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Helsel dissertation final.pdf (29.89 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Travel as experiential music education: Considering impacts on secondary band, orchestra, and choral programs

Helsel, Bryan R
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0747-9854
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1556134241478845

Abstract Details

2019, PHD, Kent State University, College of the Arts / School of Music, Hugh A. Glauser.
High school choirs, bands, and orchestras regularly engage in travel experiences that take students to overnight destinations where they perform and function as tourists. This dissertation explores the benefits and the drawbacks of this practice. The research is intended to reveal what music educators believe to be the learning benefits of these endeavors, aggregated by musical and nonmusical learning. Inquiry in this study asked ensemble directors to weigh the opportunities and challenges of music trips, and to consider the impact they perceive that this practice can have on their music program. An additional aim of the study is to create a clearer depiction of what occurs during travel experiences. In order to explore these areas fully, a mixed methods design was employed. The first phase involved a national survey of 745 participants to obtain a broad perspective of music educator opinions regarding the complexities of school ensemble travel. Quantitative analysis informed the questions asked in the second phase of the research, with data from participant interviews, artifact collection, trip observation, and open-ended survey responses. Nine participants were purposefully chosen from the original 745 respondents to provide a national perspective that is inclusive of choir, orchestra, and band directors for the qualitative phase of study. Data were analyzed through the lens of theories of Kolb and Plog examining travel market research and experiential learning theory. Themes that emerged were centered around student bonding, recruitment and retention, issues of authenticity, value, and access. Most teacher participants felt that the travel opportunity has a high amount of value for their program, and for the students who can afford to access the trip. Teachers use travel for recruitment and retention, yet there is little data to show that trips can cause such a benefit. Results of the study can provide music educators with more detail about why the profession upholds this tradition of travel, and a clearer understanding of what activities encompass music trips. Having more insight into this complex topic can help music educators, writers of curriculum, and policy makers to formulate important decisions related to their music programs.
Craig Resta (Advisor)
Jay Dorfman (Committee Member)
Christopher Venesile (Committee Member)
Alicia Crowe (Committee Member)
349 p.
Music; Music Education
music education, travel, trip, experiential learning, choir, orchestra, band, educational travel,

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Helsel, B. R. (2019). Travel as experiential music education: Considering impacts on secondary band, orchestra, and choral programs [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1556134241478845

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Helsel, Bryan. Travel as experiential music education: Considering impacts on secondary band, orchestra, and choral programs. 2019. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1556134241478845.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Helsel, Bryan. "Travel as experiential music education: Considering impacts on secondary band, orchestra, and choral programs." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1556134241478845

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1556134241478845
309
© 2019, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Travel as experiential music education: Considering impacts on secondary band, orchestra, and choral programs by Bryan R Helsel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.