Parents’ motivations in facilitating children to instruments’ learning

Xiaoyan LIN

Research output: ThesisHonours Projects (HP)

Abstract

More and more parents in Hong Kong nowadays facilitate their children that are studying in primary schools to learn instruments for different purposes. This study investigated motivations and tendency of these parents and tried to find the connection between motivations and their background. Fifty parents completed the questionnaires about their motivations in facilitating their children to learn instruments in five different aspects including intrinsic and extrinsic values. Six interviews with parents of different background were conducted to have an insight into their attitudes and thoughts. Findings show that most participants pay more attention to intrinsic value and utility value rather than attainment value and cost. They also have a strong expectancy in children’s instruments’ learning. Hong Kong is a highly competitive city. Parents and schools always pay much attention to academic performance and music thus is always regarded as an ‘useless’ subject for the main purpose of it is for pleasure. Therefore, it is difficult for music teachers to promote the cultural value of music. Only a little students choose music as their future studies and most of them are with a rooted idea infused by their parents that music can help them being admitted to the universities or provide more job opportunities for in Hong Kong, getting a good job is much more important than understanding the culture. Compared with the active attitude and the number of parents who facilitate the instruments’ learning in primary level, it is paradoxical and parents seem to always emphasize the utility value of music. It is not a bad condition as long as teachers can make a good use of this seemingly contradictory phenomenon. Teachers can help parents to recognize the real value of music by learning parents’ motivations and thoughts in detail. Teachers will be able to have a better understanding of parents’ expectations of teachers as well. At the same time, it will be easier to promote music in school education, which is the most important place to promote cultural education.
Original languageEnglish
QualificationBachelor of Education (Honours)
Supervisors/Advisors
  • LEUNG, Bo Wah 梁寶華, Supervisor
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • Parents
  • Children
  • Motivations
  • Instruments’ learning
  • Honours Project (HP)
  • Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Music) (Five-year Full-time)
  • Programme code: A5B064
  • Course code: MUS4902

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