Relationships between Motivation Variables and Selected Criterion Measures of High School Band Directing Success

Abstract

The level of musicianship achieved by the high school band is often attributed to the director. The personality subcategory referred to as motivation is increasingly becoming recognized as an important factor in teacher effectiveness. Motivational characteristics that contribute to the success of the high school band director are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between eight motivational vari ables and three criteria of high school band directing success. The criteria of band directing success were: (1) ensemble musicianship, (2) ensemble music performance, and (3) students' ratings of their director. A combination of two motivational vari ables–conscious concern for security and subconscious concern for home and parents–were statistically significant predictors of the ensemble performance criterion, while subconscious concern with ethical values was a statistically significant predictor of the ensemble musicianship criterion. The number of students in the high school was also found to be a statistically significant predictor of band directing success.

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