum). Zervoudakes and Tanor (1994) collected concert programs from over 600 randomly selected institutions nationwide. The concerts were from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The researchers used Abeles and Porters (1978) list of instruments and found that the number of girls in elementary school playing male instruments has increased but this gain in overcoming gender stereotyping was not maintained into high school. They found more women were involved in college band and orchestras and were more easily able to cross gender stereotypes. Between 1987 and 1990, women were more likely to play masculine instruments but they were also more likely to play female gendered ones. Although there were more women involved than men in college level music groups, they were fewer women in leadership positions. Harrison and ONeill (2000) used demonstration concerts to study the preferences of 357 children, ages seven to eight. In individual interviews before the concerts, all subjects heard audio recordings and viewed pictures (without performers) of six instruments. The subjects ranked the instruments according to their preferences (for wanting to learn to play the instrument) and then indicated whether the instruments were primarily for boys or girls. Students were interviewed by the research prior to attending

4 the demonstration concert of the instruments. This allowed for students to speak candidly without peer pressure from classmates. This may have countered some of the social pressure. Next, one group of students attended in-school concerts featuring gender-consistent role models; a second group attended concerts featuring gender-inconsistent role models. A third group did not attend concerts. Repertoire and presentation methods were kept consistent. The activity sheets about preference and who should play each instrument was then re-administered. The concerts with gender-inconsistent musicians (girls playing the trombone, for example) affected the preferences of boys to playing that instrument although it is normally preferred by them. Overall and consistent with previous studies, girls generally preferred flute, violin, and piano, while boys preferred trumpet, guitar, and drums. Conway (2000) interviewed high school students from two different schools in an investigation of gender stereotyping with instruments. There were 23 students who crossed over gender stereotypes (e.g., male flute players or female drummers) and 16 who played gender-stereotypical instruments. Her research questions were centered on why students think that stereotypes exist in instruments selection and what influenced their own instrument selection decision. Conway found that stereotypes existed because of society, parental influences, oldfashioned opinions from previous generation and the media. Since both schools had students who had crossed the gender line, this issue was not as straightforward in this setting. The strongest opinions were held for the flute. Students reported that they would not allow their own son to play the flute since he might be teased at school and that boys in

5 their current families would not be allowed to play this instrument. Parent support, an ability to ignore negative comments, encouragement of teachers were factors in their success as a cross-gender instrumentalist. She also found that the crossover students enjoyed being different. Sinsabaugh (2005) also found this but added that it was easier for girls to be different than boys. A recent dissertation by Payne (2009) focused on personality traits and instrumental timbre with secondary research objectives associated with gender. He surveyed 624 high school instrumentalists in four schools in a southwestern state. Using a questionnaire which created a profile of the student, a personal style inventory and Gordons (1984) Instrument Timbre Preference Test (ITPT) he was able to identify relationships between the factors which he was investigating. Payne found that there were strong relationship between personality traits, timber preference, gender and musical instrument selection. Levels of extraversion as well as gender were predictors of timbre preference. He found gender stereotyping during instrumental selection and timbre preference. Sinsabaughs (2005) qualitative case study examined the characteristics of students who crossed over gender stereotypes and the factors that influenced their instrument selection and decision to continue playing. She used interviews with 12 students, ages 1116, from diverse backgrounds in the New York City area. The study focused on factors such as family, peers and friends and school environment. The data suggested that boys had more issues when crossing over gender stereotypes and therefore had fewer choices of instruments. Family support and approval, sound quality, ensemble playing, and teacher

6 support assisted students to cross the gender barrier and were particularly important to their continued participation in music. Eros (2008) found in his review of recent literature that there are tides of change that researchers are finding in individual settings. As people are becoming more accepting of human diversity in general, the issue of gender stereotyping is improving. He extends the challenge to all who teach, Music educators in the 21st century, have the responsibility to see that musical instruments remain, first and foremost, just that: musical (p. 67). Abeles (2009) sadly reports that gender stereotyping remains and to a similar degree as it has been for the past thirty years. A point for future research is to unpack factors that contribute to students actual selection of instruments, which may be different from instruments students indicate that they are interested in playing (p. 18).

Method The current research project utilized both quantitative and qualitative data. The first step in the quantitative portion was to replicate Study Two from Abeles and Porter (1978). I began by administering the MIPCSF randomly to people at my school and at the church where I am Music Director (n=20). Simultaneously, the other members of my team administered the MIPCSF in their own communities. Half of the people who completed the survey were musicians (worked as a professional musician and/or held an earned degree in music) and the other half were not trained in music. The participants were selected randomly and of varying age, race and gender. Surveys were anonymous and no information was kept about the participants.

7 As in Abeles and Porter (1978), the participants were asked to select between 28 different pairs of instruments. Instruments were the same as in the original study: clarinet, violin, flute, trombone, trumpet, drum, saxophone and cello. I scored the results and examined the relationship between the music and non-musician groups using the Spearman-Rank Correlation Coefficient. I pooled my data with that of my colleagues from Group 3 and transformed the data to normalized score values using the procedure described by Edwards (1957).

Table 1. Instrument Rankings and Normalized Scale Scores

Instrument Flute Clarinet Violin Cello Saxophone Trumpet Trombone Drums

Normalized Gender Scale Score .000 .614 .851 1.874 2.229 2.404 2.826 3.050

Because I changed working groups part way through the semester, for the next stage of the project, Group 2 decided to use the normalized scale scores which two of the other members had calculated in their quantitative mini-report. Table 2 below shows the set of scores below which we agreed to all use so that our calculations would align.

8 Table 2. Instrument Rankings and Normalized Scale Scores

Instrument Flute Violin Clarinet Cello Saxophone Trombone Trumpet Drums

Normalized Gender Scale Score .000 .891 1.104 1.951 2.815 3.254 3.118 3.739

The researchers then collected and pooled enrollment data from five middle school instrumental programs (grades 6-8) for comparison to the above rankings. The data were organized by grade level and gender for each of the eight instruments featured in the original study (Abeles & Porter, 1978). The researchers applied the normalized scale scores from Table 2 to this data and obtained the means for each grade level by gender. Next, the team calculated the standard deviation for each grade level by gender. For the qualitative section of this study, each of the five researchers interviewed one student or musician who played an instrument commonly identified with the opposite gender, using an interview protocol designed by Sinsabaugh (2005). The interviews addressed issues of instrument selection, family and home environment, school, friends and peers, personality, and gender perception. Two of the interviewees were mature musicians and middle school band teachers a 47-year-old middle female percussionist (Melissa) and a female trombonist in her early fifties (Lesley). The other two researchers chose to interview much younger players - an 11-year-old male flute player (Kevin) and a 21-year-old female trumpeter (Kristi). The researchers exchanged transcripts of the interviews and musician portraits for analysis.

9 Results Table Two is taken from the first portion of this study the quantitative work which replicated Abeles and Porter (1978). The table below shows the raw middle school data for each of the instruments studied, as well as the mean and standard deviation for each grade level by gender. Table 2. Combined middle school data with means and standard deviations Instrument
Flute Violin Clarinet Cello Saxophone Trombone Trumpet Drums Sums: Means: SD: 6th Grade Girls 37 47 35 10 6 1 7 4 147 1.068 1.434 6th Grade Boys 5 9 17 6 20 15 41 23 136 2.628 2.839 7th Grade Girls 39 24 33 11 5 3 7 7 129 1.171 1.626 7th Grade Boys 3 8 8 10 14 15 22 16 96 2.626 2.831 8th Grade Girls 23 35 23 7 3 0 4 1 96 0.998 1.294 8th Grade Boys 3 11 9 9 13 25 19 22 111 2.673 2.882

The mean scores closest to 0 indicate the most feminine instruments; the higher scores more masculine. The means are higher for boys throughout the three grades, indicating that the boys tended to choose more masculine instruments. The means also increased throughout each grade for boys. The mean scores for girls are lower overall and do not increase through the grade levels. Since standard deviation is a measure of how the value are spread from the center value, the standard deviations indicates that the girls in this study did not choose as wide a variety of instruments as the boys. The standard deviation for boys is higher and increased steadily indicating that this group picked from a wider variety of instruments and this trend continued for each grade. Looking at the table, the three highest values for 6th grade girls 9

10 are the three most feminine instruments (flute, violin and clarinet). 81% of this subgroup picked among the three most feminine instruments. This also occurs in the 7th and 8th grade girls. Meanwhile, the values for the boys are more spread from feminine to masculine instruments. For example, in 6th grade boys only 58% of boys had picked the three instruments considered the more masculine (trombone, trumpet and drums). The second stage of this project, which was qualitative in nature, involved one to one interviews and analysis of the resulting transcripts. A cross-case analysis of the interviews and portraits of each musician interviewed by my team showed similarities and differences to the subjects studied by Sinsabaugh (2005). Brief Student Descriptions Lesley is in her early fifties and teaches middle school band. She comes from a middle class family who lived in the rural Midwest. Her parents and siblings were musical and supportive of her involvement in music. Financially, her family was not poor but they did not have money for extras. She had private lessons in high school before enter college as a music major. She continues to be involved in music making as an adult. She is committed to her job as a public school teacher she is confident and upbeat. Melissa is a 47-year-old female percussionist and, like Lesley, teaches middle school band. She comes from an upper middle class Caucasian family. Her parents and siblings were musical and supportive of her involvement in music. Financially, her family was secure so money was a not a struggle in her upbringing. She had private lessons in high school before entering college as music major. Like Lesley, she continues to be involved in music making as an adult. She is committed to her students.

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11 Kristi is a 21-year-old female, Mexican-American. She is a trumpet player currently enrolled in the second year of a Music Education degree at a prestigious state university in Texas. She reports that next to her family and friends, music is the most important thing in her life. Kristi is confident and outgoing. She enjoys college and the many different styles of music which she has an opportunity to play including classical, jazz and Tejano. Kevin is an 11-year-old male flutist who plays in his seventh grade band. This is his first year. He self-reports as German and speak the language although he has always lived in the US. He is a strong student and musician who enjoy a variety of styles including rock, classical and East-Asian music. He is a confident adolescent who enjoys his friendships and his success in music and at school. His family is supportive of his involvement in music. Instrument Choice Most of the musicians mention music being part of their home and being a primary influence on their decision to begin playing their instrument. Lesley started piano when she was four. Her mother played the piano. When the issue of playing an instrument at school came up when she was in fifth grade, she remembers that her parents said something to the effect, Theres a trombone in the family, no ones using it, youre gonna use it. Melissas parents sand siblings all played the piano or guitar. She received a drumset when she was six years old and fooled around on it. Formal lessons at school started in seventh grade. Melissa remembers taking the Selmer test and her family buying a Ludwig snare drum.

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12 Kristi began to study her instrument in school band in seventh grade. Her Dad played the trumpet so she was familiar with it and upon hearing it during sign-up time in school, I liked it because it was more my size. It wasnt too big or too small. Kevins instrument was demonstrated for him and remembers it being, very elegant and you could really see what was going on. It was very graceful. He mentioned that he wanted to play the harp but that wasnt an option in band so he chose the flute. He enjoys being challenged by the flute. Family/Home Although the four interviewees were quite different they all share/shared a supportive home life. Music is/was part of their upbringing part of the culture of the family and encouraged as part of their childhood. Although different members of the family served as role models for them the common ground is that they all had role models. Kristis Dad was a trumpeter, Lesleys Mom played the piano and Melissas Mom continues to be a church organist at 81 years of age. Kevins Mom and Dad both played the recorder. The siblings in all of the cases are also musical and this radiates to the extended family. Kristi recalled that, Yeah, I have a saxophone, a couple of saxophone players, flute, clarinet and bass clarinet. Lesley remembered her great aunt who was a fabulous piano player and had a great ear. School From reading the transcripts (and knowing Lesley personally), it seems that Lesley and Melissa have a lot in common. In both interviews, they each decided to talk about their experience with music as social from childhood through college. Both started their instruments in middle school and were proud to be members of their school band. In high

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13 school, both women attended rural schools were students were often in many different activities athletics, music, and clubs. Both were leaders and were very involved in their school community. When asked about academics, Lesley was very clear, I was a straight A student. Melissa answered that she was always prepared and achieved average grades. What was most important was that she felt connected to what she was learning. For both ladies, band was their favorite subject! Regarding school, Kristi reported that she does well and is responsible, although I used to be more responsible (laughter) than I am now but . . . I prioritize . . . I know what I need to do. She says that, like everything, there are good and bad professors and directors (ensemble conductors) but this seems acceptable to her. Kevin is a serious student who reports his grades as Decent. I have As and a handful of Bs and a C or two. His favorite subjects are math, gym, music and writing. In the interview he reported on various teachers. Overall he has a positive view of these adults and his school in general. Friends/Peers Lesley talked about her friends currently and her friends in her school days as being people she connected with through music. Since music has always been such an important of her life, that was where her most important friendships started. She met her (current) husband in college marching band. Today, most of her friends are in her community band. Melissa reminisced about the important friendship she made in middle school band and how diverse social groups were all part of the band family. A powerful part of her interview was when she recounted about one her band friends. Arm was a big stoner. But he was also the one who when we were in high school his sister hung herself. She

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14 tripped out on LSD and she was a friend of mine. I remember coming home from region band and my middle school band director waiting for us to tell us that it had happened. For Melissa, serious life events were connected to music, music organizations and the people who were involved in them. Kevin is in the seventh grade. When asked about friends and the flute, he listed off the people whom he associated with. He doesnt seem to count these as friends. He has a very mature attitude towards picking friends, When I make a friend I know theyre going to be a good one. It takes a while. When I pick a friend I want to make sure that I pick the proper person. Kevin is confident in his decision to play the flute and he is enjoying the journey to becoming a better musician. Kristi is in college and has friends who are male and female trumpet players. She describes that, We hang out a lot, we all love music . . . we all like to go dance to music . . . we will go out of our way to hear it live. She is at the life-stage where she socializes a lot and her social group is all musicians. In fact, Kristi reports that all of her social life revolves around music. We hang out . . . and we are like . . . OK, where the music? In another place in the interview, she remarked, I usually just hang out with the salsa and mariachi people. Those are my friends. Personality Lesley is a positive person who is committed to music, children and her profession. During her interview she was excited to talk about her past music teachers, her current students, her involvment in music and her feelings on this issues addressed by the interview questions. Melissa described herself as a happy person; I want to have a happy impact on the people Im around. She explained how she attempts to make her band

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15 room a safe and caring place for students. Like Lesley, she said that she feels like she has grown more confident through the years and through her teaching. Kristi describes herself as, easy going and not hard to please. She seems proud of her accomplishments already and excited about her future career options in music. She is proud to be a trumpet player. Kevin seems to be proud of himself and forthcoming about his opinions and beliefs. He appears to reflect on his life and his relationships to those around him. He is not bothered that some people may have ridiculed him for playing the flute. I think an[y] instrument [is] for anyone who is determined to play and really wants to play it. Gender/Instrument Lesley reported that she was always proud to be a trombone player and never really encountered much prejudice. In middle school, judges at Festival were interested that she was the only girl in the county (and she got attention from the boys) but it seemed welcome. (She did mention that she encountered more negativity from band colleagues about being a female band conductor.) On the topic of sex stereotyping of instruments she told me very directly that she has always educated her students and families on this matter. Her opinion is most certainly that any instrument can be played by either gender. Similarly, Melissa recounted that she was always glad to be a percussionist. I was excited about it. I was very proud of it. They would think it was cool. She had nothing negative to report. Kristi reported that no one ever made her feel uncomfortable about playing trumpet. She did report an awareness for certain instruments being more suitable for

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16 certain groups, Like flute and clarinet are more girls . . . um but Ive never felt like that on the brass end of it . . . or percussion. In general, each musician has a commitment to his or her instrument. They are/were supported by someone at home or school and usually have/had a role model. Music is an important part of their social life and most of their friends are people that they met through music or stay connected with because of it. All four musicians learned to play their instrument in a public school setting although they also learned from family members as well. School is/was important to them and was a positive part of their life. They all seem generally positive and are willing to stand up for their decision to play an instrument not traditionally played by their gender. Discussion The replication of Study Two from Abeles and Porter (1978) and the quantitative work done for this project show that instrument sex stereotyping still exists but to a lesser degree since the scaled scores are within a more narrow range. Although some of the scores between instruments are very close in the 2009 study, it is interesting to note that they were also very close in the 1978 study but the values of the scores are much larger. (Compare the saxophone and cello scores in both studies.) By contrast the range of scores for flute, violin and clarinet are closer in the present study than in the original. This suggests that these instruments are becoming more gender neutral. Some of the instruments have changed their position on the continuum but not by more than one position.

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17 The standard deviations for the boys were significantly higher than those for girls in the middle school data indicating that boys chose a wider variety of instruments. The girls, by contrast, primarily chose from a small selection of feminine-ranked instruments. Sinsabaugh (2005) found that girls were generally more able to make an instrument choice. In the four musicians interviewed, we did not find that the individuals felt that gender played a role in the instrument they chose to play. Actually, one participant reported it was mostly financial (Lesley) and the others chose the instrument because of the challenge it presented (Kevin) or they like the sound (Melissa and Kristi). Although Sinsabaugh (2005) found that the flute was most problematic for boys, our boy flute player seemed unaffected by this. The three women in our study did not encounter this prejudice. One of them (Kristi) mentioned it as a vague awareness but certainly not something that she felt was important. As in the 2005 study, family supported all of the participants in our study and peers and music educators held a dominant place in many of their music education especially noted in the two older participants. Conclusions The quantitative and qualitative data gathered in this study provided answers to the research questions. The data collected from middle schools showed that students still choose instruments that have been traditionally associated with their gender. Boys choose a wider range of instruments at each grade level. The interview data and student portraits were valuable insights into the lives of four individuals at different stages in their lives. Overall they have personally experienced little prejudice as they pursue the instrument of their choice. Kevin, since he is the only one currently in public school, seemed most aware of the existence of gender biases. Family

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18 involvement and the support of mentors were/had been key to the musicians continuation with their instrument. As Abeles (2009) found, the issue of gender stereotyping of musical instruments persists. Sinsabaughs (2005) study gives valuable insight into the power of interview data on this topic. I believe that this replication adds weight to her conclusions. There seems to be a growing awareness to the importance of counteracting this issue for the sake of our young people. Music educators seem to agree that the diversity of musical instruments needs to be more accessible to the greatest range of students. I find hope in the attitudes of those in research and teaching who are raising awareness and who are working to make this issue a non-issue.

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19 References Abeles, H. (2009). Are musical instrument gender associations changing? Journal of Research in Music Education, 57, 127-139. Abeles, H. F., & Porter, S. Y. (1978). The sex-stereotyping of musical instruments. Journal of Research in Music Education, 26(2), 65-75. Conway, C. (2000). Gender and musical instrument choice: A phenomenological investigation. Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 146, 1-17. Edwards, A.L (1957). Techniques of Attitude Scale Construction. New York: AppletonCentury-Crofts, Inc. Eros, J. (2008). Instrument selection and gender sterotypes. A review of recent literature. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 27, 57-64. Harrison, A. C., & ONeill, S. A. (2000). Childrens gender-typed preferences for musical instruments: An intervention study. Psychology of Music, 28(1), 81-97. Payne, P. (2009). An investigation of relationships between timbre preference, personality traits, gender, and music instrument selection of public school band students. Ph.D. dissertation, The University of Oklahoma, United States -- Oklahoma. Retrieved December 15, 2009, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text. (Publication No. AAT 3366051). Sinsabaugh, K. (2005). Understanding students who cross over gender stereotypes in musical instrument selection. Ed.D. dissertation, Columbia University Teachers College, United States -- New York. Retrieved December 15, 2009, from Dissertations & Theses: Full Text.(Publication No. AAT 3175728). Zervoudakes, J. & Tanur, J.M. (1994). Gender and musical instruments: Winds of change? Journal of Research in Music Education, 42, 58-67.

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20 APPENDIX A Student/Musician Portraits Melissa (Interviewed by Mary Bronk) Melissa is a 47-year-old band director in a large public middle school in central Texas. Melissa grew up in north Texas in a ranching family. She was an avid horsewoman, riding in parades and rodeos and helping to care for horses, cattle and other animals. Melissa also studied piano and painting as a young child. As a college student, Melissa had many jobs teaching percussion lessons and marching percussion and was temporarily sidetracked from finishing her education. Relocating to central Texas, Melissa was hired as an instructional aide in her current school district. With support from the school districts initiative to assist instructional aides in completing college, she taught percussion lessons and drum line while attending school, eventually finishing her undergraduate degree, teaching certification, and masters degree. Melissa is a talented percussionist, guitarist, pianist and singer, and has performed professionally with various ensembles, including orchestras, concert bands, polka bands, rock bands, steel drum bands, and church ensembles. She is an excellent private percussion instructor, with many all-state students to her credit. Melissa is a wonderful drum line instructor and highly successful middle school band director. Her strong sense of musicality makes her an asset in any instructional situation. Melissa said in our interview that I feel like Im a happy person; I want to have a happy impact on the people Im around. I feel like when my kids come in my room I tell them when you get to my classroom, you should get the feeling that you have a sigh of relief Im somewhere safe. In Melissas classroom, that feeling is apparent. She is

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21 organized and runs a warm, child-centered classroom. She is very interactive with her students and very kind and respectful in the way she gives feedback. Melissas confidence, kindness and warm interaction with her students seem to mirror the love and support she received from her family and peers as a young person and a young musician. She never experienced anything but support and admiration for her musical endeavors. She extends that same support to her students, making the band room a safe and happy place. Melissa has been a role model for hundreds of young musicians, including many female percussionists, trumpet and trombone players, and male flute and clarinet players.

Lesley (Interviewed by Sean Jackman) Lesley is in her early fifties and a middle school band teacher in my school district in suburban Detroit. We worked together last year since I was the choir teacher at the same school. Lesley has taught at this school for more than twenty-five years and is in her thirtieth year in our district and in the profession. Physically, Lesley is an attractive and well-groomed person who is committed to fitness. Many days after school, she regularly reports to the gym and often sees a personal trainer. She is committed to health living and therefore is energetic and enthusiastic. She brings this attitude to her classroom and exudes high performance in her band room. Lesley is a supportive and attentive colleague. She is a team player and is well respected in her building. Lesley is an alumnus of the University of Michigan (Music Education trombone). Lesley continues to play trombone today in a local community band.

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22 Lesleys husband is a laywer and amateur trombonist they met in the marching band at Michigan. Lesley is the mother of two grown children of whom she is very proud. Her son currently teaches at her school (hired in September) and her daughter is pursuing a professional career in opera and is currently enrolled in an undergraduate music program on the east coast. Lesley is committed to her band students and to the wider arts community. She serves on our districts Arts Task Force and is on the board of the local Community Arts Council. She is a volunteer music director (handbells) at her church which is in the community. Lesley grew up in rural Michigan and came from modest means. Her siblings, like she, were involved in music in high school. Lesley grew up in a Christian home which taught strong values such as honesty and trustworthiness. Although there were no professional musicians in her immediate family, they were supportive of her involvement in music. These values have been transmitted to Lesleys own family. Her social life outside work centers on music. Many of her close friends are also musicians and she is involved in music outside work through her community band and her church. Although, she is well aware of gender stereotypes in regards to instruments she explained to me that she works to educate students and families about this. Her belief is that all instruments are for all children. Indeed, she did not complete my initial survey but wrote across the survey document that she does not allow students to think in this way. In the interview I noticed that Lesley is proud to be a trombonist. She never mentioned being embarrassed by her instrument at any stage in her schooling. She described that the trombone has, over the years, become part of her identity. Being a

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23 career educator, I found that she was articulate about her involvement with her instrument and how it has affected her personal and professional life. She was an excellent candidate to interview for this project since her instrument is so important to her and she wrestles with the many issues involved in music teaching and learning on a daily basis.

Kristi (interviewed by Freddie Mendoza) Kristi is definitely someone who stands out on a band stand. At four feet, eleven inches and one hundred and seventeen pounds, when this 21 year old screams out a double G from the back row of a big band, people take notice. She has participated in jazz and salsa ensembles since her high-school years and is most certainly not the typical picture of a lead trumpeter. Self-described as a junior and a half, she is currently working on a Music Education degree at a prestigious state university in Texas, and participates in the marching band, the symphonic band, jazz ensemble and salsa bands. She has been a musician since middle school and has aspirations to teach music at either the middle school or high school level. She is originally from Houston, Texas, where she lived until the age of twelve. She moved from the metropolis of Houston to a small town in east Texas called Victoria. It is here that she finished her high school. Family is perhaps one of the most important aspects of Kristis life. She has three aunts and seven uncles on her fathers side and eight aunts and one uncle on her mothers side, in addition to over forty cousins. She describes her family as extremely close-knit, often coming together for holidays and special events. Her closeness with her family is critically important to her and comes up often in conversation. It is how she builds her identity, and her relationships with family have produced a courteous, well- grounded

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24 young lady who is respectful and socially well-adjusted. One of her concerns related to being a musician is that there are times her music takes her away from family events, and while on the one hand she loves performance, she also feels a tinge of guilt when she is unable to be with family because of her music. She describes herself as easy-going and definitely not high-maintenance. She is well liked and has many friends with whom she enjoys hanging out and listening to music. Her favorite musical style is Tejano, as it reminds her family and her childhood. She is a well put-together young lady, from her physical appearance and dress to her attitude which is always positive and upbeat. Rarely would you catch her without a smile on her face, or in the middle of laughing at herself, or her friends. Next to her family and friends, music is the most important thing in her life. As a musician she is a competent trumpeter, who engages in many and diverse styles of musical performance and her decision to play the trumpet is one she has never second-guessed. She states in her interview she had NO desire to play a woodwind instrument and that her first choices were percussion and trumpet. She was most certainly influenced by her father and uncle who played the trumpet and by the Tejano music she heard as a child. Her attitude and personality, her work ethic and accomplishments as a student of music, as well as her diverse musical taste and experiences will certainly serve her well in her chosen career. There is no doubt she has a bright future as a music educator, has most certainly chosen her intended profession well, and will serve as an excellent role model for her future students.

Kevin (interviewed by Nicolas Dosman)

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25 Kevin is an eleven-year-old boy who attends a department of defense school. He plays flute in the seventh grade band. He had played recorder in elementary school. This is his first year in band. This young man can be described as an intelligent articulate person who had been exposed to a variety of musical experiences including attending live concerts that include the following genres: rock, classical, choral music, and East- Asian music. Academically he is a strong student and becomes bored when the tasks become too easy and repetitive. Kevin likes school, but becomes frustrated when students become disruptive and thinks the school day should be five hours. Besides music classes, he likes gym and science; he also has a favorable opinion of his teachers. He does not describe himself as a good student, although his grades are mostly As and Bs and one C. Kevin appears to have deep appreciation for all styles of music and proper audience etiquette. His father is in the Air force and his mother is a homemaker. He describes his family as middle class. Qualities that he described that his family has instilled in him are: honesty, directness, and being protective of one another. Due to the fact that his father is in the military, his family has lived abroad and in multiple locations in the United States. His family was very supportive of his decision to play flute and encourages him to stick with it. However he does not take private lessons. Kevin is very comfortable with playing the flute. He has seen both men and women play the flute. Kevin is aware that some people think the flutes are for girls. However, it does not bother him. In the interview he says most people cool when he describes the instrument and shows them how the instrument works. He has been exposed to a variety of

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26 flutes, including Asian flutes, wooden flutes. Kevin is not embarrassed at all to be a male flute player. Kevin is gregarious young man and does not have difficulty making friends. He is selective about who is going to be a friend. He looks for friends that have similar interests that he has and wants friends that are going to be good friends. One of his close friends is a boy who plays the alto saxophone. Kevin does not feel anyone treats him differently because of his flute in general. However, he mentioned that a couple of his classmates say that the flute was girly. He made it clear that he does not buy into that train of thought. He mentioned that for a half-asecond he thought the harp was girly, but then explained in his interview that the harp is not a popular instrument in general because it is so expensive. Kevin believes anyone should be able to play instrument that they want to play regardless of their gender. However, some have suggested to him that the flute or harp should be for a girl and the trumpet and big jazz instruments should be for boys. Kevin is aware of a social class system at his school; the low, middle, and popular kids. His friends consists of kids in the middle and popular group, but he self identifies as a one in the middle group. He has only been at the school for a year therefore has had a limited opportunity to make many friends compared to other children. Kevin had mentioned that virtually anyone except for the low group can be part of the popular group at any given time. The low group he described as not very smart, weird, outcasts that group together. This group is poorly treated by the school population at large.

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