Attitudes and Motivation
The national monitoring assessment programme recognises the impact of attitudinal and motivational factors on student achievement in individual assessment tasks. Students’ attitudes, interests and liking for a subject have a strong bearing on progress and learning outcomes. Students are influenced and shaped by the quality and style of curriculum delivery, the choice of content and the suitability of resources. Other important factors influencing students’ achievements are the expectations and support of significant people in their lives, the opportunities and experiences they have in and out of school, and the extent to which they have feelings of personal success and capability.

Music Surveys
The national monitoring music surveys sought information from students about their involvement in and enjoyment of music curriculum experiences at school. Students were also asked about their involvement in and enjoyment of music- related activities out of school time. There are numerous research questions that could be asked when investigating student attitudes and engagement. In national monitoring it has been necessary to focus on a few key questions that give an overall impression of how students regard music in relation to themselves.

Each survey was administered in a session which included group and independent tasks, with a teacher reading the survey to year 4 students and available to help with writing. The surveys included 22 questions that could be responded to by ticking or circling a chosen response. Responses to these 22 questions are summarised in the large tables on the next two pages, with the results from four years earlier (2000) and, where available, from eight years earlier (1996) included so trends can be identified. The results are discussed on the following page, along with responses to two other questions.

Year 4 students were generally very positive about doing music at school. Half chose the highest rating to describe how much they liked doing music at school (question 1), and more than half warmly anticipated further study of music at school (question 6). In both cases, these results are virtually unchanged from the 1996 results. The responses to question 2 appear to indicate a modest increase in some music activities in school since 1996, particularly in regard to listening to music, but including playing instruments and dancing or moving to music. Listening to music exceeds singing as the dominant activity. Enjoyment of the activities has been maintained or improved (question 3), except for a small decline in enjoyment of playing instruments. Nevertheless, there continues to be a large gap between the enjoyment of playing instruments and the extent to which this activity is included in school programmes. Opportunities to make up (compose) music seem to be infrequent.

Outside of school, the most common activity is listening to music, which is also rated the most enjoyed activity. All other activities are also quite popular, but since 2000 there has been a small decline in involvement in, and enjoyment of, playing instruments. In an additional question, students were asked if they learned music or belonged to a music group outside of school. Twenty-five percent said “yes”, unchanged from 1996. The most common activities were piano/keyboard (nine percent) and singing (four percent).

Compared to year 4 students, year 8 students were less inclined to use the most positive categories. This pattern has been common in national monitoring surveys. Older students can be expected to be more discerning and critical, as well as more realistic about their own abilities.

Year 8 students were quite positive about doing music at school. More than one third chose the highest rating to describe how much they liked doing music at school (question 1), and almost half warmly anticipated further study of music at school (question 6). In both cases, these results are little changed from the 1996 results. The responses to question 2 appear to indicate little change since 1996 in the frequency of singing, playing instruments and making up music as activities in school, but moderate increases in listening to music and dancing or moving to music. Enjoyment of the activities has been maintained across the 8 year period, except for a small decline in enjoyment of singing (question 3). Opportunities to make up (compose) music seem to be infrequent.

Outside of school, by far the most common activity is listening to music, which is also very strongly rated the most enjoyed activity. All other activities except making up music are also quite popular. Involvement in, and enjoyment of, singing appears to have increased over the past four years, with little change in involvement or enjoyment for the other activities. In an additional question, students were asked if they learned music or belonged to a music group outside of school. Twenty-eight percent said “yes”, slightly lower than the 30 percent in 1996. The most common activities were piano/keyboard (12 percent), guitar (six percent), with playing drums, playing a woodwind instrument, and membership of a performing group all at three percent.