Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-03T23:43:51.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

‘Wanna race?’: Primary student preference for competitive or non-competitive singing games

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2016

J. Christopher Roberts*
Affiliation:
3112 S. Washington St., Seattle, WA 98144, USAcr777@uw.edu

Abstract

This study compared primary student preference for competitive and non-competitive singing games. Students in three intact classes of second graders (n = 65) and three classes of fourth graders (n = 67) at one school in the USA served as subjects. After playing a pair of games, one competitive and one non-competitive, over the course of five classes, students anonymously named their preferred game and reported reasons for their preference. Results indicated that the students significantly preferred the competitive game, regardless of grade level or gender. The most common reason students provided for their preference was the higher level of kinaesthetic activity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AUSTIN, J. R. (1988) The effect of music contest format on self-concept, motivation, achievement, and attitude of elementary band students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 36, 95107.Google Scholar
BELL, A. (2007) Designing and testing questionnaires for children. Journal of Research in Nursing, 12, 461469.Google Scholar
BERENSON, J. F., ROY, R., WAITE, A., GOLDBAUM, S., LINDERS, L. & SIMPSON, A. (2002) Greater discomfort as a proximate cause of sex differences in competition. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 48, 225247.Google Scholar
BICKFORD, T. (2013) Tinkering and tethering in the material culture of children's mp3 players. In Campbell, P. S. & Wiggins, T. (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Children's Musical Cultures (pp. 527542). London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
BORGERS, N., HOX, J. & SIKKEL, D. (2003) Response quality in survey research with children and adolescents: the effect of labeled response options and vague quantifiers. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 15, 112.Google Scholar
BOSAK, J., SCZESNY, S. & EAGLY, A. H. (2012) The impact of social roles on trait judgments: a critical reexamination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 429440.Google Scholar
BOWLES, C. L. (1998) Music activity preferences of elementary students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 193207.Google Scholar
BOWMAN, B. (1988) A cross-sectional descriptive study of intermediate elementary students’ attitudes toward school music activities. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas.Google Scholar
CAMPBELL, P. S. (2010) Songs in Their Heads (2nd edn). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
CONRAD, D., GARDNER, J., HANLEY, D., ROBINSON, M., ROGERS, G., STRAUB, D., LEE WASHINGTON, W., WOLFMAN, G. & PONICK, F. S. (2001) Competing for ratings: is it a good idea? Teaching Music, 8 (6), 20.Google Scholar
CRESWELL, J. W. (2012) Educational Research: Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating Quantitative and Qualitative Research (4th edn). Boston, MA: Pearson.Google Scholar
CROWTHER, R. & DURKIN, K. (1982) Sex- and age-related differences in musical behavior, interests, and attitudes towards music of 232 secondary school students. Educational Studies, 8, 131139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DARST, P. W. & PANGRAZI, R. P. (2006) Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary Students (5th edn). San Francisco, CA: Pearson.Google Scholar
DILLMAN, D. A., SMYTH, J. D. & CHRISTIAN, L. M. (2009) Internet, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.Google Scholar
DREBER, A., VON ESSEN, E. & RAMEHLL, E. (2011) Outrunning the gender gap–boys and girls compete equally. Experimental Economics, 14, 567582.Google Scholar
EAGLY, A. H. (1987) Sex Differences in Social Behavior: A Social-Role Interpretation. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
ECCLES, J., WIGFIELD, A., HAROLD, R. & BLUMENFELD, P. (1993) Age and gender differences in children's self- and task perceptions during elementary school. Child Development, 64, 830847.Google Scholar
EMERSON, R., FRETZ, R. & SHAW, L. (1995) Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
FONTANA, A. & FREY, J. (2005) The interview: from neutral stance to political involvement. In Denzin, N. & Lincoln, Y. (Eds), The Sage Book of Qualitative Research (pp. 695728). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
FRIEDMAN, H. L. (2013) Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
GNEEZY, U. & RUSTICHINI, A. (2004) Gender and competition at a young age. American Economic Review, 94, 377381.Google Scholar
GNEEZY, U., LEONARD, K. L. & LIST, J. A. (2009) Gender differences in competition: evidence from a matrilineal and a patriarchal society. Econometrica, 77, 16371664.Google Scholar
GOMME, A. B. (1898) Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Volume 2. London: Thames and Hudson.Google Scholar
GOUZOUASIS, P. & HENDERSON, A. (2012) Secondary student perspectives on musical and educational outcomes from participation in band festivals. Music Education Research, 14, 479498.Google Scholar
GREEN, L. (1994) Gender, musical meaning, and education. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 2, 99105.Google Scholar
GREEN, L. (1997) Music, Gender, Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
GREGORY, D. (1994) Analysis of listening preferences of high school and college musicians. Journal of Research in Music Education, 42, 331342.Google Scholar
HALADYNA, T. & THOMAS, G. (1979) The attitudes of elementary school children toward school and subject matters. Journal of Experimental Education, 48, 1823.Google Scholar
HARACKIEWICZ, J., BARRON, K., TAUER, J. & ELLIOTT, A. (2002) Predicting success in college: a longitudinal study of achievement goal measures as predictors of interest and performance from freshman year through graduation. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 562575.Google Scholar
HARTUP, W. W. (1992) Conflict and friendship relations. In Shantz, C. U. & Hartup, W. W. (Eds), Conflict in Child and Adolescent Development (pp. 186215). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
HIBBARD, D. R. & BUHRMASTER, D. (2010) Competitiveness, gender, and adjustment among adolescents. Sex Roles, 63, 412424.Google Scholar
HIDI, S. & RENNINGER, K. A. (2006) The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41, 111127.Google Scholar
HURST, C. W. & RAMSAY, D. S. (1991) The band contest controversy in music education as evidenced in over fifty-five years of selected research literature. Southeastern Journal of Music Education, 3, 178187.Google Scholar
KILLIAN, J. N. & BASINGER, L. (2004) Classroom instrument preferences among 4- to 9-year-olds in a free-play setting. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 34, 3440.Google Scholar
KOOPS, L. H. (2013) Enjoyment and socialization in Gambian children's music making. In Campbell, P. S. & Wiggins, T. (Eds), Oxford Handbook of Children's Musical Cultures (pp. 266280). London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
LEBLANC, A. (1982) An interactive theory of music preference. Journal of Music Therapy, 19, 2845.Google Scholar
LEBLANC, A., & COTE, R. (1983) Effects of tempo and performing medium on children's music preference. Journal of Research in Music Education, 31, 5766.Google Scholar
LUM, C-H. (2008) Home musical environment of children in Singapore: on globalization, technology, and media. Journal of Research in Music Education, 56, 101117.Google Scholar
MARSH, K. (2008) The Musical Playground. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
MERRILL-MIRSKY, C. (1986) Girls’ handclapping games in three Los Angeles schools. Yearbook for Traditional Music, 18, 4759.Google Scholar
MILLER, R. (1994) A dysfunctional culture: competition in music. Music Educators Journal, 81 (3), 2933.Google Scholar
MINKS, A. (2008) Performing gender in song games among Nicaraguan Miskitu children. Language and Communication, 28, 2656.Google Scholar
MIZENER, C. P. (1993) Attitudes of children toward singing and choir participation and assessed singing skill. Journal of Research in Music Education, 41, 233245.Google Scholar
MOORE, R. S. (2002) Influence of multicultural singing games on primary school children's attentiveness and song preferences in music classes. International Journal of Music Education, 39, 3139.Google Scholar
MURPHY, M. K. & BROWN, T. S. (1986) A comparison of preferences for instructional objectives between teachers and students. Journal of Research in Music Education, 34, 134139.Google Scholar
NOLEN, S. (2007) The role of literate communities in the development of children's interest in writing. In Hidi, S. & Boscolo, P. (Eds), Writing and Motivation (pp. 238253). Oxford: Elsevier.Google Scholar
NOLIN, W. H. (1973) Attitudinal growth patterns toward elementary school music experiences. Journal of Research in Music Education, 21, 123134.Google Scholar
OPIE, I. & OPIE, P. (1988) The Singing Game. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
PATRICK, H., RYAN, A. M. & PINTRICH, P. R. (1999) The differential impact of extrinsic and mastery goal orientations on males’ and females’ self-regulated learning. Learning and Individual Differences, 11, 153171.Google Scholar
PHILLIPS, K. & AITCHISON, R. (1998) The effects of psychomotor skills instruction on attitude toward singing and general music among students in grades 4–6. Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 137, 3242.Google Scholar
PHILLIPS, K. & AITCHISON, R. (1999) Second-year results of a longitudinal study of the relationship of singing instruction, pitch accuracy, and gender to aural acuity, vocal achievement, musical knowledge, and attitude towards singing among general music students. Contributions to Music Education, 26 (1), 6785.Google Scholar
ROBERTS, J. (2015) Situational interest of fourth grade children in music at school. Journal of Research in Music Education, 63, 180197.Google Scholar
ROHRER, T. P. (2012) The debate on competition in music in the twentieth century. Update, 21, 3847.Google Scholar
RUISMÄKI, H. & TERESKA, T. (2008) Students’ assessments of music learning experiences from kindergarten to university. British Journal of Music Education, 25, 2239.Google Scholar
SCHNEIDER, B. H., WOODBURN, S., DEL TORO, M. & UDVARI, S. J. (2005) Cultural and gender differences in the implications of competition for early adolescent friendship. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 51, 163191.Google Scholar
SHELDON, D. A. (1994) The effects of competitive versus noncompetitive performance goals on music students’ ratings of band performances. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 121, 2941.Google Scholar
SIEBENALER, D. J. (1999) Student song preference in the elementary music class. Journal of Research in Music Education, 47, 213223.Google Scholar
SOCCIO, A. (2013) The relation of culture and musical play: a literature review. Update, 32 (1), 5258.Google Scholar
STAMER, R. (2004) Student perceptions of the music contest experience. Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, 22, 512.Google Scholar
STRUBE, M. J. (1981) Meta-analysis and cross cultural comparison: sex differences in child competitiveness. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 12, 320.Google Scholar
SUTTER, M., & RÜTZLER, D. (2010) Gender differences in competition emerge early in life. Working Papers in Economics and Statistics, No. 2010–14. Innsbruck: University of Innsbruck.Google Scholar
THOMAS, D. R. (1975) Cooperation and competition among Polynesian and European children. Child Development, 46, 948953.Google Scholar
VANDER ARK, S. D., NOLIN, W. H. & NEWMAN, I. (1980) Relationships between musical attitudes, self-esteem, social status, and grade level of elementary children. Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 62, 3141.Google Scholar
WEINBERGER, N. & STEIN, K. (2008) Early competitive game playing in same- and mixed-gender peer groups. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54, 499514.Google Scholar
WOOD, W. & EAGLY, A. H. (2002) A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: implications for the origins of sex differences. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 699727.Google Scholar
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: THE GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT (2013, Oct) Retrieved from http://www.cfr.org/development/world-economic-forum-global-gender-gap-report/p32167.Google Scholar
WYNESS, M. (2006) Childhood and Society: An Introduction to the Sociology of Childhood. Houndsmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
YOUNG, S. (2012) Theorizing musical childhoods with illustrations from a study of girls’ karaoke use at home. Research Studies in Music Education, 34, 113127.Google Scholar