A Comparison of Collegiate Ensemble Members' Preferences of Teacher Interpersonal Behaviors

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine collegiate band, choir, and orchestra members' preferred teacher interpersonal behaviors. The sample (N = 705) was composed of band, choir, and orchestra members at six universities. Participants completed the Teacher Interaction Preference Questionnaire (TIPQ). Descriptive results showed that all sub-groups most preferred the dominant-cooperative (DC) behaviors, followed by submissive-cooperative (SC) behaviors, and least preferred the dominant-oppositional (DO) behaviors. Three one-way, between-subjects ANOVAs were used with ensemble type (band, choir, and orchestra) as the independent variable and the TIPQ category (DC, SC, DO) as the dependent variable. A main effect was found for ensemble on the TIPQ-SC category with band and choir participants having a significantly higher preference for submissive-cooperative teacher interactions than orchestra participants. These findings indicate that the use of a formative assessment tool could be valuable to the music teacher in gauging preferences and effectiveness in the music classroom.