A comparative study of teacher behavior in selected secondary band directors in the United States and Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the teaching styles of secondary concert band directors from the United States and Japan. Previous studies on music rehearsal effectiveness have discussed the important role of teaching style, but no research was found comparing concert band directors from different countries. This research utilized an online survey of concert band directors (n = 265) in six regions of the United States and the Kansai region of Japan. The survey obtained background information and asked subjects to complete the Music Teaching Style Inventory (MTSI) (Gumm, 2004) which divided teaching styles into eight potential dimensions of teaching emphasis: 1) assertive teaching; 2) nonverbal motivation; 3) group dynamics; 4) positive learning environment; 5) music concept learning; 6) artistic music performance; 7) student independence; and 8) time efficiency. Results showed a significant difference (p < .01) between concert band directors in the two countries for all MTSI dimensions except time efficiency. Japanese band directors exhibited more emphasis on assertive teaching, nonverbal motivation and group dynamics than U.S. band directors. U.S. band directors exhibited more emphasis on positive learning environment, music concept learning, artistic music performance, and student independence than Japanese band directors. Directors from both countries appeared to emphasize time efficiency fairly equally in their teaching styles. Most Japanese concert band directors rehearse primarily outside of the school day for more than ten hours per week, and have slightly smaller concert bands in comparison to U.S. directors who rehearse larger bands in fewer hours during the school day.