Attitude and the junior high ensemble : partial fullfillment of requirements for Master of Arts in teaching

Attitude is a very subjective quality, but has a great deal of influence on a classroom teaching and learning situation. This is especially true of a performance oriented class even when the main objective is not performance for performance sake. Attitudes can be affected by many variables but the one to be considered in this project is whether an effective grading system has positive affects on the students\u27 attitudes. This study was implemented with a Junior High Band made students had played for at least one year or more. Due to ! up of both boys and girls, grades six through eight. These their attitude problem when I first arrived, I tried to deduce what seemed to be the problem. My purpose was to try various grading systems that would hold the students accountable for their actions as well as trying to improve their low self-esteem which in turn seemed to affect their attitude. The grading system was established at the beginning of school. Each quarter thereafter it was changed slightly in response to the students\u27 attitudes. The majority of the students felt little or no consequence in relation to grades at the beginning of the school year, but as the grading system changed, performance quality and musical knowledge elevated, as did their self-esteem and their attitudes. Due to the research done with these students and comparing it to related research, I feel that we can safely say that attitudes are affected by many different variables, and, more importantly, they are all interrelated