Musical Conducting in the Guitárregas Guitar Ensemble: A Leadership Based on the Self-determination of Music Teachers

Abstract

The Self-Determination Theory (SDT) understands that self-determined people regulate their behaviour according to the pleasure perceived along the activity, so the leadership applied by management is determinant for promoting the self-determined behaviour. In this study, we will explain the self-determination encouraged by the Guitárregas' conductor to his students of the Bachelor degree in music education, according to SDT. The method responds to a qualitative design based on the hermeneutic approach. Data collection was carried out through a semi-structured interview. The results show that leadership encouraged by the conductor satisfies the innate psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, so the director promotes the self-determined behaviour in his students. To conclude, Guitárregas is a reproducible project as long as the student musical background is valued, the repertoire contextualised, and the ensemble supported by an institution.

Exploring motivation in music teachers: the case of three primary schools in Spain

“…This study aims to explore the motivation of music teachers in classroom settings because, according to Gabnyté and Strakšiené (2014), music teachers enjoy conducting lessons even when authoritarian teaching methods are applied. To better understand this, the behaviour of three music teachers is analysed in qualitative terms from a perspective focused on self-determination theory (Evans, 2015;Deci & Ryan, 2016;Ryan & Deci, 2017;Angel-Alvarado & Álamos, 2018). This theory establishes that autonomous motivation involves a sense of will when making decisions, while controlled motivation is related to feelings of pressure during a task.…”