A study of student leadership in the college, high school, middle school, and elementary school music ensembles within southern California

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discover the nature of student leadership within school music ensembles and to explore the process used to develop these student leaders. The intent was to complete an analysis and summary of the data collected from a voluntary survey. A questionnaire was sent to music directors of ensembles in local college, high school, and middle school groups. The research was designed to discover the following: 1. What are the contributing roles that students fulfill toward the functioning of their ensemble? 2. How are these students chosen for these roles? 3. How are these students prepared for their roles and coached while they fulfill their roles? 4. How well did these student leaders help to meet success markers? The directors were also invited to share program documents that were used to train or support their student ensembles and student leaders. Any documents shared, such as by-laws, constitutions, manuals, application forms, contracts, and syllabi are included in the appendices.