job satisfaction among freelance school conductors in nsw
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Doctoral dissertation, Doctor of Musical Arts - University of Sydney, 2012TRANSCRIPT
JOB SATISFACTION AMONG FREELANCE
SCHOOL CONDUCTORS IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Luke Kenneth Gilmour
LMusA, LRSM, BMus, GradDipEd
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Musical Arts,
Sydney Conservatorium of Music,
University of Sydney
2012
ii
Originality Statement
I declare that the research presented here is my own original work and has not been submitted to any other institution for the award of a degree.
Signed: .......................................................................................
Date: ...........................................................................................
iii
Abstract
Freelance musicians who conduct ensembles of school children are an essential and
vibrant part of the music education landscape in New South Wales (NSW) schools
(Hardy, 2006; Pascoe et al., 2005). Freelance school conductors (FSCs) can be found
working in every type of school environment in NSW—public, private, primary and
secondary. The kinds of ensembles that they direct include concert bands, jazz
ensembles, orchestras and choirs. This project aims to explore the background of
freelance school conductors through a mixed-methods research study involving 50
survey participants and 3 case study interviews.
Phase one of the study involved online delivery of a questionnaire to the FSC
community in NSW. The participants (N=50) included those working in public and
private schools, male and female, and represented a broad range of ages. To reflect the
specialisation that occurs in the profession, conductors from both instrumental and
choral backgrounds as well as classical and jazz directors were included in the project.
The design of the questionnaire was derived from a number of existing sources
including personal reflection, in an attempt to provide an overview of the FSC
profession.
The second qualitative phase involved three FSCs at different stages in their
career. Each participant was interviewed for approximately 40-60 minutes with the data
collected used to provide a rich description of three conductors. That is, those who are
motivated, highly professional and earning above-average incomes.
Whilst passionate about music and their role in educating children, the lack of
organisation in FSC employment conditions, training, and career development may lead
to deterioration in their job satisfaction (Heston, Dedrick, Raschke, & Whitehead, 1996)
and burnout through emotional and physical exhaustion (Maslach, Schaufeli, & Leiter,
2001). Stress within the lives of freelance school conductors may also be brought about
by the tension that exists between the identity of musicians as performers, musicians as
educators and musicians as entrepreneurs (Bennett, 2008b; Bouij, 2004; Bridgstock,
2011a; Roberts, 1991; Scheib, 2006a).
iv
Acknowledgments
The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the contribution of a
great many people. I would like to thank Dr James Renwick for his role over the last
three years as my dissertation supervisor. His guidance and assistance in providing
rigour to my questionnaire design and overarching lines of inquiry was invaluable. This
project would not have been possible without his patience, advice and generous
encouragement. I would also like to thank Dr Helen Mitchell, whose template was used
in the preparation of this thesis.
Alongside this thesis has been the performance component of my DMA,
supervised by Professor Imre Palló. I consider it an honour to have studied conducting
with Maestro Palló and thank him for opening up my ears and teaching me to lead
musicians.
As a musician, your career is always the result of others investment in you.
Mine is no different. I am forever indebted to my parents for buying me my first
saxophone and setting me on the road for an exciting journey ahead. To my saxophone
tutors, Lindsay Frost, James Nightingale and Mark Walton thank you for your
inspiration. Similarly, as a conductor working in schools I am, like those in this study, a
result of being inspired by other conductors whilst a student. I wish to thank Dr Robert
Busan, Russell Hammond and Stephen Williams for their mentoring and guidance both
initially as a student and now as someone in the career of school-based conducting.
I wish to express my appreciation to all the freelance school conductors who
participated in this project for giving up their time and sharing their personal views of
the world in which they make music. I particularly wish to acknowledge the
contribution of my three case-study participants—Ruth, Ken and Daniel.
Finally, I am forever grateful for the support of my wife and two sons over the
last four years. A lot of family time has been sacrificed in the completion of this
Doctorate but it has always been viewed as an investment in our future together. To my
boys, I look forward to much more cricket in the backyard now! To my wife, Vanessa,
thank you so much for your faith in me.
v
Table of Contents
Originality Statement ................................................................................................................. ii!
Abstract .....................................................................................................................................iii!
Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... iv!
Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... v!
List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... ix!
List of Tables.............................................................................................................................. x!
Chapter 1 : Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1!Context of the research ........................................................................................................................ 2!
Freelance school conductors (FSC)................................................................................................. 2!Training of FSCs ............................................................................................................................. 3!
Significance ......................................................................................................................................... 4!Problem statement................................................................................................................................ 6!Outline of research questions............................................................................................................... 6!Methodology........................................................................................................................................ 7!Delimitations........................................................................................................................................ 7!Summary.............................................................................................................................................. 7!
Chapter 2 : Literature Review .................................................................................................... 9!Context and background to the FSC situation in NSW schools .......................................................... 9!Job satisfaction of the self-employed................................................................................................. 11!Factors affecting the job satisfaction of freelance school conductors ............................................... 13!
Stress.............................................................................................................................................. 14!Role stress...................................................................................................................................... 15!Burnout .......................................................................................................................................... 16!Employment conditions................................................................................................................. 17!Administrative support .................................................................................................................. 19!Professional development.............................................................................................................. 20!
Summary............................................................................................................................................ 23!
Chapter 3 : Methodology.......................................................................................................... 24!Worldview ..................................................................................................................................... 24!The sequential explanatory mixed methods design....................................................................... 24!
Ethical considerations and requirements ........................................................................................... 25!
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Quantitative strand............................................................................................................................. 26!Survey participants and sampling.................................................................................................. 26!Recruitment ................................................................................................................................... 26!Survey............................................................................................................................................ 27!Job Descriptive Index .................................................................................................................... 29!Fimian Teacher Stress Inventory................................................................................................... 29!Boyle Teacher Stress Inventory..................................................................................................... 30!Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)—General Survey, Education Survey .................................... 30!Data analysis.................................................................................................................................. 30!
Qualitative strand............................................................................................................................... 31!Participants and sampling.............................................................................................................. 31!Interviews ...................................................................................................................................... 31!Data collection............................................................................................................................... 31!Data analysis.................................................................................................................................. 32!
Validity and reliability ....................................................................................................................... 32!Summary............................................................................................................................................ 32!
Chapter 4 : Survey Results ....................................................................................................... 34!Demographic profile of FSCs ............................................................................................................ 34!
Education and Professional Association ....................................................................................... 35!The working week ......................................................................................................................... 36!Employment conditions................................................................................................................. 39!Income ........................................................................................................................................... 40!
Pre-service training ............................................................................................................................ 46!Ongoing professional development ................................................................................................... 47!
Financial motivation...................................................................................................................... 47!Qualification enhancement............................................................................................................ 48!Networking .................................................................................................................................... 49!
Inspiration to become a FSC.............................................................................................................. 49!Job satisfaction................................................................................................................................... 50!
Factors contributing to FSC job satisfaction ................................................................................. 53!Stress and burnout ......................................................................................................................... 55!Working-environment perceptions ................................................................................................ 57!FSC future perceptions .................................................................................................................. 59!
Summary............................................................................................................................................ 59!
Chapter 5 : Case-study Interviews............................................................................................ 61!Introducing the case studies—Ruth, Ken and Daniel ........................................................................ 61!
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Ruth ............................................................................................................................................... 61!Ken ................................................................................................................................................ 63!Daniel ............................................................................................................................................ 63!
Training, Accreditation, Networking and Professional Development............................................... 65!Pre-service and early career training ............................................................................................. 65!Ongoing professional development............................................................................................... 66!Accreditation ................................................................................................................................. 68!Networking .................................................................................................................................... 69!
Conditions of engagement ................................................................................................................. 70!Financial ........................................................................................................................................ 70!Superannuation and other conditions ............................................................................................ 72!
Artists as entrepreneurs...................................................................................................................... 73!Attitudes towards their work and job satisfaction ............................................................................. 74!
Working environment.................................................................................................................... 74!Working with parents .................................................................................................................... 75!Working with students................................................................................................................... 76!Appreciation, recognition and respect ........................................................................................... 78!Burnout and stress ......................................................................................................................... 80!Overall job satisfaction.................................................................................................................. 81!
The future........................................................................................................................................... 83!Summary............................................................................................................................................ 84!
Chapter 6 : General Discussion and Conclusions .................................................................... 85!Nature of the profession..................................................................................................................... 85!
The portfolio FSC.......................................................................................................................... 86!Job satisfaction of FSCs..................................................................................................................... 87!
Training ......................................................................................................................................... 87!Appreciation and respect ............................................................................................................... 88!Autonomy ...................................................................................................................................... 89!Remuneration and extra work ....................................................................................................... 89!Burnout and stress ......................................................................................................................... 89!
Educational implications.................................................................................................................... 90!Freelance versus salaried............................................................................................................... 91!
Implications for further research........................................................................................................ 92!Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 94!
Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... 96!
References ................................................................................................................................ 97!
viii
Appendix A : Ethics Approval Letter..................................................................................... 103!
Appendix B : Participant Information Statements ................................................................. 105!
Appendix C : Consent Forms ................................................................................................. 109!
Appendix D : Questionnaire (Online) .................................................................................... 111!
Appendix E : Interview Protocol............................................................................................ 121!Interview topics................................................................................................................................ 121!
Background.................................................................................................................................. 121!Employment Conditions.............................................................................................................. 121!Professional Development........................................................................................................... 122!Job Satisfaction............................................................................................................................ 122!
Appendix F : Scripts............................................................................................................... 124!Email invitation................................................................................................................................ 124!Website invitation ............................................................................................................................ 125!Script for phone invitation ............................................................................................................... 125!
ix
List of Figures
Figure 1. Sequential explanatory design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011, p. 121) ....25!
Figure 2. FSC hourly involvement each week ...........................................................39!
x
List of Tables
Table 1. Years working as a FSC ...............................................................................35!
Table 2. FSC weekly school involvement ...................................................................37!
Table 3. FSC weekly student interaction....................................................................37!
Table 4. Rate per hour of freelance conducting .........................................................41!
Table 5. Rate per hour of administration ...................................................................41!
Table 6. Percentage of annual income derived from FSC .........................................42!
Table 7. Annual income from FSC .............................................................................42!
Table 8. Other work during term................................................................................44!
Table 9. Other work during school holidays ..............................................................45!
Table 10. Influence of remuneration conditions on job satisfaction ..........................45!
Table 11. Perceptions of training success..................................................................46!
Table 12. Perceptions of professional development and type of groups....................48!
Table 13. FSC perceptions of tertiary postgraduate training ....................................49!
Table 14. Factors influencing FSC career choice .....................................................50!
Table 15. How FSCs feel about their situation ..........................................................51!
Table 16. Factors contributing to FSC job satisfaction .............................................54!
Table 17. Stress and burnout feedback ......................................................................55!
Table 18. Sources of stress .........................................................................................56!
Table 19. Attitudes towards remuneration .................................................................58!
Table 20. FSC view of the future ................................................................................59
1
Chapter 1: Introduction
As a freelance school conductor (FSC) and student researcher, this study has
personal significance for me. As with many of my colleagues, the journey through
which I became a freelance conductor in schools was fragmented. Upon graduating
from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, with a Bachelor of Music (Performance)
and Classical Saxophone as my major, I quickly discovered that the only form of
full-time, salaried performance work was with the Australian Defence Force bands. I
proceeded to join the Royal Australian Navy Band and stayed with them for five
years. Then, with the desire to start a family came an aversion to spending extended
time away from home. I was also getting restless with being employed and sought
the autonomy or at least perceived autonomy of ‘being my own boss’ rather than
answering to a rank structure. Thus, I left the relative security of a full-time
performing position as a government employee, with all its benefits, to embark on a
career as a freelance conductor, deriving the majority of my income from working in
schools.
I had a desire to be a school conductor having been inspired by a couple of
dynamic visiting conductors when growing up in country New South Wales,
Australia. This project is thus part autoethnographic in nature as I seek to explore
what I, and people like me, do as freelance conductors working with school children
in New South Wales (NSW).
It is also my own experience with the challenges of achieving life balance and
job satisfaction that provided the impetus for this present study. At the time of
undertaking my doctoral studies I was in my early thirties and had a varied
employment structure. My working week included ensemble program leadership at
two public schools as well as conducting duties at a community choir, community
orchestra, tertiary institution, an additional secondary school and occasional work
with the NSW Department of Education Arts Unit on specific projects. I conducted
on average 350 students and 80 adults each week and had responsibility for 25
instrumental tutors. At each place of employment were different conditions and
contracts. The itinerant nature of my week required extensive travelling including
working in three different locations on three days of the week. In addition to
completing my doctoral studies, this schedule proved to be unsustainable and
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resulted in me burning out and consulting a medical professional about my lifestyle
and state of mental health. Each of the three case-study participants, referred to later
in the study, also indicated that they had burnt-out at times.
Context of the research
Freelance school conductors (FSC)
There are many ways to describe the people that direct large ensembles in NSW
schools. However, most people fall into two categories: 1) salaried classroom music
teachers employed by the Department of Education or a private school and 2) those
that are engaged in a freelance, casual or part-time basis, specifically to conduct a
school ensemble. Further, for the purposes of this study, anyone involved as a
‘classroom teacher’, whether solely or in conjunction with freelance conducting, is
someone who delivers the NSW Board of Studies Music Curriculum in a traditional
classroom setting. This is in contrast to a conductor who is working in a large
ensemble rehearsal and performance setting and has no set curriculum or guidelines
to follow, other than those which are self-imposed and created. Interestingly, this
self-generated curriculum is often reflective of a hidden curriculum, guided by
competition preparation, new repertoire reading days and collegial discussion
surrounding appropriate music selection.
Unlike the formal large ensemble programs in America, which operate as part
of the curriculum, policies vary throughout the Australian education system. The
Australian state of Queensland offers a formal structured ensemble and instrumental
instruction curriculum, staffed by salaried instrumental educators/conductors (QLD
Department of Education, 1990, 2012). The state of Western Australia also offers a
structured School of Instrumental Music, which services 400 primary and secondary
government schools. In NSW there is no mandated curriculum by the NSW Board
of Studies for large ensemble rehearsals, hence their definition as being
extracurricular or cocurricular activities. In addition, rehearsals for these ensembles
often occur on a weekly or bi-weekly basis as opposed to the common practice of
daily rehearsals in the American system.
In Hardy’s (2006) study on factors that influence the success of large music
ensembles in NSW public schools, 80% of the respondent directors were classified in
the first category of being salaried classroom teachers who directed their ensembles
3
outside of school hours. The present study is focussed on the ‘other’ category of
directors or conductors who operate in a freelance capacity and is not limited to
public secondary schools. For the purposes of this study, someone who is regarded
as a school conductor is one who has leadership responsibility for direction of an
ensemble musical rehearsal. That is, private tutors who teach on a one-on-one (or
small group) the fundamentals of learning an instrument fall outside the scope of this
study. The concept of freelance is somewhat harder to define due to the disparate
nature of how conductors are engaged to work in a school. In this study, I have
further defined freelance school conductors as:
• primarily engaged in the state of NSW
• conductors working with school age children in a school and/or community
environment;
• having some or all of their regular income derived from contract, casual or
part-time salaried work as a freelance school conductor;
• not employed exclusively as full-time salaried classroom teachers.
Freelance school conductors can be found working in every type of school
environment in NSW—public, private, primary and secondary. The kinds of
ensembles that they direct are predominantly concert bands, jazz ensembles,
orchestras and choirs.
Training of FSCs
There currently exists a fragmented approach to professional development of
conductors in Australia, with little attention given to training as it relates to a school
environment. There is no professional development framework for freelance school
conductors in NSW (Hardy, 2006). This is in stark contrast to classroom teachers,
who have a tertiary pre-service pathway as well as an ongoing accreditation,
mentoring and professional development pathway through the NSW Institute of
Teachers. To establish an effective professional development and career framework
requires advocacy and a need for freelance school conductors to be part of a
professional organisation (Jacobs, 2008; Scheib, 2006a).
The Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA)
regularly provides in-service training in the form of conducting workshops and
newsletters as well as state and national conferences. Its listed goals include
4
advocacy, networking, professional development design and implementation
(ABODA, 2010). Similarly, the Australian National Choral Association (ANCA—
www.anca.org.au) aims to provide support for choral organisations (predominantly
community-based). This support exists in the form of a members network, website
and professional workshops and conferences such as their national Choral Fest.
In NSW public schools, one of the aims of the government-backed NSW Arts
Unit is to “build the capacity of teachers to deliver arts education through targeted
professional learning” (The Arts Unit, 2011) Whilst the programs do provide
opportunities for freelance conductors to engage with training opportunities, the Arts
Unit exists primarily to support classroom teachers and schools within the NSW
Department of Education. In 2011, The Arts Unit expanded its focus beyond public
education and invited all school conductors (public, private and community) to
participate in a two-day Wind Conducting Workshop and one-day Jazz Directing
workshop. This is a promising development and one that has continued in 2012.
Symphony Australia (www.symphony.net.au) runs a targeted, auditioned
program for developing conductors of professional orchestras as well as a one-week
course for school and community conductors called “The Beat Starts Here”.
However, this second ‘entry-level’ course is more of a technique development
program rather than addressing any pedagogical training. Further research needs to
be done into the proportion of school conductors who belong to professional
organisations, such as ABODA or ANCA as well as their involvement in programs
run by the Arts Unit and Symphony Australia. The perceived effectiveness of these
groups in terms of advocacy and professional development also needs to be
investigated.
Significance
The significance of this study lies in its specific focus on those music educators in
NSW school environments who provide large ensemble music instruction via a
freelance working arrangement. Hardy (2006) made a number of recommendations
relating to conductors’ training and employment conditions. In particular, his
research suggested “large instrumental ensemble directors burn out at a fast rate and
that the directors do not spend as much time addressing ensemble needs if they are
not adequately reimbursed” (p. 177). Arising from Hardy’s (2006) research and
5
earlier research overseas are concerns about job satisfaction, burnout and stress
among band directors and music teachers (Benson, 2008; Heston et al., 1996; Scheib,
2003, 2004, 2006b). Some studies, essentially narrative in nature, have also
attempted to provide solutions such as life balance, professional development,
networking, exercise and improved workload management (Allsup, 2005; Hamann &
Gordon, 2000; Hylton, 1989). This present study seeks to provide an overview of
the freelance school conductor situation in NSW. It also attempts to provide rich
descriptions of how FSCs in NSW view their career, job satisfaction and experience
with stress and burnout.
Findings from the National Review of Music Education (2005) confirm that
employment conditions of freelance school conductors vary in each school. There is
no standardised salary structure and many conductors are required to negotiate their
own arrangements with no union support or guide. This ad-hoc arrangement may
also have a negative consequence for the schools employing them, in that there are
no formal qualifications required and more specifically no requirement for training in
school-age pedagogy (Evans & Bodrova, 2011; Thompson, 1990). This present
study surveys the current employment conditions and through interviews and
comparisons with other systems attempts to point towards a future model for school
conductors in NSW.
Conductor training is also an area which deserves further research (Hardy,
2006). The sourcing of freelance conductors by schools is often similar to the
recruitment of itinerant or peripatetic instrumental music teachers in that they are
often untrained in pedagogy and come from areas such as armed services,
professional performing groups, well-intentioned community members with little
formal training, and music performance majors (Thompson, 1990). There is also
broader concern that conductors along with instrumental performers and peripatetic
teachers are not given adequate training at the undergraduate level in the areas of
teaching skills, research and self-directed study, experience in the workplace, career
awareness, business skills and music technologies (Bennett, 2008b; Bridgstock,
2011a, 2011b; Evans & Bodrova, 2011; Hong, Essig, & Bridgstock, 2012).
Given the importance of conductors in NSW schools, it would seem prudent
to advocate greater job satisfaction. Previous research suggests that the outcome of
increased job satisfaction through reduced stress, burnout and greater enjoyment in
6
the workplace is improved effectiveness (Hamann & Gordon, 2000; Maslach et al.,
2001). The goal of this study is to provide a framework for improved FSC
conditions and training, which would hopefully result in improved job satisfaction.
Problem statement
Freelance musicians who conduct ensembles of school children are an essential and
vibrant part of the music education landscape in NSW (Hardy, 2006; Pascoe et al.,
2005). However, the lack of organisation in their employment conditions, training,
support structures and career development may lead to deterioration in their job
satisfaction and emotional burnout (Heston et al., 1996; Scheib, 2004). Also, there is
a definite gap in the literature in relation to freelance musicians and more
specifically, school-based freelance conductors in Australia.
The intent of this research is to complement and build upon existing studies
into large instrumental ensembles in NSW (Bromley, 1999; Hardy, 2006; Luu, 2009)
as well as the recent work exploring the lives of artists and their careers (Bennett,
2007, 2008a; Bridgstock, 2007, 2011a, 2011b; Evans & Bodrova, 2011). This study
aims to investigate the current pre-employment training and ongoing professional
development opportunities for conductors in schools. It will also research whether
freelance school conductors perceive training and ongoing professional development
as having an influence on job satisfaction.
Outline of research questions
This project is guided by two main research themes of inquiry:
1. What is the nature of freelance school conducting work in NSW?
2. What are the factors that affect FSC job satisfaction?
Within these questions, a number of narrower research themes will be explored to
provide an overview of the FSC vocation and job satisfaction. These include:
• Is FSC a viable occupational pathway for music performers and educators
to pursue as a singular employment option?
• What are the current training pathways for prospective FSCs?
• Is burnout a real, experienced concern for practicing FSCs?
7
Methodology
The study uses a two-phase, explanatory sequential mixed methods approach
(Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007; Creswell, 2009; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011)
to provide an overview of the freelance school conductor (FSC) situation in NSW
and investigate the factors that affect job satisfaction of the participants. In the first,
quantitative phase of the study, an online questionnaire was developed to collect data
from the participants. Results from this first phase were used to inform the
development of an interview protocol for the second qualitative phase. The aim of
the second or follow-up phase of the study was to explain and explore the
quantitative results in greater depth. The qualitative phase was also intended to give
richer insight into FSC participant perspectives (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).
Delimitations
Whilst this study will allude to research and complementary areas that relate to
freelance school conductors, the primary focus is specifically on the factors that
affect the individuals previously defined as FSCs. That is, this study will not cover
classroom music teaching or other freelance and peripatetic fields such as private
instrumental teaching. Further to the structure of the ensembles FSCs direct, Hardy
(2006) provided a very detailed study into the success of large instrumental music
programs in NSW and the structure of ensemble programs. Finally, there were only
three participants from the survey who indicated they worked exclusively with
choirs. As such, the scope and focus of the investigation centres around those FSCs
who direct instrumental ensembles and caution should be used when applying the
findings to choral conductors.
Summary
This chapter has provided a contextual background surrounding the scope and
conception of the study. It has also outlined my personal background and interest in
the study. The significance of the study and associated research questions has been
supported by a brief overview of research surrounding the freelance school conductor
profession.
Further chapters will review, in greater depth, literature relating to the thesis
topic and an overview of the specific methodology (explanatory sequential mixed
8
methods design) and philosophical assumptions. Two chapters presenting and
discussing the results of the research findings will follow the literature review and
methodology. A concluding chapter will provide a summary of the entire study
including recommendations and further areas for future research.
9
Chapter 2: Literature Review
This chapter provides an overview of literature pertaining to the profession of
freelance school conductors in NSW. It is divided into three broad sections,
beginning with an historical overview of the role of freelance musicians associated
with school ensembles. Following on from this is a review of literature discussing
the conceptual framework of job satisfaction and finally, some of the factors that
may affect satisfaction of FSCs and their working environment.
Context and background to the FSC situation in NSW schools
The history of large ensemble music education and the role of specialist conductors
in NSW schools is difficult to outline given that until recently, there has been no
official recognition of large instrumental ensembles by the Department of Education
and Training (Hardy, 2006). According to Weiss (1995), private schools were
operating large instrumental music ensembles prior to the 1950s. However, whilst
there were various initiatives from the early 1900s, formal state-government
supported programs only originated in the 1960s with each state’s programs evolving
into different forms over time (Hardy, 2006; Pascoe et al., 2005; Thompson, 1990).
Through the development of these ensembles, there seem to have arisen two types of
conductors who direct these large ensemble—the school classroom music teacher
and the freelance school conductor (Bish, 1993; Hardy, 2006). The development of
the school band in NSW is most likely the result of imitating the American system
(Luu, 2009; Pascoe et al., 2005). However the key difference is that bands or large
instrumental ensembles are considered a key and often singular point of curriculum
delivery in America and as such, are staffed by a salaried conductor specialist (Bish,
1993; Luu, 2009), unlike the situation in NSW where large music ensemble
education operates as a function of three possible structures:
a. Extracurricular, meaning the instrumental program operates outside the
normal school curricular;
b. Cocurricular, meaning that the instrumental program operates in conjunction
with the syllabus;
c. Curricular, meaning that the instrumental program operates as the main
delivery method of the syllabus, (Bromley, 1999)
10
In addition, Bromley’s (1999) research indicated that there were perceived
deficiencies in the operation of large instrumental programs in NSW. Specifically, in
relation to the conductor role, it was found that only 6% of directors were teaching
the NSW music syllabus through rehearsals despite providing other educational
content. Directors also cited a need for better training and increased organisational
support (Bromley, 1999). Whilst Bromley’s (1999) findings focussed particularly on
bands, it would be reasonable to conclude that the results applied to all large music
ensemble programs in NSW. Similarly, part of Hardy’s (2006) research expanded on
the role of ensemble directors in the success of large instrumental ensembles in NSW
public secondary schools.
The National Review of Music Education (Pascoe et al., 2005) was a federal
government funded study into the condition and shape of music education in
Australia. The final report contained an extensive literature review as well as a
mapping of the state and territory music curriculum. In addition, there were
submissions to the review from 5936 individuals and groups as well as a two-part
National Survey of Schools. The two components of the survey were a stratified
sample of 525 schools and an additional sample of 147 schools nominated through
the submission process as effective. The study revealed both the importance of
cocurricular music in schools as well as the organisational and financial constraints
associated with these programs. In addition, the review highlighted the lack of
incorporation of ensemble-related activities into a school’s core music curriculum.
This disconnect between ensemble activities and classroom activities in NSW means
that many programs are funded by parents and managed with the assistance of a
contracted freelance conductor (Pascoe et al., 2005).
Pre-empting Hardy’s (2006) NSW research, the National Review (Pascoe et
al., 2005) highlighted as a priority improved pre-service as well as ongoing
professional development for music educators. With the introduction of the NSW
Institute of Teachers in 2004, an increasing focus and process has been given to the
accreditation and training of classroom teachers over the past several years. It is
surprising and concerning that peripatetic tuition and the musical leadership of many
school-age ensembles in NSW and most Australian States is not afforded the same
kind of attention and accreditation framework (A. Watson, 2010).
11
Hardy (2006) designed a two-phase quantitative study to examine what
factors and human capital/input are a part of large instrumental music programs in
NSW public secondary schools. Perceptions of instrumental directors (N=73) were
then examined to discover what variables contribute to the success of their music
programs. Two questionnaires were developed, including pilot phases, with 73
directors from 142 schools participating in the study. To date, it is the most
comprehensive study to involve conductors in NSW schools. Hardy’s findings
focussed on advocating a need for the NSW Department of Education and Training
to give greater and more formal (academic) acknowledgement of the input that
students give, the time that teachers spend delivering large instrumental programs
and accreditation for the directors/conductors (Hardy, 2006). Attention was drawn to
the need for further research into director training as well as the design and
implementation of large instrumental programs to reduce burnout and address
adequate remuneration. Interestingly, research by Guldberg (1987) alludes to the
fact that peripatetic music teachers are poorly remunerated in comparison to those
classroom teachers who are employed full-time by schools. Furthermore, there has
been minimal improvement in employment conditions over the last 25 years.
Current research needs to be undertaken to assess whether employment conditions
are suitable for peripatetic music educators, and in particular freelance school
conductors.
Job satisfaction of the self-employed
In a review of literature in relation to job satisfaction, Brief and Weiss (2002) explore
how job satisfaction came to be approached in two ways both “as an evaluative
judgment and as an attitude with affective as well as cognitive components” (p. 283).
The study presents a range of historical definitions of job satisfaction and goes on to
explore recent research into the effect of moods, emotions and temperaments on the
way people feel about their work (Brief & Weiss, 2002). Weiss further outlines job
satisfaction as consisting of three separate but aligned factors—“evaluations of jobs,
beliefs about jobs, and affective experiences on jobs” (H. M. Weiss, 2002, p. 173).
Recent research into “group affective tone” (Brief & Weiss, 2002, p. 292) is
also examined. That is, how individuals come to share their feelings in a group
setting and its corresponding effect on the group and thus on the individuals within it
(Brief & Weiss, 2002). For freelance or itinerant school conductors who find
12
themselves in many different workplaces and with many different groups, the impact
of a constantly changing group dynamic or affective tone could be quite stressful
(Krueger, 2000).
Many previous studies have found that the self-employed have higher levels
of job satisfaction than those who are employed (Hundley, 2001; Sikora & Saha,
2009; VandenHeuvel & Wooden, 1997; Wooden & Warren, 2004). Whilst these
studies are not specific to music, it is worth noting a number of relevant findings.
Data from an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Population Survey Monitor
(PSM) were used to form the basis of a quantitative study which tested the self-
employment job satisfaction hypothesis (VandenHeuvel & Wooden, 1997). The
findings indicated in a broad sense that contractors are not significantly more
satisfied than wage and salary earners. However, this was found to depend on the
degree of independence from the hiring organisation (VandenHeuvel & Wooden,
1997).
A study by Hundley (2001) explored in greater detail the factors contributing
to job satisfaction of the self-employed. The study used a cross-section analysis of
three data sources spanning approximately twenty years to test eight hypotheses
relating to the self-employed. The results indicated that the self-employed are in fact
more satisfied than their employed counterparts. The findings contradict
VandenHeuvel and Wooden’s (1997) reporting of little difference between self and
organisationally employed. More specifically, the study revealed findings that seem
to be at odds with previous speculation about job security of the self employed
(Hundley, 2001). It appears that greater autonomy, increased flexibility and skill
utilisation help to contribute to a greater sense of satisfaction and job security among
the self-employed (Hundley, 2001; VandenHeuvel & Wooden, 1997). The degree of
perceived autonomy for freelance school conductors is worth investigating through
further research.
One other factor in considering the self-employed is the dichotomy that exists
between the marginalised worker model and entrepreneur/portfolio worker model
(Smeaton, 2003). In the marginalised model, self-employment arises out of
organisations that are re-structuring and/or favour freelance or sub-contracted labour
over permanent contract or employed arrangements (Smeaton, 2003; I. Watson,
2005). In the marginalised model, it appears that the decision to be self-employed is
13
thrust upon the workers who have little option but to accept the situation. In contrast
to this, portfolio workers are typically professionals who choose to be self-employed
in order to achieve a better work-life balance, greater autonomy and to take
advantage of business opportunities (Smeaton, 2003). Watson (2005) also challenges
the nature of non-standard employment via the marginalisation model and focuses
specifically on casual workers in his study. He concludes that “casual jobs are
inferior jobs, irrespective of the satisfaction levels of their incumbents.” (I. Watson,
2005, p. 371) The present study thus explores the extent to which FSCs perceive
themselves as marginalised and as a result, experience the negative outcomes of
being self-employed rather than the benefits of the portfolio or entrepreneurial
model.
The idea of a boundaryless career structure is another model that needs to be
considered when looking at the lives of FSCs. In a study of 310 professional artists
and 218 Arts students, Bridgstock (2007) examined success in creative industries
against the background of a boundaryless career (Arthur & Rousseau, 1996). Within
this framework of career development theory an overlapping concept is explored,
that is the idea of a protean career structure. That is a career, which is also
characterised by strong internal criteria for success and intrinsic motivation
(Bridgstock, 2007; Briscoe & Hall, 2006).
Continuing on from the self-employed and career development theory, this
next section will attempt to explore some of the other constructs that exist in the
wider literature and relate them to the FSC situation. In particular, stress, burnout,
employment conditions, administrative support and professional development will be
reviewed.
Factors affecting the job satisfaction of freelance school conductors
Job satisfaction is an elusive term—most people, if not all, desire to gain satisfaction
and significance from how they spend a majority of their lives (Hundley, 2001). In
looking at this area—important and difficult as it is—there has been much research
already in the area of music education and in particular ensemble direction (Baker,
2007; S. Hearn, 2009; Heston et al., 1996; Krueger, 2000; Scheib, 2006b).
14
In a recent study on school conductor job satisfaction, Hearn (2009) sought to
determine whether variables reported in previous research could be further reduced
and whether the resulting factors affected career longevity in band directors from
south-eastern America. Factor analysis from the online questionnaire (N=226) led
three factors or categories—Environmental, Personal and Educational. Interestingly,
the study explored the Environmental category as really being a measure of the job
satisfaction construct. More specifically, findings indicated that Environment as a
factor of career longevity and job satisfaction places increased importance on the
‘compatibility’ of the conductor with the environment in which they work (S. Hearn,
2009). The items that Hearn included as Environmental are qualitatively similar to
10 items measured in an earlier study by Heston, Dedrich, Raschke, and Whitehead
(1996): student success, parental support, individual lessons, administrative support,
student participation level, colleague support, professional development, salary,
recognition, and budget.
In examining the existing literature on job satisfaction of conductors working
in schools, a number of common themes begin to emerge. From the outset, it
appears that many of the aforementioned positive factors associated with job
satisfaction in the general workforce (autonomy, flexibility, skill utilisation and job
security Hundley, 2001) are not evident in the freelance school conductor
environment. In addition, there are other factors working to negate the level of
fulfilment for freelance school conductors.
Stress
Closely linked to job satisfaction are concerns surrounding burnout and stress.
Factors associated with stress could be interpreted as both a result of poor job
satisfaction and a cause, with burnout being the possible result of long-term stressful
experiences (Fimian, 1987). As described by Fimian (1987) in his review of the
literature at the time of his study “stress is neither a ‘single source’ nor a ‘single
symptom’ issue; it can be, and often is, defined in a number of subjective and
objective ways that account for numerous ‘problems’ at any given time” (p. 6).
Fimian’s development of the Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) sought to examine the
stressful precursors of burnout (Fimian, 1984). Through a study of special education
teachers, he originally examined six factors which were later expanded into 10
subscales: time management, work-related stressors, professional distress, discipline
15
and motivation, professional investment, emotional manifestations, fatigue
manifestations, cardiovascular manifestations, gastronomical manifestations, and
behavioural manifestations (Fimian & Fastenau, 1990). More specifically, the most
relevant items in the TSI as assessed by 226 experts on teacher stress and burnout
were found to be ‘feeling unable to cope’ and ‘experiencing physical exhaustion’
(Fimian, 1987).
Role stress
When conflict and tension or ambiguity around job expectations within an
organisation occurs, this can lead to role stress (Kahn, Wolfe, Quinn, & Snoek,
1964). In a case study of a US High School Music department, six role stressors
were examined: role conflict, role ambiguity, role overload, underutilisation of skills,
resource inadequacy and nonparticipation (Scheib, 2003, 2006a). Parallels can be
drawn directly to the working conditions of freelance school conductors. Many of
the stress factors mentioned by Scheib (N=4) overlap and are found in other studies.
For example, inadequacy of resources has been shown to contribute to role overload
(Hamann & Gordon, 2000; Hardy, 2006; Krueger, 2000; Scheib, 2003). This lack of
resources can be further defined as insufficient salary (Scheib, 2004), insufficient
budget (Hamann & Gordon, 2000; Hardy, 2006) and inadequate staffing (Hardy,
2006; Scheib, 2003).
In looking at the role stress caused by underutilisation of skills, this can best
be seen when conductors sense that time spent on low-skill tasks interferes with their
professional roles. This contributes to role overload tension as conductors feel
overwhelmed with administrative responsibilities and as a result, teaching and
planning/score preparation suffer (Hardy, 2006; Scheib, 2003). Long hours in
conjunction with excessive workload are found to be significant contributors to job
satisfaction and burnout of music educators (Hamann & Gordon, 2000) and teachers
generally (Liu & Ramsey, 2008). Role overload is described by Scheib (2003) as,
“when the quantity and wide variety of different roles expected of the focal person is
overwhelming to the point that no one role can be performed satisfactorily.”
Meeting the demands of a conductor’s role in addition to maintaining a
personal life inevitably results in the feeling of being ‘spread too thin’. The effect
on family life is a concern and previous research has explored the positive outcome,
16
support of family and friends has on job satisfaction and avoiding or coping with
burnout and stress (Hamann & Gordon, 2000; Heston et al., 1996; Scheib, 2003).
Conversely, excessive workload that infringes on personal and family life leads to
lower job satisfaction and retention (Scheib, 2003, 2004). It seems then that family
life, burnout, workload and job satisfaction are inextricably linked.
Burnout
In its simplest form burnout consists of three components—emotional exhaustion,
depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment (Hamann & Gordon, 2000;
Jackson, Schwab, & Schuler, 1986; Maslach, 1998; Maslach et al., 2001) with
emotional exhaustion emerging as the main burnout component. Maslach et al.
(2001) provide a critical analysis of research on job burnout over a 25-year period.
The research indicates that the exhaustion component “refers to feelings of being
overextended and depleted of one’s emotional and physical resources” (p. 399) In a
study of teachers’ stressors and strains by Shirom, Oliver, and Stein (2009) the
physical depletion resulting from burnout was examined more closely. Shirom et al.
(2009) reflect this focus in their definition of burnout as “as an affective state,
comprised of emotional exhaustion, physical fatigue, and cognitive weariness” (p.
320). Further, the resultant energy reduction is a consequence of sustained exposure
to stress created by both work and general life situations. In explaining the
dimension of depersonalisation or cynicism, Maslach et al. (2001) refer to it as “a
negative, callous, or excessively detached response to various aspects of the job” (p.
399). Finally, the component of reduced personal accomplishment is linked to a
sense of ineffectiveness (reduced efficacy) and “refers to feelings of incompetence
and a lack of achievement and productivity at work” (Maslach et al., 2001, p. 399).
Existing research into the burnout and stress in the lives of teachers and in
particular, band directors, describe a number of factors contributing to burnout and
lack of job satisfaction. These include: lack of administrative support (Baker, 2007;
Hamann & Gordon, 2000; Heston et al., 1996; Krueger, 2000; Madsen & Hancock,
2002; Scheib, 2003), adequate training (Hamann & Gordon, 2000), long hours and
workload (Chaplain, 2008; Hamann & Gordon, 2000), difficult students (Chaplain,
2008; Hamann & Gordon, 2000; Heston et al., 1996) and itinerancy (Krueger, 2000).
17
In a detailed quantitative study involving American band directors (N=120)
Heston et al. (1996) describe the unique job frustrations and the serious concern of
job stress and burnout which face many band directors. Since most cocurricular
programs, especially in public schools, fall outside standard school budget and
staffing there is a pressure to recruit, build numbers and as a result justify the
existence of the program (Hylton, 1989; Scheib, 2004). These band directors work
with large numbers of students and undertake significant administrative
responsibilities. In addition, the pressures of public performance and the need to
recruit and motivate students can contribute substantially to job frustration (Heston et
al., 1996; Hylton, 1989). Their description of this pressure and the conductor’s
workload is very similar to that faced by school conductors in NSW (Hardy, 2006).
The Heston et al. (1996) study consisted of a four-part questionnaire and
asked respondents to rank ten factors according to their contribution to job
satisfaction. In conjunction with this, band directors were asked to rate ten additional
factors relating to the degree of stress experienced in relation with the first group of
factors. Interestingly, students were found to be a source of both high satisfaction
and high stress. Parent and school support were important contributors to job
satisfaction and surprisingly, salary was considered one of the least important
contributors. The lack of importance of salary on job satisfaction cannot be
interpreted as definitive due to the evidence in other studies that indicate its
importance in contributing to stress and burnout (Scheib, 2003, 2004, 2006b). Three
of the variables reported as the most stressful were negative student attitudes,
inappropriate student behaviours and teaching load. Still, the underlying conclusions
were that strong positive relationships between conductors, students, parents and
school staff could increase the level of job satisfaction experienced by the
respondents (Heston et al., 1996).
Employment conditions
The conditions surrounding the engagement of conductors working in schools have
been shown to have a direct influence on job satisfaction (Hardy, 2006; Krueger,
2000; Scheib, 2004). In an American study examining teachers’ satisfaction with
various aspects of their job, Liu and Ramsey (2008) found that teachers were least
satisfied with their working conditions and compensation, resulting in increased
stress. Interestingly the same study also revealed that even after compensation
18
improves, teachers may still be unhappy with their employment conditions and
choose to leave the profession (Liu & Ramsey, 2008). Buchler, Haynes, and Baxter
(2009) found that casual employment in Australia was associated with lower levels
of financial well-being than permanent workers. In an ethnographic study of eight
instrumental music teachers in America, low salary combined with difficult working
conditions and low morale were found to severely affect the profession (Scheib,
2004). Scheib further expands the ideology behind the low salaries of music teachers
by investigating four major ideological movements of curricular thought: humanism,
developmentalism, social efficiency and social meliorism (Scheib, 2006b). He
examines the school environment in industrial terms in which a school needs to be
cost-effective, thus resulting in low salaries (Scheib, 2006b). Interestingly, in an
earlier study looking specifically at band directors, salary was seen to be as one of
the least important contributors to job satisfaction (Heston et al., 1996). Whilst the
Scheib (2004) study is somewhat limited in its sample size, the evidence presented
reflects that of other studies on burnout and stress in the profession and its
relationship to working conditions (Allsup, 2005; Baker, 2007; Gordon, 2000;
Heston et al., 1996; Hylton, 1989; Scheib, 2003, 2006a, 2006b).
In a survey of beginning music teachers, the nature of itinerancy was found to
have a negative influence on retention and job satisfaction (Krueger, 2000). Role
conflict and ‘nonparticipation’ role stress are exacerbated by the itinerant nature of
freelance school conductors (Krueger, 2000; Scheib, 2003, 2004, 2006a, 2006b).
The respondents (N=30) in Krueger (2000) study represented a cross-section of K–12
levels in urban, rural and suburban settings and their jobs included a variety of
choral, instrumental, and general music instruction. Freelance conductors working
with school children could also be described as itinerant workers, in that many have
to work in multiple locations during the week and even on the same day (Hardy,
2006). The nature of itinerancy can lead to a lack of contact with colleagues,
marginalisation and a sense of feeling overwhelmed due to managing conflicting
schedules at multiple schools (Krueger, 2000). Itinerancy in the profession of
freelance conducting may also involve working as a private teacher, performer or
even working outside of music (Bennett, 2007, 2008b; Evans & Bodrova, 2011;
Kassner, 2009). How this applies to conductors in NSW and whether it has a
19
positive or negative influence on stress and overall job satisfaction requires further
investigation.
In a British study of freelance translators, labour market conditions were
found to be a key factor in the differences in working conditions between ‘portfolio
workers’ (Fraser & Gold, 2001). The findings revealed that freelance translators did
enjoy higher levels of autonomy and control over their working conditions. The
degree of success in these areas was due to their very specific expertise and client
relationships, which created ‘inelasticity’ in supply. The more successful translators
used these supply constraints to have greater control over other conditions such as
pay, work hours and deadlines. Surprisingly, the lack of a career structure was a
motivating factor for many translators who actively choose freelance work (Fraser &
Gold, 2001). In the discussion of the findings, attention was brought to the fact that
some forms of working offered greater autonomy and the term, ‘portfolio worker’
should not be regarded as one model but rather an over-arching term under which
there is a spectrum of autonomy and working conditions (Fraser & Gold, 2001). In
many ways there are many commonalities between freelance conductors and
translators such as specific skills, lack of a career structure and business built on
close relationships with clients. However, studies in the area of music education do
not support the same outcomes of freelance translators in the UK, especially in
exerting control over pay and working conditions.
Administrative support
Another factor found to contribute to job satisfaction is the level of support provided
by school administration and the parent community (Baker, 2007; Hamann &
Gordon, 2000; Hardy, 2006; Heston et al., 1996; Jacobs, 2008; Madsen & Hancock,
2002; Scheib, 2003, 2004). It is reasonable to assume that if the school principal and
executive support and promote the co-curricular music program then conductors will
feel less marginalised or left-out of decision making (Krueger, 2000). Similarly if
parents value the output and direction provided by conductors, then they become
important allies (Heston et al., 1996; Luu, 2009; Madsen & Hancock, 2002). This
partnership can then influence student enthusiasm and overall job satisfaction for the
director (Heston et al., 1996). In relation to freelance conductors, the pressure to
gain administrative support would seem to create further stress. It is the support of
school or community administration and the governing parent committees that
20
validate the contribution of conductors. These groups also determine whether a
conductor is re-engaged as well as rates of payment. All these factors lead to
questioning whether freelance conductors have a sense of security in their work and
to what extent.
Professional development
Much research has been done recently in the area of professional development and its
effectiveness for music educators in the UK and USA (Baker, 2007; Bauer, 2007;
Benson, 2008; Blair, 2008; Durrant & Varvarigou, 2008; Jacobs, 2008). Several
themes emerge in these studies highlighting the severe inadequacies of training and
support networks for freelance conductors working with NSW school children.
Higher retention of teachers in general can be linked to regular attendance of
professional development activities (Bauer, 2007; Madsen & Hancock, 2002).
Conversely lower confidence amongst current and prospective teachers due to
inadequate training pathways is seen as a real concern (Durrant & Varvarigou, 2008).
Aside from producing higher skilled conductors, effective professional
development is seen as a possible method for treating and avoiding burnout (Hamann
& Gordon, 2000). If attrition is linked to burnout (Scheib, 2004), then professional
development addresses retention issues as well (Madsen & Hancock, 2002). Bauer
(2007) reported that teachers who participate in at least one professional
development activity per year are more likely to remain in the field. Effective
professional development programs have also been discussed as a way of lowering
job stress and increasing job satisfaction through enhanced skills and teachers’ self-
efficacy (Klassen & Chiu, 2010). Interestingly, greater career motivation and the
more satisfying one finds their work in turn results in more time being invested in
professional development (Greller, 2006).
A UK study on the professional development of choral conductors reported
on innovative ways of mentoring and skills development (Durrant & Varvarigou,
2008). Participants were tracked using a qualitative study incorporating interviews
and short questionnaires as they completed Choral Conducting, Leadership and
Communication at the Institute of Education, University of London. Part of the
participants’ training included a virtual learning environment, which enabled a
collaborative and reflective review process to supplement the short face-to-face
21
teaching periods. This has the potential to place more students in touch (remotely) to
master-teachers/mentors in the field. Whilst the use of online mentoring is not new
to music education, it has mainly been limited to online forums provided by
professional associations such as MENC (Jacobs, 2008).
Jacobs (2008) suggested ‘pyramid’ model of mentoring explores his ideal
situation for music educators in general. This multi-year model relies on a
foundation of government design and funding and then builds into this—support of
professional organisations; mentor selection, training and compensation; and
adequate release time (Jacobs, 2008). Interestingly, the professional development
structure for NSW New Scheme Teachers closely follows the principles outlined in
Jacobs’ study. This framework of accreditation, mentoring and training needs to be
made available and relevant to freelance school conductors (Hardy, 2006).
Many studies have as their focus the development of early-career teachers.
This research has led to an almost redundant design of professional development that
seeks to address the needs of all workers (Klassen & Chiu, 2010). In addressing the
needs of older workers, Greller (2006) discovered that their desire is for
opportunities with greater autonomy in content and structure as well as a focus on
specific rather than general skills. Thus an approach is needed in tailoring
professional development to the career stage of freelance school conductors.
Not only is there a need to address the appropriate career stage of FSCs, but
the type of professional development also needs to be addressed. Scheib (2006a)
discusses the need to meet the dual identities of music educators in discussing
teacher retention. Music educators classify themselves along the musician-teacher
continuum of identities ranging from broad to narrow comprehensiveness (Bouij,
2004; Roberts, 1991, 2004). Roberts (2004) explains that there is little professional
development available for those educators who identify themselves primarily as
musicians. In the case of FSCs, professional development needs to be structured
around helping them meet their dual identities as artists and teachers (Roberts, 2004;
Scheib, 2006a).
In looking at career pathways, supported by adequate pre-service training, it
is worth considering whether limiting teacher training and certification to specific
specialisations (instrumental, choral, classroom) is of any long-term value (Kassner,
22
2009). Kassner (2009) argues that eclecticism and variety as opposed to a narrow
focus increases job opportunities as well as employment opportunities whilst
reducing burnout. This has direct relevance to freelance school conductors and
music performance graduates in general where they are often engaged in a myriad of
roles as a conductor, private tutor and performer (Bennett, 2007, 2008b; Favaro,
2000).
In longitudinal study involving Australian and European participants, it was
found that most musicians are wholly or partly self-employed and work in a variety
of independent roles throughout their career (Bennett, 2007). Furthermore, it was
found that most graduates spend more time teaching than performing, which could
influence the relevance and design of existing training pathways. Through responses
and interviews three main themes emerged as areas which need more attention in
formal education and training: (1) career education and industry experience (19.9%);
(2) instrumental pedagogy (17.6%); and (3) business skills (15.3%) (Bennett, 2007).
A sustainable career as a musician requires a diverse range of skills which
most music graduates do not possess and are not currently reflected in the curricula
of Australian undergraduate courses (Bennett, 2008b; Evans & Bodrova, 2011).
Entrepreneurship and business skills was one of six key factors identified by Bennett
(2008b) in the achievement of a rewarding and sustainable career as a musician.
Others mentioned included industry experience and awareness, ongoing professional
development, professional networks and industry mentors, teaching skills and
community cultural development (Bennett, 2008b).
A recently published Global Access Partners (Evans & Bodrova, 2011) report
into tertiary music education identified that the traditional Bachelor of Music equips
students to become performers but fails to train students to fulfil any other role in
music. The report also recognised that most music graduates will require skills to
run a business without ever receiving adequate or compulsory training as part of their
degree. The report conclusion identified the need for a ‘professional’ Bachelor of
Music degree which offers graduates the best chance of operating as a professional
within the broader music industry (Evans & Bodrova, 2011). The theme of
developing discipline specific skills as well as generic and transferrable skills as
necessary arts graduate attributes are also highlighted in research by Bridgstock
(2005, 2007, 2009, 2011a, 2011b). Further research needs to occur in the area of
23
business skills and entrepreneurship among freelance musicians and whether this
affects overall job satisfaction, income and general perceptions of success.
Summary
A vast amount of research has been undertaken to date that addresses many aspects
of music education, both in the classroom and in the co-curricular ensemble
environment. However, most research that deals with school-based conductors has
its roots in overseas study, particularly surrounding the strong band culture in
America. The quantity and depth of American studies is reflective of the cultural
status of the band tradition in that country (Pascoe et al., 2005). The limitations of
the Hardy (2006) study, in relation to the present study, are that it did not focus on
the freelance nature of many school conductors and it ignored choral ensembles and
private school or community groups involving students.
Despite most school-based conductors in America being employed as a
salaried member of the school’s music staff, many of the findings in relation to job
satisfaction, training and working conditions are relevant to this study of freelance
conductors. In examining the broader labour workforce and the nature of self-
employment and casualisation, many similarities can be found in the working
patterns of freelance conductors. Thus, further research is needed that looks at the
specific and unique working environment of freelance conductors working with
school children in NSW (Hardy, 2006).
In examining the NSW FSC situation, there are opportunities to add to the
research surrounding the training and job satisfaction of musician—educators who
operate outside the traditional classroom environment. The next chapter describes
the methodology used to design a mixed methods study that explores the NSW
freelance school conductor phenomenon.
24
Chapter 3: Methodology
This project is a mixed-methods study based on a Sequential explanatory design (see
Figure 1) (Cohen et al., 2007; Creswell, 2009; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The
study began with a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey design to
produce descriptive statistics. Several opportunities were also included in the survey
for the participants to provide greater insight through short answers (Wiersma, 2000).
Following the analysis of the survey, qualitative methods were used in the
subsequent interview and case study stages to help explain or elaborate on the first,
quantitative phase.
The rationale for using a mixed-methods approach centres on the need to
provide a rich description of the freelance school conductor situation. One method
alone is not enough to examine the complexities and disparate lifestyles of FSCs.
The qualitative data and their analysis refine and explain those statistical results by
exploring participants’ views in more depth. The first quantitative phase would not
have provided an in-depth description, whilst the qualitative phase, by itself, would
not have given enough information on the profession in order to generalise the
findings (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).
Worldview
In this project the term worldview refers to the framework of philosophical concepts
or assumptions that guide the study and strategy for inquiry (Creswell & Plano Clark,
2011). Some researchers argue that there should be a single worldview which
informs a mixed methods study, as in traditional single method projects, while others
suggest that multiple worldviews can apply depending on the design of the study
(Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). This project frames multiple worldviews that relate
to the specific type of mixed methods project design. It begins with a quantitative
survey informed by a post-positivist worldview and this is followed by a qualitative
approach underpinned by a constructivist paradigm (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).
The sequential explanatory mixed methods design
The design of mixed methods studies fall along a continuum with fixed and emergent
designs at each endpoint (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The project began as a
fixed design in that it was initially conceived as a two-phase design—beginning with
a survey (quantitative), followed by semi-structured interviews (qualitative).
25
However, following the interpretation of results from the survey, the study took on a
more emergent design as the design of the qualitative phase was informed by the first
phase. Continuing along this emergent design, another aspect to the second phase
(qualitative case studies) was developed to provide greater insight into the lives of
freelance school conductors. Each of these strands of inquiry resulted in an
interactive interpreting of results as opposed to an independent level of interaction
where each phase, its results and analysis are kept distinct (Creswell & Plano Clark,
2011). When considering all the factors contributing to the design of this study
(worldview, timing, level of interaction, strands and mixing strategy), the project is
best described as having an explanatory sequential design (Creswell, 2009; Creswell
& Plano Clark, 2011).
Figure 1. Sequential explanatory design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011, p. 121)
Ethical considerations and requirements
Ethics approval was sought and granted by the University of Sydney Human
Research Ethics Committee (see Appendix A). The professional network of
freelance conductors is quite small and many conductors are known to each other.
Many of the participants were colleagues but every effort was made to approach
Quantitative!Data!Collection!
Quantitative!Data!Analysis!
Interview!Protocol!Development;!Case!Selection!
QUALITATIVE!Data!Collection!
QUALITATIVE!Data!Analysis!
Integration!of!the!Quantitative!and!Qualitative!Results!
26
peers in a non-coercive manner. The attached Invitation Scripts, Interview Protocols
and Participant Information Statements outline the steps taken to alleviate concerns
regarding coercion. Another consideration was a clear delineation in approaching
participants in their capacity as private contractors independent of their client
schools. The purpose of the research is to examine the nature of the freelance
engagement and not the specific school environment. Thus, consent from relevant
education head offices and school principals were not required. The survey
responses are completely anonymous and participants are unable to be identified
through their responses. I felt that participants might be reluctant to provide full
disclosure and honest opinions without full confidentiality and anonymity. Whilst I
am aware of the identity of the participants who volunteered in the interviews and
case studies, confidentiality is maintained throughout this report.
Quantitative strand
Survey participants and sampling
A purposive sampling (Cohen et al., 2007; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) approach
was used to target a cross-section of freelance school conductors working in NSW
schools. This cross-section of participants were chosen with the intention that they
may hold different perspectives on the nature of freelance school conducting
(maximal variation strategy, Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The participants (N=50)
included those working in public and private schools, male and female, and
represented a broad range of ages. To reflect the differentiation that occurs in the
profession, conductors from both instrumental and choral backgrounds as well as
classical and jazz directors were included in the project.
Recruitment
Participants for the survey were initially contacted via one of five methods (see
Appendix F):
1. Personal invitation via a face-to-face conversation or phone call
2. Personal email invitation with a link to the online survey hosted by
www.surveygizmo.com
3. Posting of a link on my personal website www.lukegilmour.wordpress.com
27
4. Email to the Music Directors associated with the NSW Band Festival
(www.schoolbandfestival.org.au) from the Festival General Manager on my
behalf.
5. Passive snowballing from participants recruited from the four methods above
(Cohen et al., 2007).
Following recruitment to participate in the questionnaire, participants were
asked to complete a short 20-30 minute online questionnaire (Cohen et al., 2007).
On the front page of the survey was a copy of the Participant Information Statement
(PIS) approved by the HREC (see Appendix B).
The limitations involved with the sampling process include the risk that
volunteers will not be representative of the target population. Of the participants
recruited, one respondent fell outside the freelance selection criteria due to being
employed fully via a salary arrangement. This participant was accordingly
eliminated from the data set. Participants may also have had a range of motivations
for volunteering such as wanting to help me as a colleague, interest in the research
and seeing the research as an opportunity to air grievances. Due to the closely
networked nature of the profession and the convenience sample, caution must be
applied to any generalisations from the results.
Survey
The survey (see Appendix D) used in the research drew from a number of existing
sources as well as my own design in an attempt to provide an overview of the FSC
profession. My supervisor also guided the structure of the questionnaire. Prior to
publication on www.surveygizmo.com, a pilot survey was sent to three colleagues
who provided feedback, specifically on questions that lacked clarity. Administration
of the survey via electronic means was chosen due to the ready access participants
have to online services, the quickness of response and zero cost involved (Conway,
Eros, Pellegrino, & West, 2010).
Question types included dichotomous, multiple choice, Likert-type ratings
scales, ratio data and open ended questions (Cohen et al., 2007). Open-ended
questions were provided for participants to further elaborate using short descriptive
answers. The layout of the survey was semi-structured and made extensive use of
questions that enabled the same kind of response to be given across a range of
28
questions relating to a similar topic (Cohen et al., 2007). The questionnaire consisted
of six sections:
• Understanding the profession
• How you feel about what you do
• Your training before you started doing a lot of school conducting
• Ongoing professional development
• Conditions of freelance engagement
• The future—how you see your career opportunities
Various response scales were used with the most common being ‘level of
importance’ and ‘level of agreement’:
Level of importance
1. Not at all
2. Very little
3. Somewhat
4. Quite important
5. Very Important
Level of agreement
1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Neutral
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree
A selection of questions were used from four existing instruments to measure
stress, burnout and job satisfaction. Demographic questions were designed in order
to provide a framework for differentiation (Cohen et al., 2007) within the profession.
Finally, items relating specifically to the unique environment of a freelance school
conductor were modified from an American study, Job Satisfaction and Stress among
Band Directors (Heston et al., 1996). A limitation with the present study is that it
does not focus in detail on one particular phenomenon but attempts to explore the
overall nature of the profession and possible influencing factors on job satisfaction.
29
Job Descriptive Index
In developing questions specifically about job satisfaction, four items from the Job
Descriptive Index (Smith, Kendall, & Hulin, 1969) were used as source material—
(a) I am fully satisfied with my job, (b) I am happy with the way my colleagues and
superiors treat me, (c) I am satisfied with what I achieve at work and (d) I feel good
at work. These four items were found to have adequate reliability and validity in an
earlier study on the relationship between job satisfaction and self-efficacy (Caprara,
Barbaranelli, Borgogni, & Steca, 2003). The last two items were utilised again along
with items in Boyle’s TSI in a related study looking at job stress, job satisfaction and
self-efficacy (Klassen & Chiu, 2010).
The four items from the Job Descriptive Index were modified and expanded
to the following six questions to better reflect the influence of parents, colleagues
and superiors on job satisfaction:
• I am fully satisfied working as a conductor in schools
• I am satisfied with what I achieve as a conductor working in schools
• I feel good at work
• I am happy with the way parents treat me
• I am happy with the way other teachers treat me
• I am happy with the way school management treat me
Fimian Teacher Stress Inventory
Two questions from the Fimian (1984) Teacher Stress Inventory (TSI) were chosen
as being the most relevant of the original 49 teacher stress items (Fimian, 1987):
• I feel that I am unable to cope
• I experience physical exhaustion
A later study (Fimian & Fastenau, 1990) updating the validation of the TSI
found that there was a high degree of internal consistency and correlation among the
ten discrete stress factors—time management, work-related stressors, professional
distress, discipline and motivation, professional investment, emotional
manifestations, fatigue manifestations, cardiovascular manifestations, gastronomical
manifestations, and behavioural manifestations.
30
Boyle Teacher Stress Inventory
One item was used from a separate Teacher Stress Inventory (Boyle, Borg, Falzon, &
Baglioni, 1995). Whilst I used items from both the Boyle et al. (1995) TSI and the
Fimian (1984) TSI to measure job stress, previous studies have measured job stress
with a single item (“I find teaching to be stressful”) due to high levels of validity and
convenience in a busy teaching workplace (Klassen & Chiu, 2010).
Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)—General Survey, Education Survey
Four questions were sourced from the Maslach Burnout Inventory—Educators
Survey (Maslach, Jackson, & Leiter, 1996):
• I feel burned out from my work
• I feel I’m positively influencing other people’s lives through my job
• I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job
• I feel exhilarated after working closely with my students
The MBI is recognised as having the strongest psychometric properties, high
internal validity and continues to be used extensively by researchers since its original
inception as an instrument for use in the human service occupations (Maslach et al.,
2001; Taris, Schreurs, & Schaufeli, 1999). The purpose of using these items in this
study is to contribute an understanding of FSC self-assessment of their emotional
exhaustion and feelings of personal accomplishment (Maslach et al., 1996). The
MBI is not designed as a clinical-diagnostic tool (Maslach et al., 1996). I was also
only interested in researching two of the three components to burnout as described in
the MBI—emotional exhaustion and personal accomplishment. Emotional
exhaustion has appeared as the predominant burnout component and the component
most strongly associated with role conflict (Jackson et al., 1986; Maslach et al.,
2001) The other aspect—depersonalisation—was not studied.
Data analysis
The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 19.0 Graduate Student Version
(SPSS) was used to process the data exported from www.surveygizmo.com. Data
from the questionnaires were analysed to produce descriptive statistics. Short
answers from the questionnaire were analysed for similarity and variance (Cohen et
al., 2007; Wiersma, 2000). The content from the participant short answers provided
valuable insight into the FSC situation beyond the structured survey responses. As
31
with the sequential explanatory design, the data analysis from the initial quantitative
stage connected into the design of the data collection in the follow-up qualitative
phase.
Qualitative strand
Participants and sampling
A subset (N=3) of the survey population from the first phase were invited to engage
in a semi-structured interview to provide deeper insight into the profession (Cohen et
al., 2007; Creswell, 2009; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; Rudestam & Newton,
2007). Participants were selected based on their previous indication of involvement
at the conclusion of the survey as well as representing a cross-section of school
environments—public, private, community, primary and secondary. All of the
groups each participant conducted were instrumental—concert bands, jazz ensembles
and orchestras. The three participants were not involved in any choral directing at
the time. A copy of the relevant PIS, Consent Form and Interview Protocol were
provided to participants in advance of the interview (see Appendix B, Appendix C
and Appendix E).
Interviews
The aim of completing adding a multiple case study via interviews as the final step in
data collection is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the freelance school
conductor profession (Creswell, 2009; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; Rudestam &
Newton, 2007). Interview questions were generated from analysis of descriptive
statistics from the survey. The general strategy for the interview was semi-structured
and started off with broad questions followed by additional questions guided by the
interviewee’s responses. This interview guide approach (Cohen et al., 2007) enabled
me to gather rich qualitative data and best captured the participant’s meanings, whilst
avoiding the imposition of my own views on the interviewee.
Data collection
Data from the interviews were collected via field notes and audio recording with
transcription. The interviews were semi-structured and responses were narrative and
autobiographical in nature. Ruth’s interview was conducted at the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music. Ken and Daniel’s interviews were conducted in their
32
respective homes. Ruth and Ken’s interview lasted approximately 40 minutes,
whereas Daniel’s lasted an hour.
Data analysis
As with connected mixed method data analysis which occurs in a sequential
explanatory project (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011), the second qualitative phase
helps builds upon and explain the first phase. The interview and case-study data
were analysed against the background of ‘fitness for purpose’ (Cohen et al., 2007) in
describing the FSC phenomenon. The interview data were coded via NVIVO for
cataloguing, analysis and comparison with the descriptive statistics from the
questionnaire (Cohen et al., 2007; Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011; Wiersma, 2000).
The case-study data will be presented in Chapter 5 as separate descriptive narratives
of the participants. Further analysis from the qualitative phase will involve
summarising and interpreting the interview data to address the mixed methods nature
of the study by exploring how the qualitative results illuminate the quantitative
findings (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011).
Validity and reliability
The reliability and validity of the external survey sources used in the first
quantitative phase has been addressed earlier in this chapter. The limitation of the
present study is that the internal validity of combining portions of these stand-alone
instruments into one survey has not been tested. In relation to the qualitative phase
where there is more importance placed on validity rather than reliability, procedures
outlined in this chapter describe the methods used to provide a participant account
that can be trusted, is accurate and credible (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). The
credibility of the data, and by extension the overall study, was enhanced through
several sources being used in the case-study phase (triangulation) and the results of
the study disseminated to members of the FSC profession (member-checking) to
confirm whether the findings reflect their experiences (Creswell & Plano Clark,
2011).
Summary
This chapter provided an overview of the sequential explanatory mixed methods
project design. The generation of each strand of inquiry was outlined along with the
data collection and analysis procedures. The validity and reliability of the
33
methodology was addressed, followed by an outline of the ethical considerations
involved with the project.
The next chapter will present the results generated by the quantitative phase
of this study and provides a broad overview of the profession as well as specific
factors affecting job satisfaction of freelance school conductors in NSW. Whilst
‘inferences’ or conclusions will be discussed throughout the results chapters, the
larger interpretations (‘meta-inferences’, Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011) will be
made in the concluding discussion chapter.
34
Chapter 4: Survey Results
A survey of freelance school conductors in NSW was conducted in order to discover
the current environment of the FSC situation as well as to provide insights into job
satisfaction. Whereas participant demographic data is typically presented in a
methodology chapter, the presentation of this data is a key to addressing the study’s
aim of describing the subsector of musician/educators working as conductors in
schools. In so far as describing the participants gives an overview of the FSC
situation in NSW, it also provides a foundation for exploring other questions relating
to the participants. The chapter will expand into outlining descriptive data around
the following themes:
• Demographic profile of FSCs
• Pre-service training
• Ongoing professional development
• FSC perceptions about the industry and their future
Due to the small sample (N=50) results should be treated with caution.
Nevertheless, the qualitative results from the survey’s elaborative responses as well
as the case study interviews discussed in Chapter 5 provide a valuable method of
triangulation to strengthen the reliability of the data.
Demographic profile of FSCs
The participants in the survey who answered this question represented an almost
even spread of male (54%) and female (46%). This relatively even gender split is
contradictory to recent findings regarding the traditionally masculine nature of the
profession in America (Sears, 2010). Participants reported a spread of ages across
four nominated ranges: 18–24 (16%), 25–34 (32%), 35–54 (42%) and over 55
(10%). The experience level of the participants varied (see Table 1) with more than
half of the candidates (56%) having worked as a FSC for more than 10 years. This
seems to closely relate to the age of the participants with a similar number over 35
years of age (52%). Sampling error could influence this response rate with more
committed, longer term FSCs more likely to have responded to my recruitment
approach.
35
Table 1. Years working as a FSC
Years n Valid %
0–5 10 22
6–10 10 22
10–15 7 15
>15 20 41
Total 46 100.0
Missing 4
Education and Professional Association
Participants came from a variety of training backgrounds and listed their highest
level of education as being:
• no formal tertiary or vocational qualifications (10%);
• no formal tertiary education but completed a performance exam (for example,
AMEB) (8%);
• Undergraduate degree in Music Performance and/or Music Education (42%);
• Postgraduate degree in Music Performance (including Conducting) and/or
Music Education (40%).
From this, it can be seen that the vast majority of freelance school conductors
in the survey sample (82%) had tertiary training in Music. This high level of tertiary
training is reflective of the arts sector (65%) as a whole having a higher level of
education compared with the general workforce (25%) (Throsby & Zednik, 2010).
In addition, the level of tertiary training is indicative of current trends where most
schools require their peripatetic staff to have tertiary qualifications whereas in an
earlier era, this was not the case (Thompson, 1990).
In relation to membership of a professional association, 41% have no
affiliation whereas 12% are members of a trade union, 37% are members of a
professional association and 10% are members of both a union and professional
association. This may be because freelance conductors are generally not involved in
36
the Musicians Union, as it does not specify award rates of pay for FSCs or provide
any advocacy services for this niche sector. Similarly, FSCs would not be members
of a teachers union and in most cases would not even be eligible, unless they had
completed their pre-service teacher training and were currently working
simultaneously (part-time) as a classroom music teacher. The professional
associations FSCs are more likely to be involved with—in particular ABODA and
previously IAJE (no longer operational)—are more network-oriented organisations
with very little advocacy influence in Australia and no capacity to specify or enforce
rates of pay. Freelance school conductors are essentially independent contractors
similar to a tradesperson or independent consultant and yet, they have a lot of
conditions and restrictions placed upon them which would ordinarily put them in an
employee category (Legal Services Directorate, 2012).
Through comments in the survey’s written responses and later in the case-
study interviews (see Chapter 5), it is clear that some FSCs find it difficult to
negotiate rates and conditions without an industrial agreement/award or union to turn
to. There is a perception, as described by one survey participant, of a “reluctance
from both the Teachers Union and Musicians Union to deal with people in my
position as both groups felt I was outside their jurisdiction.” This respondent is
female, has post-graduate qualifications in Music Performance, currently conducts
twelve hours per week in five schools and earns a majority of her income ($40-
$60,000pa) through freelance school conducting. Interestingly, she contrasts her
desire for the perceived benefits associated with employment with the flexibility and
creative autonomy of a FSC.
There are times where I do wish that my job was more like that of a classroom teacher, in as much as I didn’t have to think about issues of pay and super and sickness and holidays and award rates and union. But by the same token, the level of creative freedom that many of us have is also great.
(Female 35–54, 12 hours per week in 5 schools, 150–200 students per week, $40–$60,000 per year, representing 75–100% of her annual income.)
The working week
To understand the freelance and itinerant nature of the profession it was important to
discover the structure of the survey participants’ working week. The participants
reported a wide range of involvement in the FSC sector, working in as many as six
schools in a week (M=2.89, 3 schools per week, see Table 2), and with a range of
37
student numbers from fewer than 50 to more than 200 (M=3.02, 100–150 students,
see Table 3).
Table 2. FSC weekly school involvement
Number of Schools n Valid %
1 11 24
2 9 20
3 11 24
4 7 15
5 5 11
6 3 6
Total 46 100.0
Missing 4
Table 3. FSC weekly student interaction
Number of Students n Valid %
0– 50 7 15
50–100 9 20
100–150 13 28
150–200 10 22
>200 7 15
Total 46 100.0
Missing 4
In looking at the school context, 46% of freelance school conductors from the
sample were employed solely in the public education system and 41% worked in
both public and private schools. Only six respondents (13%) were engaged
exclusively by the private system. Another aspect of the school context is that 67%
38
of participants worked in both primary and secondary school settings. This is likely
to be by necessity rather than design with significantly more primary schools in
Sydney than high schools and thus the likelihood of more opportunities to be
engaged as a FSC in a primary school ensemble program.
Interestingly, ten respondents (20%) were involved in choral conducting and
only three of the participants (6%) worked exclusively with choirs. This bias
towards instrumental conducting could be the result of convenient sampling as well
as the general practice of school choirs being taken by salaried classroom teachers.
Having known a lot of FSCs, my own experience is that there are not many schools
in NSW and Sydney in particular, which employ a freelance choral conductor. Still,
the results suggest that the data may not adequately or accurately represent freelance
choral educators in NSW and that this population is worthy of more specific
attention in future research.
From assessing the hours per week conducting in schools (M=6.87 hours per
week, see Figure 2) it is clear that no participants work the equivalent hours of a full-
time job (generally 38 hours per week1), but this is only the rehearsal time and does
not include ensemble administration and preparation time as alluded to in the case-
study interviews.
1 Fair Work Australia definition of full-time: employees generally work 38 hours a week, and have a continuing contract of employment. Benefits such as paid sick leave, annual leave, holiday pay, long service leave and carers or other types of leave apply. http://www.fairwork.gov.au/employment/conditions-of-employment/pages/the-difference-between-full-time-part-time-and-casual.aspx
39
Figure 2. FSC hourly involvement each week
Employment conditions
Of the conductors surveyed, 38% have superannuation2, 14% have long service
leave, 3% have sick leave and holiday pay (one only). In relation to how conductors
are paid there was a mixture between self-employed businesses, casual employment
and part-time salary arrangements. The majority (88%) indicated that some or all of
their payment occurred through a sole-trader/self-employed business structure.
Given that the majority operate their own business and most recognise FSC
as a small business (68% agreed or strongly agreed) and recognise business skills as
essential to their success (68%), it seems prudent to have training in this area.
However, when asked whether their training successfully prepared them to manage
their career as a small business 76% either disagreed or strongly disagreed.
2 Superannuation (Super) – mandatory Australian employer contributions to an employee’s retirement fund. This is similar to a 401k fund in America and a pension fund in the UK.
40
Likewise, when asked whether their training successfully prepared them to live either
partly or full as a FSC, 61% either disagreed or strongly disagreed.
When reflecting specifically on their own training preparation prior to
becoming a FSC, five of the respondents (10%) commented on the lack of small
business skills imparted at the tertiary level and the desperate need for training in this
area. Elsewhere in the survey, when given a chance to comment on job satisfaction,
one participant mentioned “handling the finances of the business is the most difficult
aspect.” With so many music undergraduates needing to consider freelancing as an
income source, whether it be instrumental performing, educating or conducting, it
seems that tertiary training does not adequately prepare music students for working
in this way (Bennett, 2007; Evans & Bodrova, 2011). One participant, when
commenting on his undergraduate music performance training, describes it as
“woefully inadequate in preparing me for work as a teacher, conductor, or as a
business owner.” This participant (25–34) is quite active in the profession,
rehearsing 18 hours per week. These findings support those outlined in Bennett’s
(2008b) book on the classical music profession regarding the inadequacy of tertiary
music training in preparing musicians to think like an entrepreneur and to run a
business where the product results in music of some description.
Income
From the results of the income data we see that a majority of participants (68%) earn
$100 per hour or less for their time in front of an ensemble (see Table 4) with the
mean (M=2.88) indicating a range of $90–$100 per hour. A majority of the
participants (56%) are not remunerated for the time spent doing administrative or
non-ensemble conducting tasks (see Table 5). This lack of recognition of the time it
takes to adequately prepare for rehearsals and administer large ensemble programs
confirms the findings of Hardy’s (2006) earlier research into success factors of
instrumental programs in NSW Public schools.
41
Table 4. Rate per hour of freelance conducting
Hourly conducting rate n Valid %
1 <$80 11 27
2 $80–$90 7 17
3 $90–$100 10 24
4 $100 –$110 5 12
5 $110–$120 5 12
6 >$120 3 7
Total 41 100.0
Missing 9
Table 5. Rate per hour of administration
Hourly administration rate n Valid %
1 $0 23 56
2 $0–$20 3 7
3 $20–$40 4 10
4 $40–$60 7 17
5 $60–$80 3 7
6 >$80 1 2
Total 41 100.0
Missing 9
The Australian average annual income for full-time workers as of February
2012, seasonally adjusted, is $69,992 AUD (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012) .
Only one respondent indicated that they earn somewhere in the vicinity of the
average Australian income (see Table 7) from freelance school conducting. What is
more concerning is that seven participants indicated that they earn 75–100% of their
yearly income from being an FSC (see Table 6) and yet this would still only include
42
one of them in the range of the average Australian income. In hindsight the income
ranges needed to be more differentiated as there is a big difference ($20,000)
between each end of the $40–$60,000 spectrum and likewise the $60–$80,000 band.
Still, 74% of participants earn less than $40,000 a year from conducting in schools
(see Table 7), which suggests that it is not a viable long-term career path without
significant supplementation from other income sources. With most ensemble
rehearsals occurring before and after school, there is potentially a large part of the
school day that is not producing income.
Table 6. Percentage of annual income derived from FSC
Percentage n Valid %
0–25 13 32
25–50 10 24
50–75 11 27
75–100 7 17
Total 41 100.0
Missing 9
Table 7. Annual income from FSC
Income p.a. from FSC n Valid %
$0–$20,000 18 44
$20,000–$40,000 12 30
$40,000–$60,000 10 24
$60,000–$80,000 1 2
Total 41 100.0
Missing 9
This need for supplementation and diversification in order to generate an
adequate income and lifestyle echoes the sentiments of Bennett (2008b) and Evans
43
and Bodrova (2011). One survey participant in his fifties mentioned that in addition
to being a freelance conductor, he also had parallel careers as a composer, arranger
and performer. Interestingly, this participant indicated a salary range from FSC in
the vicinity of $0–$20,000, which only represented 25% of their overall income
diversification and at the same time wrote that they were “reasonably happy with
their current appointments.” Contrasting this view is another mother, whose income
is heavily relied upon in her family and has since moved away from the profession,
Working right through two pregnancies and babies with no maternity leave was my most stressful experience. My husband works part time so I needed to go back to work one term after having the first child and 1 week after having the second. The only way I can describe this situation is ‘appalling’…I have never felt terribly burned out but after these experiences I decided to return to uni to start my PhD in the hope of finding work with more financial security.
(Female 35–54; 4 hours per week in 1 school, 50–100 students per week, $0–$20,000 per year, representing less than 25% of her annual income.)
Yet another view is presented by a younger male in the 25–34 year age
bracket, (earning $40,000–$60,000; 50–75% of overall income) who mentions that if
they cannot earn $120,000 p.a. in the next few years “then I will look to doing a
Masters in economics or law.” This dichotomy of attitudes towards the FSC
profession reflects the different expectations FSCs seek from the ‘career’. That is,
some are quite happy with the contribution FSC makes to their overall suite of skills
and ‘employment’ situations, whereas others are seeking more than a narrowness of
focus on conducting can provide. In summary, it appears that the average FSC participant works in three
schools (M=2.89), conducts 100–150 students per week (M=3.02), and works around
seven hours per week (M=6.87). Within the survey results there were three subset
profiles as described through three participants’ observations:
1. Those who do it ‘on the side’ for a bit of extra income as either part of a
broad portfolio career or to supplement household income.
It suited my lifestyle. I wanted to be a stay at home mum and this allowed me to work a few hours a week ‘keeping my hand in’ whilst still allowing me to care for my children.
(Female 25–34, 2 hours per week in 1 school as an FSC (Choral) with less than 50 students, $0–$20,000 per year representing 25–50% of her annual income.)
44
2. Those who are trying to make it a career but struggling.
If I cannot get to $120,000.00 pa within the next few years then I will look to doing a Masters in economics or law. Hard to build a family in the Sydney area.
(Male 25–34, 11 hours per week in 3 schools, 150–200 students per week, $40–$60,000 per year, representing 50–75% of his annual income.)
3. Those who are intentional and focussed on conducting school students—
these may be represented by those participants who work greater than fifteen
hours per week (see Figure 2) and see more than two hundred students per
week (see Table 3).
I really do love my job! I love choosing where to work and with whom.
(Female 35–54, 16 hours per week in 3 schools, >200 students per week, $60–$80,000 per year, representing 75–100% of her annual income.)
Continuing the theme of diversification of income streams and skills,
participants were asked whether they worked in other areas during the school term
(see Table 8) and the school holidays (see Table 9). Only one participant indicated
that they did no other work during the school term apart from conducting and ten
(25%) indicated that they did no other work during the school holidays.
Table 8. Other work during term
School term n Valid %
No other work 1 2
Music related 33 83
Non-music related 1 2
Mixed work 5 13
Total 40 100.0
Missing 10
45
Table 9. Other work during school holidays
School holidays n Valid %
No other work 10 25
Music related 18 45
Non-music related 5 13
Mixed work 7 17
Total 40 100.0
Missing 10
Finally, when examining the data relating to income, other financial aspects
such as super and holiday/leave provisions need to be considered. More than a third
(38%) of respondents were fortunate to receive superannuation contributions from
their ‘employer’. When exploring whether the provision of super influences job
satisfaction, there is a positive response (M=3.7, see Table 10). Given that it could
be argued that many FSCs are eligible for super to be added to their contract
payments, (Legal Services Directorate, 2012), this is an area that needs to be
addressed.
Table 10. Influence of remuneration conditions on job satisfaction
Remuneration conditions N M SD
superannuation 40 3.7 1.2
sick leave 40 3.7 1.3
holiday pay 40 3.5 1.4
long service leave 40 3.2 1.4
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 being
‘impacting very little’ and 5 being ‘impacting a very great deal’.
Very few participants received other forms of leave entitlements such as
holiday pay (one), sick leave (one) and long service leave (five). These responses
46
may have been affected by sampling error and confusion around the participants’
own view of their freelance engagement. Technically, someone who is receiving any
other benefit aside from superannuation is probably not freelance or casual unless
their freelance engagement is part of their overall portfolio of employment, which
includes extra entitlements.
Pre-service training
Participants were asked to respond to questions relating to the preparation their
training gave them (see Table 11). The reported means indicate an overall feeling of
neutral to disagreement with the training FSCs received prior to entering the
profession. Of particular note are the bottom three statements relating to training in
behaviour management, lifestyle/career management and business skills (Bennett,
2008b; Evans & Bodrova, 2011) . One survey participant commented that “there is
no training for what I do!” while another commented that they learned through doing
it on the job. What is clear is that the participants felt that the tertiary system was
inadequate in preparing them for what they do now.
Table 11. Perceptions of training success
My training successfully prepared me to: N M SD
achieve my own expectations of quality musical outcomes 41 3.4 1.2
conduct ensembles of school students 41 3.0 1.4
manage the behaviour of large numbers of students 41 2.7 1.4
live either partly or fully as a freelance school conductor 41 2.6 1.4
manage freelance conducting as a small business 41 2.0 1.2
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 being ‘strongly
disagree’ and 5 being ‘strongly agree’.
There could also be tension between the musician/performer identities
reconciling with the need to teach (Bouij, 2004; Roberts, 2004; Scheib, 2006a).
Nevertheless, it could be argued that FSCs who undertook a performance degree
might have been better prepared by completing an education degree if they are
expressing concerns about pedagogical and behaviour management issues. However,
this is just one aspect in which FSCs feel under-equipped. The strongest levels of
47
disagreement exist around the theme of business skills and existing as a musician in
the broader context of the industry. Thus the GAP’s recommendation (Evans &
Bodrova, 2011) for a ‘professional’ Bachelor of Music degree that equips students to
participate in the broader music industry is supported by the present findings.
Ongoing professional development
Continuing along the theme of training, respondents were asked about their views
and levels of participation in professional development. Of those who responded to
this question, 95% had undergone some form of professional development. These
courses included formal postgraduate training and short vocational courses provided
by organisations such as Symphony Australia, The Arts Unit, ABODA and other
overseas institutions. Participants provided a range of qualitative responses to the
motivation that engages or disengages them in ongoing professional development.
Responses centred around three main areas—financial motivation, qualification
enhancement and networking.
Financial motivation
One participant commented on the capacity for greater earning power through
completing professional development. However, there were several who complained
about the cost of undertaking courses, with one saying that they were “absolutely
devastated and appalled at the costs” of a Masters in Conducting. Aside from the
costs of completing a formal qualification, many freelancers struggle with setting
aside the time for even a short program, let alone a two-year postgraduate course.
Any study that is to be undertaken takes away from a FSCs available number of
‘billable hours’ and it must be paid for out of their earnings. This is in contrast to
salaried teachers who are often given the time to do short courses on full pay as well
as having the course paid for, or at least subsidised, by their employer. Teachers also
have an incentive for ongoing professional development associated with their NSW
Institute of Teachers accreditation3.
3 Classroom teachers must complete one hundred hours of professional development over a five-year period to maintain their accreditation.
48
Qualification enhancement
There was a strong sense that FSCs do recognise the value in ongoing development
(M=4.3, see Table 12) with some indicating that many FSC jobs now require or
desire a formal education and/or conducting qualification. It also provides a point of
focus for FSCs. One participant commented that even though they did not enjoy
their undergraduate degree they are still considering a postgraduate music education
degree over the long term,
I feel that observing classroom teachers and learning teaching strategies could be helpful in my current job, but also in case I would prefer to be a classroom teacher later on.
(Female 18–24, 7 hours per week in 6 schools, 150–200 students per week, $0–$20,000 bracket per year, representing 0–25% of her annual income.)
It is this last part of the quotation that alludes to the number of FSCs who
undertake postgraduate education studies (like Daniel in Chapter 5) in order to
qualify them as a classroom teacher—almost as a back-door option if their current
situation does not work out.
Table 12. Perceptions of professional development and type of groups
Statement N M SD
Ongoing professional development is important for FSC 41 4.3 1.1
I will only be taken seriously as a conductor if I conduct
professionals
41 3.1 1.1
I will only be taken seriously as a conductor if I study overseas 41 3.1 1.1
I would prefer to work with professional adult organisations 41 2.2 1.0
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 being ‘strongly disagree’
and 5 being ‘strongly agree’.
When looking specifically at FSCs perceptions of possible development
pathways in the Tertiary sector, there was a high level of disagreement or negative
perceptions of programs offered (See Table 13). This is perhaps due to the fact that
there are no postgraduate tertiary programs in Australia established to cater solely for
the school conductor.
49
Table 13. FSC perceptions of tertiary postgraduate training
Australian universities provide
excellent postgraduate training in: N M SD
Choral conducting in schools 39 2.2 1.1
Orchestral conducting in schools 39 2.1 1.1
Concert Band conducting in schools 39 2.0 1.0
Jazz Ensemble conducting in schools 39 1.9 0.9
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 being
‘strongly disagree’ and 5 being ‘strongly agree’.
Networking
The value of networking is a theme that recurs throughout the qualitative data from
the surveys and case studies with one participant commenting that,
I have already taken many opportunities for further study and find them very affirming and useful. Also, as a conductor, we are not often among colleagues, so it is always nice to meet others and talk about conducting.
(Female 35–54, 12 hours per week in 5 schools, 150–200 students per week, $40–$60,000 per year, representing 75–100% of her annual income.)
With FSCs often operating in an itinerant manner and not feeling as though
they have colleagues within the school, opportunities to network are invaluable
(Bennett, 2008b; Greller, 2006; Krueger, 2000; Scheib, 2006a). However, there are
no comparable Australian based opportunities for FSCs similar to the scale of a
Midwest Clinic or even a vibrant FSC association. ABODA is the only organisation
that seeks to replicate some of the success of the American model. Through
ABODA there are various state-based conductor clinics and the Australian National
Band and Orchestra Conference (ANBOC).
Inspiration to become a FSC
The most influential factor participants cited for their decision to be involved in the
FSC vocation (see Table 14) was clearly an enjoyment in working with students
(M=4.6) (Rosenthal, 2009). Several FSCs expanded on this with comments such as
50
wanting to share “the joy of music and showing children how much fun it can be”
and the satisfaction that comes with working with young people who are “always
open to ideas and when focused or motivated will ‘walk on water’ in relation to their
music, attitude and application.”
Second to this was the inspiration of their own school conductor (Bright,
2006). Interestingly, one survey participant commented on the need to remain
positive when dealing with stress and burnout in order to “continue being
inspirational to the students”. So not only are some conductors in the profession due
to being inspired but they also feel pressure to be inspirational.
Table 14. Factors influencing FSC career choice
How important were the following factors in
your choice to be an FSC? N M SD
Enjoy working with students 44 4.6 0.7
Inspired by own school conductor: 44 3.6 1.4
Prefer it to private teaching 44 3.4 1.4
‘Fell into it’ 43 2.9 1.3
Supplement work as a professional conductor 43 2.0 1.2
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 ‘not at
all important’ and 5 being ‘very important’.
Job satisfaction
In examining the central line of inquiry relating to job satisfaction, participants were
asked to select responses indicating the way they feel about their freelance school
conductor situation (see Table 15). The resulting means (3.7-4.3: Neutral-Strongly
Agree) indicate that the survey population tend to feel on the positive side in their
response to the questions. Nevertheless, there were participants who indicated a
level of disagreement with the questions asked. In one instance, a participant replied
that they disagreed with the statement “I am fully satisfied” but indicated a level of
agreement with the other statements. They expanded on this by writing,
51
starting to feel very frustrated with the long hours and extra commitments involved. Looking into going into classroom teaching so I can have more regular hours and guaranteed income. Very stressful not being able to take time of when sick.
(Female 25–34; 13 hours per week in 6 schools, >200 students per week, $40–$60,000 per year, representing 50–75% of her annual income.)
Table 15. How FSCs feel about their situation
How do you feel as a FSC N M SD
I feel good at work 42 4.3 0.7
I am satisfied with what I achieve 43 4.1 0.8
I am happy with the way parents treat me 43 3.9 0.9
I am fully satisfied 43 3.9 1.1
I am happy with the way other teachers treat me 43 3.8 1.0
I am happy with the way school management treat me 43 3.7 0.8
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 being ‘strongly disagree’
and 5 being ‘strongly agree’.
Other factors raised by participants when expanding on their responses to the
statements in Table 15 included—long hours, evening commitments, poor working
conditions, administrative workload, relationship with staff and parents, recognition
and unrealistic expectations. Contrasting the negative experiences outlined, is a
situation described by one participant where the level of support is high from the
school community and they feel a high level of job satisfaction,
I think I am really lucky in that I have a really supportive school administration, supportive parents, and really supportive classroom music teachers. The success of the program has contributed to this, and that support, in turn, contributes to the success of the program—successful program give great satisfaction.
(Male 35–54, 1 hour per week in 1 school, <50 students per week, $0–$20,000 per year, representing 0–25% of his annual income.)
The last sentence in this excerpt raises an interesting point and possible shift
in perception that FSCs may need to take regarding their career. That is, does one
wait for the perfect job or situation to create job satisfaction, or does one set about
52
creating it yourself over time? Perhaps then, FSCs need to be exposed to quality
models of successful programs and successful, satisfied conductors in order to better
replicate this situation for themselves.
Whilst the study of job satisfaction in FSCs would be greatly enhanced
through a bigger sample, an overall measure of job satisfaction was sought in order
to examine its relationship to several demographic and environmental variables.
There were strong correlations between ‘I am fully satisfied’ and the remaining items
in Table 154 except for the item, ‘I am happy with the way other teachers treat me’5.
In a normal teaching environment it would be reasonable to expect that the way
colleagues treat you would have an effect on job satisfaction (Caprara et al., 2003).
However, with FSCs their level of interaction with other teachers tends to be fairly
marginal hence the low teacher support rating in relation to job satisfaction.
Interestingly, in the Heston et al. (1996) study, music colleagues and other teachers
were the second and third most frequently identified source of support.
Removing the teacher related item from Table 15, resulted in an increased
reliability and internal consistence of the overall average job satisfaction scale
(Cronbach Alpha of 0.79, Pallant, 2007). Using this five-item scale, a mean job
satisfaction variable for each participant was calculated. The results revealed an
overall mean of 3.96 for the survey participants, indicating that the sample
experienced high levels of satisfaction. The sample was fairly homogeneous with a
narrow distribution. Nevertheless, there were two participants who did experience
low levels of satisfaction, with the lowest reporting a mean of 1.80. This male
participant has been an FSC for over 15 years but has low involvement with the
profession (two schools per week, two hours per week, 50–100 students).
Unfortunately, there were no qualitative comments to explain why he had such a low
level of job satisfaction.
When looking at the relationship between gender and overall job satisfaction,
there was no difference between men and women. This is an interesting finding in a
sample comprising equal numbers of men and women. One reason could be the ease
in which women, as mentioned by one participant earlier, can combine being an FSC
4 Correlations ranged from 0.47 and 0.58.
53
with family commitments provided they aren’t the main income earner, “it suited my
lifestyle.” Likewise, there was no difference in the levels of job satisfaction
according to the age of the participants. This could be due to the ease in which FSCs
can exit the profession by either moving sideways into instrumental teaching,
classroom teaching or by leaving music entirely. That is, the concept of the portfolio
career gives flexibility throughout the length of time someone is involved as a FSC.
In addition to gender and age, the variables of hourly fee, overall percentage
of income derived by FSC activities, number of students per week, number of
schools per week, hours worked per week and income per annum were tested against
the overall job satisfaction variable. Of these, only higher levels of income indicated
an upward trend in participants’ level of satisfaction. Thus, it seems the participants
in the sample experience overall high levels of satisfaction irrespective of the
aforementioned demographic and environmental variables. This is a somewhat
surprising finding given the design of the questionnaire. These results could be due
to FSCs being able to choose their level of involvement according to their individual
circumstances which enables them to have more of a portfolio career rather than that
of a marginalised casual worker (Smeaton, 2003; I. Watson, 2005).
Factors contributing to FSC job satisfaction
Following on from the FSC connection with students as the leading motivator in
entering the profession (See Table 14), are results that indicate the level of student
enthusiasm as the leading factor in contributing to the participants job satisfaction
(see Table 16). Along with student enthusiasm is the level of student commitment as
the third leading factor in FSC job satisfaction, with level of school support also
figuring highly.
5 Correlation between ‘I am fully satisfied’ and ‘I am happy with the way other teachers treat me’ was non-significant, 0.09.
54
Table 16. Factors contributing to FSC job satisfaction
How important are the following factors: N M SD
level of student enthusiasm 43 4.7 0.7
level of school support 43 4.6 0.5
level of student commitment: 42 4.5 0.7
level of parent support 43 4.4 0.7
ability to cope with stress 43 4.0 1.0
supportive spouse / partner 43 4.0 1.3
administrative workload 43 3.7 0.9
remuneration 43 3.7 1.0
level of student competence 43 3.6 1.0
lack of suitable employment conditions 43 3.4 1.1
long hours / after hours commitments 43 3.3 1.1
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 ‘not at
all important’ and 5 being ‘very important’.
55
Stress and burnout
In relation to stress and/or burnout participants were asked to indicate the frequency
with which they felt like the statements listed (see Table 17).
Table 17. Stress and burnout feedback
N M SD
I feel I’m positively influencing other people’s lives through my job 42 6.0 1.2
I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job 42 5.6 1.2
I feel exhilarated after working closely with my students 42 5.3 1.5
I find freelance conducting in schools to be stressful 41 3.3 1.3
I experience physical exhaustion 42 2.9 1.6
I feel burned out from my work 42 2.5 1.3
I feel that I am unable to cope 42 1.7 1.0
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–7, with 1=Never, 2=A few times a year
or less, 3=Once a month or less, 4=A few times a month, 5=Once a week, 6=A few times a
week and 7=Everyday
In examining each of the statements in Table 17, the participants indicated a
positive feeling of at least once a week in relation to feeling as though they are
providing a positive influence, have a sense of accomplishment and feel exhilarated
when working with students. Conversely, participants reported that they only felt
stressed or other symptoms of burnout on a much less frequent occurrence—once a
month or less. It seems then that overall, participants feel positive towards their
work and their engagement with students on a much more frequent basis than
feelings of burnout and stress. Nevertheless, it is interesting to explore the nature of
this ‘balance’ and whether the higher frequency of feeling ‘good’ outweighs the
possible acute nature of times of stress.
The next question in this section of the survey asked participants “As a
freelance school conductor, how great a source of stress are the following factors?”
(see Table 18).
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Table 18. Sources of stress
Factor N M SD
not earning money in the holidays 41 3.6 1.2
my own expectations 42 3.2 1.0
non-conducting duties/admin 42 2.9 1.0
workload 42 2.6 0.9
ensemble discipline/student behaviour 42 2.6 1.1
student attitudes 41 2.6 0.9
parent expectations 42 2.4 1.0
working non-standard hours 42 2.4 1.1
school expectations 42 2.4 1.0
working in multiple schools 41 2.3 1.2
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1
being ‘no stress’ and 5 being ‘extremely stressful’.
Most noteworthy is that the expectations imposed by the school community
as well as themselves proves to be the greatest source of stress for FSCs. This is also
apparent in the case-study interviews in Chapter 5 as well as several comments by
participants in the survey:
Only get stressed when kids pull out of performances/ competitions a week before the gig. the remaining parents still expect a certain result, which is then compromised.
(Female, 35–54, 5 hours per week in 2 schools, 50–100 students per week, $0–$20,000 per year representing 25–50% of annual income).
feel like sometimes too much is expected from each school. Required to be in too many places and the same time. Can’t get commitment form families around performance time…all of these things make it stressful
(Female, 25–34, 13 hours per week in 6 schools, >200 students per week, $40–$60,000 per year representing 50–75% of annual income).
57
Concluding this part of the survey was a question asking participants an
optional question “Have you ever considered consulting a medical professional for
stress-related illness/burnout?” Surprisingly and quite concerning is that 24% of
participants indicated that they have considered consulting a medical professional for
stress-related illness and/or burnout. Again, this statistic (whilst only coming from a
small sample) raises the question as to whether the overall feelings of satisfaction,
student engagement and accomplishment are enough to overcome the possible
infrequent but acute moments of high stress, emotional exhaustion and burnout. In
particular the high periods of stress seem to revolve around performance times and
by extension, parent, school and self-expectations. Comments such as “it builds
every term towards concerts…by the end…I’m running on empty” are indicative of
the types of responses in explaining periods of stress and burnout.
Working-environment perceptions
In the design of the survey, most of the questions dealing with conditions of
freelance engagement were centred on gathering income data as referred to earlier in
this chapter. However, I was interested in getting an insight into how FSCs perceive
themselves and others like them, as well as their attitudes towards remuneration (see
Table 19). 76% of those who responded indicated that they agree or strongly agree
with feeling as though they have freedom or autonomy in their working environment
(M=3.9). This would suggest that these FSCs would fit into the portfolio worker
model as opposed to the marginalised profile of self-employment (Smeaton, 2003).
As alluded to earlier in this chapter and in Hardy’s (2006) findings, the participants
indicated a level of disagreement when asked whether they felt adequately
compensated for administering the programs (M=2.5) and rehearsal planning
(M=2.4).
58
Table 19. Attitudes towards remuneration
Statement N M SD
I believe that I have a lot of freedom in my decisions in my
working environment
41 3.9 0.9
Conductors in schools are paid according to their reputation 41 3.5 1.0
Conductors in NSW schools should have the same salary
arrangement as classroom teachers
41 2.8 1.3
I am compensated adequately for the amount of time
administering the school ensembles I conduct.
41 2.5 1.1
Conductors in schools are paid according to their ability 41 2.4 1.2
I am compensated adequately for the amount of time preparing
scores and rehearsal planning for the school ensembles I conduct.
41 2.4 1.2
Conductors in schools are paid according to their qualifications 41 2.3 1.1
Note. Responses could be selected from a range of 1–5, with 1 being ‘strongly disagree’ and
5 being ‘strongly agree’.
Despite a number of FSCs in the survey mentioning their desire to have
salaries and conditions similar to classroom teachers, there was a response indicating
a level of disagreement with this outcome (M=2.8). Lastly, in this series of
statements an interesting conflict of perception emerged with whether FSCs are paid
according to their qualification or rather their reputation. There was a clear
difference in the reported means, with respondents expressing that reputation is more
important than qualifications in determining pay outcomes (M=3.5 vs. M=2.3) with
one participant commenting,
I find it frustrating that is differs so dramatically depending on the school you are at—private, public, primary and high school etc. I work across the road from a well known private high school and feel that although my work load is the same as what the conductor has in the other school and we are able to achieve the same standard of musical performance... my professional ‘status’ is not as high and my pay is not as high.
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This comment was by a Female participant in the early stages of her career
(18-24 years old), earning 50–75% of her income as an FSC and grossing $20–
$40,000 per year from FSC activities. The participant also comments later in the
survey on age discrimination in terms of income even though she has more tertiary
qualifications than another colleague at the same school.
FSC future perceptions
In the final question of the survey (See Table 20), participants were asked to
comment on their perception of the future. From the reporting of means, it can be
seen that there was a positive trend in the level of agreement towards having a long-
term plan (M=3.9) and clear career path (M=3.5).
Table 20. FSC view of the future
Statement N M SD
long-term plan for the school ensembles 41 3.9 1.0
clear career path 41 3.5 1.2
I can not imagine myself doing anything different in the
future
41 3.0 1.2
I often contemplate discontinuing conducting in schools 40 2.5 1.2
However, within the responses there were still FSCs who are considering
alternate career paths due to a desire to earn more or finding it too hard in general to
make a career in music work.
I am pursuing a career path outside of music. It was too hard to make it work without killing myself working several jobs. It’s a shame because I have loved the time I’ve done it.
(Female, 25-34, 3 hours per week in one school, 100-150 students per week, $0–$20,000 per year representing 50–75% of annual income).
Summary
This chapter presented the results from the first phase of the project—a quantitative
survey, expanded on by short comments. These results have provided an overview
of the profession including demographic data, training, working conditions and
school environments. The chapter has also provided an insight into how freelance
60
school conductors feel about what they do. As this survey represented a small
sample, validation of the results can be found in linking themes through the
qualitative case studies found in the following chapter.
61
Chapter 5: Case-study Interviews
As outlined in the Method chapter, the final phase of this mixed methods project
involved a qualitative strand centred around three case-study type interviews. The
stories of Ruth, Ken and Daniel, as well as the qualitative responses from the survey
provide rich description and insight into the FSC situation. This last phase also
serves to strengthen through triangulation the validity of the results presented.
This chapter will start by providing an overview of the three participants’
background. After the initial introduction of Ruth, Ken and Daniel, their stories will
be interwoven to address similar themes from the survey—mapping the profession
and their attitudes towards their work. Throughout the telling of their stories, I will
attempt to illustrate the commonalities and variance from the quantitative data
already presented.
Introducing the case studies—Ruth, Ken and Daniel
Ruth
Ruth is 23 years old, has a boyfriend and at the time of the interview was planning an
extended holiday to ‘get away from it all’. Her formal training consisted of a
Bachelor of Music Education and she began conducting in schools during her
undergraduate degree. Ruth’s band conductor in high school was a source of
inspiration “she was fantastic” but Ruth was not actively seeking freelance
conducting as a profession, having begun her undergraduate degree in music
education to be come a classroom music teacher. During her first year, Ruth’s then
pregnant high school band conductor approached her to take over one of the bands.
Ruth’s involvement in freelance school conducting developed over the course of that
initial year to include three schools. At two of these schools, Ruth was running the
band program in only her first year of undergraduate music education training. The
third school, she joined as a conductor only because she wanted “an easy money
job”.
At the time of interview, Ruth’s working week included six hours of
conducting (every morning before school and one afternoon), an average of five
hours of unpaid program administration and twenty-three hours of private
instrumental tuition (peripatetic). This workload was split over six schools each
62
week and included approximately 200 students in concert band rehearsals and forty-
six individual piano students.
Ruth earns approximately $75,000 pa from all sources with around 50%
coming from freelance conducting at an average hourly rate of $90 per hour. For a
twenty-three year old new graduate this income is $20,000 more than a beginning
classroom teacher and almost as much as Daniel’s yearly income who is ten years
older and Ken who is twenty years older. This highlights the fact even at a high level
of engagement with the FSC profession, Ruth’s and others’ future earnings will only
increase with inflation, whereas a classroom teacher has a stepped salary scale which
by the time they earn head teacher’s salary would see them getting approximately
$100,000 pa. Still when compared with others in the survey and the median income
of Australian artists as a whole (Throsby & Zednik, 2010), Ruth, Ken and Daniel are
all doing very well.
Ruth worked in public and private schools and taught across Years 3-12. In
addition to this, Ruth was occasionally involved in guest conducting for other
programs, music camps and piano accompaniment “as a musician, you say yes to
other stuff as well.” In addition to her term commitments, Ruth found herself
increasingly having to supplement her income through holiday work particularly in
the six-week break at Christmas,
Ruth: in the past it’s been work free but now—you know the older you get, the more responsibilities you have to think about—the more stuff that’s being ripped out of your savings account. You have to think about what you’re going to do in that six-week period that you have nothing.
Ruth had also agreed to start teaching three days per week of classroom
teaching at one of the primary schools where she was already conducting. Since the
interview and the writing of the dissertation, Ruth has decided to leave the primary
classroom teaching to take up an accompanist position and additional private piano
students at a local private school, whilst still maintaining her existing conducting
commitments. Interestingly, the reason for the career adjustment was to allow room
in her weekly timetable to develop her conducting skills in preparation for further
postgraduate conducting studies.
63
Ken
Ken is at the other end of the career spectrum to Ruth and has been working as a
freelance conductor in schools for twenty years. He is 46 years old, married and has
two young children—not yet school age. Ken’s formal training consisted of a
Bachelor of Music and a Certificate in Piano Tuning. He has no tertiary Education
training. Ken ‘fell into’ the profession as a way to supplement his income from
performing and private tutoring,
Ken: I’d been doing some brass tutoring at a little primary school and the guy said would you like to take a couple of rehearsals for me, which I did. Then he said would you like to take the junior band, which I did. Then he left and I stepped up into doing both bands.
Ken’s hourly rate for conducting varies from $50 per hour through to $120
per hour and he has a yearly income of around $80,000. At the time of interview,
Ken’s working week consisted of eight hours of rehearsals per week, involving
approximately three hundred and fifty students across three schools. However, in the
year since the interview Ken has added another school program and a regular (almost
daily) performing contract with a professional local production of a popular
Broadway show. This additional workload will have increased his total earnings
from all sources to approximately $100,000pa. Ken is highly regarded within the
school band community and as a result is regularly engaged to guest conduct
ensembles and music camps, which he fits around his existing schedule. At two of
his schools he is paid to undertake administration tasks which he values “it feels nice
to be appreciated from that point of view, that they don’t expect me to work for
nothing at all.” Unlike Ruth, he does no private teaching and conducts exclusively in
Secondary schools (public and private):
Ken: At the moment I’m quite fortunate that I haven’t done any primary school bands for a few years, which is nice. I think that’s a really specialised thing to do and…I’ve found that my niche I think is working with community groups and high school kids. I think I get better results there. I find working with primary school kids really hard…
Daniel
Daniel is 32 years old and in a long-term relationship. Daniel’s commitment to
music education began at quite an early age, deciding he wanted to be a teacher in
Year 4. He recalls,
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Daniel: My personal theory on it is that for some reason I naturally started learning in a constructivist kind of way. For whatever reason I would sit there and I’d think of five different ways of explaining everything that she (Year 4 Teacher) said. That somehow tied in with me wanting to do the job that I saw her doing. I thought, I want to be a teacher because I’d explain it these five or six ways.
These internal ‘mind games’ continued into high school where he observed
the varying levels of success of music teachers. He was steered towards conducting
after being part of groups with inspiring leaders. Daniel found that conductors were
the individuals who had the most influence on him as a musician and identified the
conductor as the position where you could “make the biggest difference”. More
specifically, he recounts his experience in Year 11 and 12 as a member of the NSW
School Spectacular Orchestra and working with Steve Williams,
Daniel: Steve was just so inspiring and really amazing. I actually don’t know how the timeline worked. I don’t know whether I had decided I wanted to do some conducting stuff before then, but certainly at that point I thought, right, that’s it. That’s where you can actually really, yes, make a big difference.
Presently, Daniel is involved in nineteen hours of freelance school
conducting each week involving orchestras, jazz ensembles, concert bands and
chamber groups. This conducting is spread across primary and secondary schools.
Of the three case studies, he is he only one to work exclusively in public schools—
four each week, as well as an association with the DET Arts Unit. His formal
qualifications consisted of a Bachelor of Music, an Associate Diploma in Jazz
Studies and a Master of Teaching. He began conducting in schools on the first day
of his undergraduate degree and has been working as a FSC for fifteen years. Half
way through his undergraduate degree he decided against pursuing a career as an
orchestral musician “and didn’t know if I would get there anyway”.
Daniel earns approximately $60,000 plus super pa from freelance conducting,
which like Ruth and Ken, is in the upper range of income for FSCs surveyed. His
superannuation is added to his hourly billing rate by the schools where he works. In
addition he earns an additional $20,000 a year from outside sources such as gigs and
his community big band. On a per hour basis, he earns between $100 and $120 plus
superannuation.
Daniel’s week, like the other two interviewees also involves administration
tasks and attendance at regular (usually monthly) parent committee meetings. Daniel
65
is paid a kind of honorarium at one of his schools to undertake administrative duties.
He estimates that non-conducting tasks take up around twelve hours a week though
“I mean mentally you’re always thinking about it”, and in addition most weekends
will involve gigs as a professional musician. Finally, Daniel regularly attends gigs as
an audience member such as those hosted by Jazzgroove6 “so that I at least see some
other jazz musos and networking.”
Training, Accreditation, Networking and Professional Development
Pre-service and early career training
All of the interviewees have completed either undergraduate training in Music
Performance or Education with Daniel having completed postgraduate training in
Education and an additional degree in Jazz. For Music Performance graduates, the
pedagogical aspect of their training is a small component with Ken mentioning that,
Ken: it was very half-arsed and next to bloody useless. Because I was already out there doing it. The guy who was taking the class actually kept referring to me and saying what do you think about that, what do you think about that, what do you do about that? Would you like to show us how you did that? What are your ideas?
It was like—I felt really put out, that that wasn’t what I was there to do. I was there to try and learn off somebody else, not have somebody else keep throwing me up as an example.
Each of the interviewees when commenting about their training, mention that
learning from other conductors was the main form of training they received for their
eventual career as FSCs. This emulation puts the onus on the mentor to be someone
that is worth modelling (Benson, 2008; Blair, 2008; Jacobs, 2008). As Daniel
describes,
Daniel: Yes, worryingly all I was doing was emulating or copying what I’d seen when I was a student.
The older I got, the further I was from my memories of good conductor teaching of high school and primary school students. Also I only had to go on what I saw, which I had no perspective…That really dangerous thing of you just copy what you think is good and so it’s got nothing to do with whether it’s good, whether it has pedagogical foundations, whether it actually works for you. It’s just literally copying someone else and usually copying them badly and inaccurately and not understanding why they did what they did…
6 Jazz Groove – Sydney-based musicians collective promoting weekly gigs and a record label.
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Daniel then mentions that he joined the Arts Unit as a tutor six years ago to
watch good conductors work each week, which he has found invaluable for his
ongoing professional development. Daniel also seems to be quite capable of
transferring lessons learnt across age groups, genres and ensembles. As a member of
the Symphony Australia program he has had the opportunity to work with some of
the countries leading orchestras which isn’t directly applicable to how “you teach a
Year 8 kid to swing…but you’re still developing professionally and if you choose
you can find a way of constructing new ways of understanding and doing things
through rehearsal.” Daniels experience suggests that FSCs need to be taught how to
think in relation to transferability of skills as much as the niche technical
requirements of conducting an ensemble (Bridgstock, 2011a, 2011b).
Ken also talks about having the opportunity to learn his craft by watching
others ‘on the job’,
Ken: I’ve had the chance to watch really good people work and see how they do it. I think that would probably be my greatest education there, educationally, pedagogically, was actually having some great teachers myself. Great trombone teachers, some good conducting teachers and then playing under good conductors educationally.
This modelling is representative of the traditional master—apprentice model or even
the private instrumental tuition model.
Ongoing professional development
Daniel was the most active of the three interviewees in undertaking ongoing
professional development. More specifically, he found his Master of Teaching
valuable because he saw a direct link and was able to apply immediately the
coursework to his current FSC engagement:
Daniel: Everything you’ve learnt that week you have a directed way of trying to apply that. You don’t, you know, learn for like an undergrad, whatever it is, you do two years before you try all of that for three weeks on your first class and crash and burn.
Both Ruth and Ken are keen to develop their conducting abilities.
Interestingly, neither of them have any interest in furthering their formal pedagogical
training. Admittedly, Ruth and Daniel have completed their pre-service teacher
training, whereas Ken is at the later stages of his career and has no desire to work in
the classroom. Ruth highlights the need for education training particularly when
working in primary schools,
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Ruth: primary school conducting is more based on whether or not you’re a good music educator rather than whether or not you’re a good conductor. Because the kids are so young, it doesn’t matter if—you know you can have beautiful gestures or anything—that doesn’t matter.
Ken’s comments about what he would like to see in professional
development raises several questions about training for FSCs in general. That is, do
they need to be trained as conductors, teachers or both and do students benefit from
having trained musician-educators? From looking through the survey responses and
examining the interview transcripts it seems that conductors in schools need to be
trained in pedagogy, conducting skills and be highly skilled musicians as well. Still,
Ken desires training that equips conductors to educate. He talks specifically about
the need for Symphony Australia to,
Ken: educate the educators. All they seem to be doing is trying to find the next bloody great white hope of a conductor and what they do educationally for conductors is totally barking up the wrong tree I think. The Beat Starts Here7—is so condescending. It’s like saying oh well you’re just a shit teacher, let’s go and teach you how to conduct. Which was absolutely insulting.
The reality is that the core Symphony Australia program, in which Daniel is
involved, is structured in a way to train conductors to work at the professional
orchestra level, not the school conductor level. The other organisation Ken mentions
is The Arts Unit and his request for them to provide better in-service courses for
FSCs. Ken elaborates on what he wants by mentioning pedagogical aspects of
classroom management that he would like to increase his knowledge, as well as
getting insights into repertoire. Since the interview with Ken, the Arts Unit offered
their first series of in-service training for conductors—a two-day workshop for wind
band conductors and a one-day workshop for stage band conductors.
Contrasting this are Daniel’s comments about being inspired in high school
by excellent musicians and conductors such as Steve Williams. Interestingly Steve
Williams came from both a classroom teaching background and a professional
performing career as a trumpeter and conductor. Thus the argument for FSCs to be
skilled in both performing and educating carries some weight. Daniel confirms this
but from a slightly different perspective. Having completed his Master of Teaching
ten years after beginning as FSC, he found it beneficial to study part-time and be able
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to directly apply the coursework of his degree to the programs he was currently
running as a FSC,
Daniel: I was kind of able to bend everything that I was reflecting on into conducting work. Which I think wouldn’t have happened if I had have been full-time and had been trying to consolidate the pedagogy and the curriculum stuff that I was doing at the same time.
Daniel also had a number of other motivating factors when he decided to
complete his Master of Teaching. He predominantly saw it as a way of investing in
his future,
Daniel: So, you know, when I have a family I’ll be able to decide to be a full-time classroom teacher, work, you know, eight till four and be at home and do whatever you do but still be at home. Or probably the more likely situation would be that I do some of that and some of what I’m doing at the moment. But I kind of thought at that stage the writing was on the wall that I wouldn’t be able to continue doing 7:00am starts and 11 o’clock finishes at the end of gigs and everything in between was out of school hours.
He also had advice from administrators in the Department of Education and
Communities (DEC, previously Department of Education and Training, DET) that in
order to continue working as a FSC in DEC schools, you would need formal
education qualifications in the future, “I’m really glad I did it and it’s changed the
way that I teach a lot and changed the way that I work with groups a hell of a lot.”
Accreditation
Accreditation, links closely to the issue of training and ongoing professional
development. Ken mentioned that during his time in the profession (26 years) the
issue of accreditation has been ‘tried before’ and various universities, training
organisations and associations such as ABODA have run courses but without it being
matched to an income scale or formal process there is little incentive for FSCs to
participate. Daniel was careful to distinguish accreditation from regulation and
related it to the medical profession,
Daniel: I feel very uncomfortable about the premise that professionals need to be professionally regulated. People regard you as a doctor and trust your professional abilities. Whilst I think it is good to necessitate a doctor to have to develop professionally by a certain amount every year and go to this many conferences or whatever. I don’t think it’s at all appropriate to have someone become a doctor and then five years
7 A course designed for school teachers and community conductors
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out tell them whether they’re good enough to still be a doctor or not. I find that really irksome.
Daniel further elaborated on linking increased pay to accreditation. Whilst he
thought that there should be a way to index pay to performance outcomes, he was
against the concept that you just ‘tick a box’ and you get a pay rise (one could argue
that is what occurs with the current NSW Institute of Teachers Accreditation
pathway). His overall feeling was that if you do a better job you should get paid for
it, rather than having to rely solely on your negotiating skills and ability to market
yourself each year. The question is then, how does one decide if good outcomes are
being delivered without clearly defined performance indicators? Similarly, many
freelance school conductors are naïve to the demands of small business and the need
to be able to market their product is a key success driver of any business (Bennett,
2008b; Hong et al., 2012). In this case, the product and the business are wrapped up
in the FSC individual. Without adequate training in entrepreneurship then it is clear
why some FSCs struggle with the concept of having to justify their existence when
their classroom colleagues seem to have it guaranteed.
Networking
Finally, in examining how FSCs are trained prior to beginning and during their
career, the value of networking is of critical importance (Bennett, 2008b; Krueger,
2000; Scheib, 2006a). Networking seems to have an effect on professional
development as well as job satisfaction—the idea that peer-to-peer learning is taking
place as well as mentor-student learning. Daniel re-iterates themes emerging from
the survey in relation to why he makes a point of attending performances,
conferences and his involvement with the Arts Unit:
Daniel: Oh I think part of it is networking. Part of it is—and every time you go to a State Camp or the Arts Unit—you have colleagues. You never have colleagues working in your job. So you realise that there’s a lot of other people doing what you do and they all have strengths and weaknesses and you can learn from each other. You know, you get to find out, you know like you and I often do, what’s going on at other schools and what you could do better. How you could be better recognised and paid or whatever.
Usually Tuesday nights I try and get out to Jazz Groove at 505 so that I at least see some other jazz musos and networking and all that stuff.
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Daniel also talks about the need for a conference in Australia similar in
stature and calibre to the Midwest Clinic8. That is an event where other conductors,
whether they be freelance or not, can gather together and talk about their profession,
learn skills, learn about repertoire and hear other school and professional groups
perform. Particularly for younger FSCs, he described his early attendance at a
Midwest Clinic and IAJE conference as “eye-opening”.
Conditions of engagement
Financial
Comments around employment conditions mainly centred on the need for a salary
and the lack of remuneration provided for non-conducting tasks that FSCs have to
undertake. With regards to payment for work done off the podium, Daniel’s
comments best summarise the situation many FSCs find themselves in, including the
other two interviewees. That is, only some schools pay for administrative duties and
where they do so, it is inadequate,
Daniel: What I generally find is that between a monthly meeting that I’m not paid for and answering emails and I do photocopying at X Public School. Then basically liaising with all of the parent community and school staff and delegating things and asking for things to be done, I go way over four hours/five hours a week. Then all of the other schools there’s an expectation that I’ll answer emails and stay in contact with people and organise things, but it’s all unpaid.
Daniel often spends the middle of every day answering emails “that are
expected to be answered straight away” which he finds very frustrating. This
highlights an aspect of the job and its remuneration that is perhaps hidden to the
schools and parent committees that employ the FSCs. With a salaried position, a
person is paid a total package that is expected to include all the ‘extras’, which in a
teaching situation includes preparation time, communicating with parents, staff
meetings and other associated non-teaching tasks. However, FSCs are generally paid
for the time they are actually conducting only—that is standing in front of the
rehearsal. However, as Ruth and Daniel mention, there is still the expectation that
you will take care of everything else off the podium as well. This situation becomes
particularly problematic when FSCs are tyring to fit in as many rehearsals (paid
hours) during the week across multiple schools and then are expected to fit in
8 Midwest Clinic – an International Band and Orchestra conference held annually in Chicago.
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administrative time (unpaid hours) in order to effectively lead the programs they are
involved in.
Both Ruth and Ken, like Daniel, are only paid for non-musical tasks at some
of their workplaces. At a private girls school in Sydney, Ken has an example of
perhaps the best outcome for an FSC. In this situation, Ken is paid a type of retainer
of two hours per week to cover normal administrative and preparation duties. In
addition to this, he is paid for meetings he has to attend and has permission to bill for
any extra hours as the need arises. Finally, what is most unique is that the rate per
hour Ken bills for administrative duties at this school is the same as conducting
rehearsals. This is true recognition of the self-employed status of FSCs in that their
day is made up of billable hours, with each unit of time potentially worth the same
amount.
The need for adequately remunerated administrative and preparation time was
raised in Hardy’s (2006) study as an area that needed to be addressed. Similarly, in
the first phase of the present study, 56% of respondents indicated that they were not
paid for administrative duties (see Table 5, p. 41). Hardy (2006) indicated that the
majority of large instrumental program directors who were also classroom teachers
spent an average of ten hours per week administering and leading their programs.
Whilst not freelance, their data could equally apply to FSCs who rather than being
classroom teacher and FSCs in only one school are instead involved as FSCs across
multiple schools. Ken describes his own situation where he often does not prepare at
all but rather just arrives on the podium and takes the rehearsal from there.
Me: So you feel like you do a lot of things on the fly, so to speak?
Ken: Yeah. But part of that is a skill that people ring and say can you do a rehearsal for me tomorrow afternoon and you can run in and wing it. That’s a certain skill or ability as well I think. But it’s absolutely fantastic every now and then when I do have time, to sit down with a cup of coffee and grab a score. Actually have a look at a score and go look at that, I need to sort that out next time I rehearse that.
Sure enough, at the next rehearsal that gets sorted and I feel really—enjoy it much more, the process of doing that. So if I had more preparation time to do that score, work would be fantastic.
In this example, Ken alludes to an increase in job satisfaction through having
enough preparation time to enable a successful rehearsal. Daniel whilst not
committing to writing a formal plan does undertake a lot of mental consideration.
He finds it helpful to structure his rehearsals and to begin with a plan in mind but be
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flexible to “read the group”. Without adequate preparation time, no regulation of the
profession and no lesson plans required, the general FSC approach seems to present a
reactionary form of pedagogy rather than a structured learning model.
A recurring theme from FSCs throughout the survey and the interviews was
the desire for a salary. The issue of being paid via salary is a complex one and the
motivations emerging from the interviews and FSCs in the survey fall into three
areas—an inability to handle operating as a small business, a perception that you will
earn more and, the desire for better conditions from those who are already earning
substantial amounts from being an FSC. Some FSCs in the survey requested that
salaries be aligned to a classroom teacher pay scale similar to the arrangement in
QLD government schools. Others like Daniel, were concerned that if all FSCs were
transferred to a schoolteacher’s salary then it could actually cost him money “unless
they view it as a head teacher job—which it essentially is.” For new graduates
starting at the bottom of the equivalent classroom teacher’s salary scale, this may not
be a problem. However, there would need to be some kind of lateral transfer or
recognition of prior service for those who have been working as an FSC for quite
some time.
Superannuation and other conditions
With only 38% of survey participants paid superannuation as part of their contract,
this is clearly an area that needs addressing. Daniel is paid super at all of his schools,
Ruth is not paid super at all and Ken has only just started receiving super at one of
his schools after an audit of the nature of his and other FSCs nature of employment at
the school. The NSW Department of Education and Communities Legal Issues
Bulletin (2012) outlines a scenario where almost all FSCs should be paid
superannuation which is summarised as follows,
In the school context, the requirement to pay superannuation deductions generally applies to music tutors, physical education instructors and bandleaders that are hired by the school.
With superannuation already included in his contract, what Daniel is after
from a salary are the extra conditions such as holiday pay, sick leave and long
service leave,
Daniel: Well I think the pay situation kind of has to be sorted out. I mean I’m one of the people I guess who is doing okay out of it because, the results that I’ve got in the past mean that I get paid more essentially.
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But, I never take a sick day so most years, the last couple of years, I haven’t. Most years I’ll have at least a week of rehearsals where I don’t have a voice because I get the flu, lose my voice and then we have whisper rehearsals. But If I don’t work, you know, I don’t get paid.
January’s really hard. I do whatever I can, you know, I actually hold off on invoicing for gigs until the last couple of weeks of term so that that money then comes in to help me get through holidays. Then last year I kind of planned it so that at the end of the year I had two term’s worth to invoice for and that helped to get me through, but very challenging.
Without these extra conditions being provided for in a salary, FSCs have to be able
to manage their cash flow and price their services sufficiently to provide the
conditions themselves or at least a buffer to cover sickness.
Artists as entrepreneurs
Recent literature (Bennett, 2007, 2008b; Bridgstock, 2011a, 2011b; Evans &
Bodrova, 2011; G. N. Hearn & Bridgstock, 2010; Hong et al., 2012) as well as
results in the previous chapter highlights the need for artists generally to be trained in
aspects of entrepreneurship, small business development and basic financial
management. Without this training for FSCs, there is an expectation of traditional
employee-type conditions. That is, that they turn up to do a job and should not have
to deal with traditional aspects of a small business owner such as chasing payments.
It is clear from the survey and interviews that participants are not prepared for a
boundaryless or protean career (Bridgstock, 2011b; Briscoe & Hall, 2006). Several
survey participants also mention the frustration and stress managing finances causes
through the late payment of invoices, contract negotiation and tax obligations. Both
Ruth and Daniel echo the lack of training and preparedness in dealing with the
financial aspects of freelancing. This in turn can lead to stress as Daniel points out
when asked about whether he felt adequately equipped in this area,
Daniel: probably not…it seems to be that there’s just, every now and then something comes up that causes an enormous amount of stress, which it has in the last two weeks…
At the time of the interview, Daniel was two years behind in his tax returns and had
just spent a whole day organising old receipts and two hours with his accountant in
an effort to bring his tax obligations up to date.
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Echoing the need for a ‘professional’ Bachelor of Music (Evans & Bodrova,
2011), Daniel comments more broadly on skills he wishes he had been taught at the
undergraduate level,
Daniel: …to have training on what you can do, what you should do…even as a performing musician or as someone who wants to work as a conductor, professionally or with school groups, grant applications? Where do you get money from, how to do it? Then ideally you’d come out of an undergrad degree that somehow professionally accredited you to be a conductor working with schoolkids and they would have told you this is the way to do it, this is why.
Interestingly, a few weeks prior to this interview, Ruth had completed a small
business course,
Ruth: I have money come in from different ways. I have to learn how to manage it and I have to learn how to manage it so I end up on top and not—not knowing that something’s happening without realising it. So I actually did a business course and it was a small business course because really every musician is a small business.
It helped a lot, like a lot. I think all musicians should do it—well I’m 23—you don’t get taught this stuff during uni and you jump out into the world and all this money’s coming in and you don’t know how to handle it. You don’t know how to ask people for more money too.”
The last sentence of Ruth’s touches on an important point that she came back
too and one that throws doubt over whether FSCs are in fact autonomous,
empowered to set terms and are truly self-employed (Legal Services Directorate,
2012). Later in the interview, Ruth commented regarding her pay per hour (average
$90) that “I wouldn’t say what I charge. I would say what has been offered, because
if I had been in a position where I say, I want to charge this, it would be different.”
Attitudes towards their work and job satisfaction
Working environment
Aside from financial conditions of engagement, there are other facets of the FSC
working environment that influence job satisfaction and the feeling of belonging.
Itinerancy has a significant affect on the lives of FSCs (Krueger, 2000) and Daniel
feels that this can be helped by schools providing simple things such as a desk.
Daniel: I’d like to have a desk at every school, even if it’s only used for two hours a week I’d love to be able to—because my house and my car offices and it’s just awful. With my partner being a teacher as well and not only a primary school classroom teacher but also a flute teacher—our house is just full of work, you know. So I don’t like that.
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Daniel also unpacks how he feels about trying to operate in a non-itinerant
manner. That is, how his week and lifestyle would be affected by working in only
one school. On two occasions he has had the opportunity to work in one school but
two things have worried him—job security and financial considerations. Daniel
recognises his own character trait of, ‘hedging his bets’ and is concerned that if a
program did not work out then he would have nothing else to fall back on when only
in one school. Linking in with this is a structural way of dealing with disappointing
rehearsals within a week. That is, if a rehearsal does not go well at one school,
Daniel: like it did this morning, I’ve got the next rehearsal at the next school to look forward to. It helps me deal with all that stuff I think. It keeps things interesting.
Daniel’s second reason for not wanting to focus on one school is that as a
FSC you need a lot of rehearsals to make a living “I wouldn’t find 18 hours worth of
rehearsals in one school.” Potentially, the only scenario where full-time employment
exists for school based conductors are in the private sector with positions such as
Director of Bands, Director Strings and Head of Music Performance.
Ruth, who works in six schools, would like less itinerancy—to be in fewer
schools, with more responsibility and increased stability. Ken seems to have found
this stability in recent years and is travelling far less,
Ken: At the moment most of my work’s fairly centralised, which has gotten a lot better. Two years ago it was scattered a lot more and that was really taking a toll. I was getting up at 5:30 in the morning to go to work, which is really hard. So now it’s 6:00 o’clock two mornings a week.
Ruth also discusses the problem with being outside the school system, not
just in terms of the way FSCs are remunerated but changing the way many FSCs are
‘employed’. Currently, most FSCs in public primary and secondary schools are
interviewed, engaged and paid by parent committees “I don’t see many other
professions where you have things like parent committees paying you and deciding
whether or not you’re hired or not.” Ruth desires like many others surveyed and
interviewed to be considered and paid as a ‘legitimate’ part of the school community.
Working with parents
Whenever someone is working with students it is inevitable that they have to be able
to form good relationships with parents. With the FSC profession, it is often the
parents that have administrative and financial oversight of the instrumental programs
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that engage FSCs. This is particularly so in government schools where it is the
parents that support the FSC and the instrumental program through the payment of
additional fees. In its simplest form, parent committees rather than school
administration are the ‘employers’ of FSCs. With many FSCs working in multiple
schools, there are quite often a number of parent committees they have to answer to.
Daniel, answers to four committees, two committees engage Ruth and Ken answers
to one.
Each of the interviewees found dealing with parents frustrating. Aside from
working through issues of appreciation and recognition as alluded to later in this
chapter, the FSCs found the general ongoing communication problematic. Ken talks
about navigating through parents that all “have their own barrow to push…some
parents just don’t see the bigger picture.” He also comments several times about the
way he is spoken to by parents as being very rude “They would never talk to their
bloody football coach the way I’ve been spoken to on occasion.” Ruth echoes these
thoughts that while it is great to have parents involved in their child’s education and
in helping FSCs do their ‘job’,
Ruth: to rely on parents who have only their own kid’s interest at heart, rather than—they can’t see what your goal for music education at the school is. You know they sort of see it as—is my kid happy, no—therefore you’re out?
Daniel on the other hand, talks about the challenges that come with building a
successful program,
Daniel: [that has] won everything they’ve gone in for the last five years so the expectation’s that they’ll do it. A lot of parents there are still grateful but there’s still a sense of entitlement and that comes through in the way that parents deal with you week to week as well.
Daniel finds that with the sense of entitlement he has to work harder at marketing the
program, the way it is structured and in particular why students get put on certain
instruments.
Working with students
In examining the lives of our three interviewees, it is clear that despite joining the
profession in different ways, they all choose to stay because they enjoy working with
students. When asked whether he enjoyed conducting in schools and preferred
students over adult professional groups, Daniel commented on the relational aspect
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of having the chance to getting to know students without having to fight with the
egos that come with professional groups,
Daniel: I mean if you do it well there’s a sense that you’re giving the students something that is helping them learn. What you give to them is the building blocks or the starting point or whatever, the process through which they get to an amazing performance. I think with a professional orchestra at least some of the time, if not most of the time, I don’t think you would feel that way.
Ken reiterates that if you emphasise quality music making then the satisfaction
achieved from conducting a primary school band can be the same as conducting a
professional group “I just put music at the front and I’m always just trying to achieve
the best from that ensemble.” He also reminisces about the times in music as a
performer where he has been moved to tears and this inspires him to pass this
passion onto the students and feels incredibly rewarded when students recognise a
great performance they have achieved together. One survey respondent echoed these
sentiments,
Survey: I enjoy working with young people. The are always open to ideas and when focused or motivated will ‘walk on water’ in relation to their music, attitude and application. My job is to get them to that thought level. Sometimes yes sometimes no.
With the enjoyment that comes from working with children comes the
pressure to keep them in the program. After all, it is the parents’ fees that are
financing the income of the FSC. As opposed to a teacher who is employed via
private school fees or the government sector, there is not the same level of
detachment between the payer (parent) and service provider (FSC). In addition the
parents who are paying the fees often manage the budgets. Thus the pressure of
attrition and needing to constantly market the program creates additional stress as
Daniel relates,
Daniel: I think attrition is a constant source of stress and that’s never because the kids, or in my experience, it’s never because the kids don’t fundamentally like what they do musically or like you as a conductor or anything. It always seems to be a hierarchy of subjects issue.
So what I get frustrated with is that kids in Year 7 or kids in Year 5 studying for selective school test have to make the decision to give music away because it’s, fundamentally because it’s not recognised on a par with other subjects that have cultural capital.
For the FSCs in this study there seems to be a distinct contrast between the
levels of job satisfaction they attain from their love of working with students as
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opposed to the demands, lack of respect, recognition and appreciation they feel are
demonstrated by the parents and staff of the school community.
Appreciation, recognition and respect
Ruth finds her youthful age and appearance as affecting the level of appreciation and
respect she receives as a music educator, “I am young and I look very young as
well—like I get confused with high school students.” She has found this particularly
hard when starting at a new school, where she seems to be immediately judged as a
certain type of conductor based upon her physical appearance “it’s almost like I’ve
had to doubly prove to them that I am like a professional”. In contrast she has
witnessed older males come in and instantly they are given more respect because “he
looks like he’s been a conductor for ages—he must be good”. Whilst the gender or
age bias did not come through in the quantitative phase of the study, it is an area that
may need further examination with a larger sample.
Daniel discusses appreciation in the form of collegial respect and several
instances of feeling marginalised at one his schools, where he has turned up and had
rehearsal rooms moved twice. The same high school has scheduled senior classes
before school, which they are supposed to leave free for the senior ensembles, thus
resulting in absence of key players. Then without consultation the school musical
rehearsals were scheduled by the classroom music teachers to clash with the
ensemble rehearsals,
Daniel: …they’ve also scheduled the school musical rehearsals. The same department that’s supposed to be supporting and running the bloody thing that I’m doing there. So I haven’t had a full orchestra yet and won’t have there till June. So in terms of appreciation by schools in those situations, it’s appalling.
Me: So is it, do you feel like you’re treated as an equal by other teachers?
Daniel: If I demand to be.
Daniel also feels pressure to market himself and his job continually at all his
schools in order to have his professional judgement trusted by stakeholders. He
regularly participates in elite conducting programs with Symphony Australia and is
engaged by The Arts Unit to conduct selective ensembles and state music camps.
Each time he is away, he promotes this to the school community,
Daniel: whatever subtle way and non-boasting way I can, I just try and let them know what I do. I really worry about the soccer dad mentality. You know, the dad that coaches the little kid’s soccer team,
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extracurricular sport activity, is just someone’s dad. Doesn’t necessarily know anything about soccer, certainly doesn’t have physical education and science degree. I fight very hard and have done for a while to make sure that I’m not viewed in that same light.
This self-promotion as well as educating parents about how and why he does it helps
Daniel in gaining appreciation from the parent community. Still, this appreciation is
shown in different ways with the big difference being “gratitude versus entitlement.”
The sense of being taken for granted is one that Ken refers to when asked
about whether he felt appreciated. For Ken, appreciation centres around two key
areas—remuneration and respect. Whilst he feels a high level of respect from his
teacher colleagues at his current schools, this was not always the case “You know I
was the band guy, don’t you talk to us in the music department. You do your band;
we’ll do the music. That sucked.” Contrasting this current level of support from
colleagues is his feeling of a lack of respect and value from parents and others in the
community.
When talking about being taken for granted, Ken views how much he is paid
as correlating to how he is respected and valued by the school community,
Ken: I feel supported and at times appreciated, but certainly at times taken for granted—often taken for granted. I think at all the jobs pretty much underpay. That people don’t get that you’re trying to make a living as a freelancer doing what we do. They just think that you’ve got a job somewhere else and this is your hobby or something, It is frustrating because I love what I do but I’ve never felt that I’ve been remunerated accordingly to my skill level.
I think I do a good job, I think I get good results. But I just make a living. For somebody of my experience and ability levels now, I’m earning nowhere near what other people my age in their job with similar qualifications and experience are earning. I’m probably earning half what other people get.
The issue of pay is a recurring theme and correlates to feelings of
appreciation, respect and job satisfaction in the minds of the interviewees and survey
participants. It seems that FSCs want to be remunerated sufficiently so that they are
not looking at fellow ‘teachers’ or to a lesser extent other professions and wondering
why they do not change professions. FSCs do not want to feel like they are
expending so much energy without sufficient reward and the ability to rest, which
ends up leading to burnout. In economic terms, FSCs want to justify what they do by
seeing an acceptable Return on Investment (ROI). This ROI applies to the income
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they earn but also to the emotional and physical energy they exert in producing
music with students.
Burnout and stress
The main expressions of burnout in Ken, Daniel and Ruth were the feelings of
emotional and physical exhaustion and being unable to cope (Fimian, 1987; Maslach
et al., 2001). Each of the interviewees relates different experiences with burnout
with the common theme being that like some of the survey participants, burnout
occurs a few times a year and only for a short time. That is, there seems to be
periods throughout the year, often coinciding with major performances and
competitions where the exhaustion is acute. Ruth finds it exhausting to have to meet
performance benchmarks each year as well as being in six different places of
employment each week. However, in desiring less schools and more responsibility,
Ruth freely admits that she struggles with having to manage her own administration
and find this part of the job stressful. When asked about high levels of stress and
burnout, Ken relates,
Ken: By the end of the term I’m always exhausted and do have phases of sleepless nights. I find myself staying up later because if I go to bed earlier I can’t get to sleep. So I find myself sitting up later reading or watching TV and by the time you go to bed you just lay there with your head spinning. It can be very frustrating.
Me: Is that because of the excessive workload or is it because you’re in so many places having to…
Ken: The workload is always there but when you’re building towards several major concerts at the same time the stress levels really kick in because you’re worried about every performance. Everything from lighting to staging to music stands, all that sort of stuff starts kicking in, in the last couple of weeks, let along worrying if you actually have the group prepared musically well enough.
The odd hours is an issue Daniel expresses as having a relationship to his
levels of stress and is a potential cause of burnout for him,
Daniel: I’ve gone through stages where I’ve forced myself to watch TV for an hour a day—just stupid stuff like that—so that at least I have downtime. Because what I find is once I start at seven in the morning I find it really weird to stop after two and a half hours of work and then to start again at three and work through till whenever a gig finishes on some nights, or nine after a meeting. I find it hard to do that in the middle of the day unless I force myself. What I inevitably end up doing is working these, you know, 18 hour days, five days a week plus a couple of gigs on a weekend and getting pretty knackered.
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Many of the survey participants commented on the physical exhaustion felt,
particularly at the end of term and leading up to performances. Interestingly, the
interviewees mention a number of solutions to help them relieve the pressure and re-
energise their physical and mental health. Holidays are the obvious solution to
physical exhaustion, when you are not working and can get through the financial
pressures of no income from your FSC activities for up to six weeks. However, Ruth
describes a feeling of not being able to disconnect from her FSC world during the
holidays “that’s the reason why I’m taking a holiday break to just remove myself
from it and come back refreshed.”
Daniel and Ken both find that performing on their instrument in a
professional environment energises them more for teaching than taking time off.
This performance aspect also incorporates the value of networking with other
professional musicians. At the time of interview, Daniel was also involved in
composing for his own album and found this to be very beneficial in keeping him
motivated for teaching. It is the aspect of operating in a professional level musical
environment that seems to ‘refresh’ the personal and musical satisfaction that one
may not feel you always get from operating in a school environment. It’s almost a
fix for your own selfish needs as a musician to be fulfilled.
Ken: If we’re playing we tend to enjoy our teaching and I enjoy my conducting a lot more. If I’m just getting that musical satisfaction myself as an instrumentalist. I do get musical satisfaction as a conductor, absolutely, but as an instrumentalist it runs deeper in me.
Nevertheless, Ruth views this involvement at a higher musical level as
contributing to her burnout. She feels that she already puts in a lot of hours with her
conducting workload and struggles to find time to practise and achieve the
benchmarks she feels are expected of her each year.
Overall job satisfaction
There are a number of themes that overlap as contributors to job satisfaction and as
can be seen in the interviews and the survey responses, FSCs can experience great
amounts of stress and physical exhaustion leading to periods of burnout and yet still
experience regular periods of high levels of job satisfaction. All of the interviewees
have mentioned remuneration and conditions surrounding their employment as
causes of stress and yet they have all mentioned their joy in working with students.
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Daniel takes this one step further when asked about his satisfaction and his ability to
be a musician as a conductor,
Daniel: I think, the other thing that I think I get job satisfaction out of as a conductor is that, as opposed to teaching classroom music or teaching private students, is that when you’re a conductor you’re a musician. You’re being a musician all of the time. So, yes, I don’t think I could give that away.
Still, the periods of acute stress do affect the lives of our three FSC
interviewees and as previously mentioned manifest themselves in physical symptoms
such as sleep deprivation. Ken, describes the extent of the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ and his
perceptions of the relationship between stress and the levels of satisfaction,
Ken: There have been many, many times coming into a concert or a camp tour competition, I just say I’m never bloody doing this again, it’s not worth it. Then sometimes after the event you go okay, that was worth it, it was fantastic. But sometimes after the event you just go no, I still don’t know if that was worth it.
If you’re talking about job satisfaction, that can be really frustrating. But often coming into the event you just go I’m never doing that again. Sometimes even after the event I’ve said I’m never doing that again. But six months later, 12 months later, you think oh well okay, everybody enjoyed it, it was a success, we will do it again.
As a young conductor, Ruth seems to battle most with expectations with this
being a regular theme throughout the interview. This includes school imposed
performance expectations and competition results. Ruth also struggles with ‘living
up’ to the expectations of previous conductors, especially if they were well liked by
the school community. Working in multiple schools, Ruth finds the middle and end
of year very stressful,
Ruth: When I work in multiple schools, it’s stressful to juggle all of it. That’s hard to do. Your priorities are meant to be at the one school but then you have to juggle whatever—the band meetings, so they don’t overlap. You have to juggle performances so they don’t overlap.
Nevertheless, when asked whether this stress was a negative with the view that
perhaps it would influence her satisfaction she replies rather pragmatically,
Ruth: I’m comfortable with it because that’s just my personality. I will hate it at the moment but once it’s passed I can deal with it. I put myself—you know I put myself in that situation and I shouldn’t complain about it. If I really didn’t want to do it I just won’t do it. It’s not like I’ve been roped into anything. I’ve put myself in it.
Here we see the almost opposing aspects of an FSC lifestyle, where perhaps a
particular personality who desires high achievement (protean tendancies, Bridgstock,
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2011b; Briscoe & Hall, 2006) is willing to put themselves through an intense
schedule and workload to experience the highs or lows of their job. Ruth, who likes
conducting, hastens to add and possibly add weight to this argument about certain
people being suited to it, when describing other potential FSCs,
Ruth: I can see how other people who are looking to do conducting stuff would be intimidated by that aspect and that would make them pull back from doing as much work as they could—because they hear of stories that it is stressful and they see other conductors running around going crazy. But yes, I guess you do it to yourself.
The future
Interviewing colleagues who were at different stages of their FSC careers provided
an interesting insight into the way each of them viewed their future. All three
envisaged that they would still be conducting in schools in five years times but
perhaps in a different capacity. Ruth, who at the time of the interview was about to
embark on a three-month sabbatical, mentioned,
Ruth: I definitely want to still come back to conducting and to be a better conductor. I mean everyone has their dream of like conducting the SSO—you know. But you’re realistic—that might not happen.
The following year, Ruth was to start primary classroom teaching, though her
focus and interest was still firmly towards conducting “working with the musicians
rather than teaching in the classroom”. Ruth did mention that it could all change in
five years time and could possibly involve a stint working as a classroom high school
teacher. However, both Ruth and Daniel will need to be careful about combining
classroom teaching with freelance conducting and the possible resulting burnout.
With the DET teaching job as well...in the same school...I feel burnt out at the ends of terms (Survey participant)
What was clear when interviewing Ruth was that she had a lot of passion and
youthful energy towards conducting, but was exhausted. As a new graduate, single
and already working there were less pressures and responsibilities on her than Ken,
who had a young family.
When asked about whether he could see himself still conducting in schools
until retirement, Ken replied with a sense of resignation “I’d like to think not but I
think probably yes. I don’t know.” Ken, in his concluding remarks, then proceeded
to expand on his frustrations with the profession. Emerging from this were three
main themes—parent expectations, working conditions and musical satisfaction.
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Daniel, in the second quarter of his career, is passionate about wanting to do
two things “…at the end of the day I still want to be working with kids. I still want
to be a musician”. He sees his future as still involved in freelance school conducting
but not in the same format as it is now. Whereas Daniel leads a primary school
program recognised as one of the best bands in the state, the future may involve more
high school level groups, selective ensembles and camps. Out of the three
interviewees he has been the only that can articulate an evolving pathway in what he
is doing. Whilst he is unable to give a clear definition of what his future will look
like, Daniel recognises that what he is doing now has progressed from what he
started doing ten years ago and will most likely keep developing over the next
decade.
Having just completed a Master of Teaching, Daniel will need to be a
classroom teacher at some point to fulfil his accreditation requirements with the
NSW Institute of Teachers but has no desire to complete this yet. Clearly, Daniel has
been very intentional about his career choice from the moment he received his high
school marks. With a matriculation result that would have allowed entry to
prestigious university courses with greater earning potential such as,
Daniel: I could do law; I could do medicine and all these sorts of things. I actually had the phone in my hand and was about to change my preferences and I stopped myself and thought, what the hell am I doing? I’ve never wanted to do any of these things. I’m only doing it because I’ve got 98, you know? I want to be a music teacher and musician. I think that realisation’s still pretty strong. What I have considered is in the future possibly looking at, you know, doing some sort of PhD and getting a uni job. Or getting some sort of role where I can have an advocating strength or make some of this get better.
Summary
In this chapter the lives of three FSCs at different career stages have been explored.
Their perceptions about what they do have provided a richer perspective on the
profession of freelance school conducting. In explaining the profession and building
on the context established from the quantitative phase, this chapter has established a
framework for the discussion and concluding remarks in the final chapter.
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Chapter 6: General Discussion and Conclusions
The purpose of this study was to be to provide an overview of the freelance school
conductor situation in NSW and investigate the factors that affect and contribute to
job satisfaction. The project has employed a two-phase, explanatory sequential
mixed methods design in order to give a rich insight into the lives of FSCs in NSW.
This final chapter aims to integrate the two phases of the study with general
discussion of findings framed by the results of the preceding two chapters.
Implications for further research, industry action and future learning will also be
considered. The key findings of the study can be organised according to the two
main research questions outlined in Chapter 1:
1. What is the nature of freelance school conducting profession in NSW?
2. What are the factors that affect FSC job satisfaction?
Nature of the profession
In borrowing from the concluding remarks of Hardy’s (2006) dissertation (Anna
Crusis), it appears effective to create a fictitious typical freelance school conductor,
Mr John Upbeat, in order to describe the mean demographic results from the survey
and themes from the interviews. Mr Upbeat has an undergraduate music degree and
has been working as a FSC for around ten years. He currently works in three schools
(most likely public and including primary and secondary) as an instrumental-
ensemble conductor, conducts 100-150 students per week, and works around seven
hours per week. At each school, he is engaged by a parent committee and has a
monthly committee meeting with each group, which is unpaid and outside of normal
business hours.
For his efforts, John earns $90–$100 per hour of rehearsal time and $0–$20
for administrative duties (56% of FSCs indicated $0) with no provision for
superannuation contributions. John’s FSC annual income is around $20,000pa,
which comprises 25–50% of John’s total income from all sources. During school
term and the holidays, he is employed in other music-related activities in order to
supplement his FSC income. John operates his FSC endeavours through a self-
employed business structure but admits to struggling with financial aspects of
freelancing, having had no prior training in small business management. Mr Upbeat
recognises that ongoing professional development including training in small
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business, pedagogy and conducting is important but is unable to justify the time or
the expense. He also questions the suitability of the limited number of coursers that
are available.
Whilst John Upbeat represents the mean demographic findings of the FSC
profession, it appears that there is variation within the survey results, with analysis
limited by the small sample size. As discussed in Chapter 4 three broad profiles of
FSCs emerge from the data relating to freelance conducting:
1. Those who do it ‘on the side’ for a bit of extra income as either part of a
broad portfolio career or to supplement household income.
2. Those who are trying to make it a career but struggling. That is, they are
intentional and focussed but most likely are finding it difficult to generate
adequate remuneration.
3. Those who have successfully made it a viable career (financially) and are
intentional and focussed on freelance conducting as a significant part of their
portfolio musical career.
It is this third category that best represents the FSC situation explored in the
qualitative case studies. This category also seems to indicate a level of success in
terms of freelance conductor being able to derive an income from a ‘portfolio’ of
sources (Bennett, 2007, 2008b; Fraser & Gold, 2001). It also indicates high levels of
intrinsic motivation and vocational direction typical of a successful artist career
(protean tendencies, Bridgstock, 2007; Bridgstock, 2011b; Briscoe & Hall, 2006).
The portfolio FSC
The freelance school conductor with a successful portfolio career structure is more
likely to be someone like Ken, Ruth or Daniel. That is they have strong internal
career motivations and self-directed criteria for success (Bridgstock, 2011b). As a
result, they are working the equivalent hours of a full-time job or more (during
school terms), once their administrative duties and outside performing or private
tutoring work is taken into consideration. They are likely to be earning $75–
$100,000 pa as an artist which is double the average artist total earnings (Throsby &
Zednik, 2010) and yet the amount of payment they receive for non-conducting duties
in a school is likely to be minimal (Hardy, 2006).
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The successful portfolio FSC is someone who has a high level of
professionalism with tertiary training. However, they are most likely someone who
feels that one or more aspect of their training has been missed—education,
conducting or entrepreneurship. More important than their tertiary training is the
development they have received from key mentors along their career pathway and as
such attribute their success as an FSC to the mentoring received.
Job satisfaction of FSCs
Freelance school conductors experience high levels of job satisfaction. This level of
satisfaction is heavily influenced by student characteristics and the FSC working
environment. They love music, enjoy working with students and are able to craft a
portfolio career that meets their needs. Nevertheless, within the FSC lifestyle are
periods of high stress and physical exhaustion, which can lead to feelings of burnout.
What follows are discussions around the findings (mainly qualitative) relating to
factors contributing to job satisfaction and stress.
Training
Inadequate pre-service training and professional development in the area of business
skills and financial management is a recurring theme in this project. Ken, Ruth and
Daniel all referred to it and the survey also highlighted the deficiency in this area.
Lack of training in this area did cause stress for our FSCs. FSCs need to be taught
and shown how to create a successful program. Along with this, it could be argued
that an employee mindset relies on others to create the perfect job environment with
adequate conditions backed up by unions. Whereas, an entrepreneurial mindset
seeks to create the most desirable outcome and needs to be more self-reliant and
individually navigated (Bridgstock, 2011a).
Aside from business skills, lack of training in student pedagogy provided a
degree of stress, particularly for those FSCs without an education degree. Like many
music performance majors, these FSCs have found themselves in a situation by
necessity or design where they are educating young musicians either in a private
lesson or ensemble setting or both (A. Watson, 2010). Extending from this situation
is the stress caused by having to deal with the parents of these students and the
associated school communities as a whole.
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There are no pre-service training programs designed to train someone as a
freelance school conductor. This perhaps points to the broader issue of training
musicians to be able to operate in the music industry more broadly. That is to
develop skills that are not only discipline specific but cover a range of career
management processes which lead to success in artistic industries (Bennett, 2008b;
Bridgstock, 2011a, 2011b; Evans & Bodrova, 2011; G. N. Hearn & Bridgstock,
2010; Hong et al., 2012).
Appreciation and respect
The leading factors contributing to high levels of job satisfaction among FSCs are
student attitudes (commitment and enthusiasm) and school community support
(parent and school administration). Many of the participants expressed their desire to
have minimal interference from parents and the school but still wanting sufficient
support and appreciation. They want to be paid enough to make a living and to have
their role in the school seen as a legitimate career, not just a hobby. They want their
earnings to be on par with other skilled professions within the education sector and
outside it. They know that they are making a difference but they want higher value
placed on the difference they are making, both in monetary terms as well as
recognition and respect.
It appears from the survey and interview data that conductors who feel
appreciated and valued tend to be more satisfied. However, appreciation seems to
take on different forms and different people value different aspects. For example, the
amount of money someone gets paid may have a direct bearing on whether FSCs feel
appreciated. Though interestingly, the survey results indicated that overall levels of
job satisfaction were not affected significantly by an FSC’s hourly rate. Also, the
level of respect they receive from colleagues, the school and parents is mentioned.
Daniel described with a tone that mixed frustration and anger, his feelings of not
being treated as a colleague and equal part of the music team at one of the schools
where he worked.
Always having to justify their existence is a tiring and stressful exercise for
FSCs. With pressure from parents and school administrators for students to enjoy
themselves, develop musically and keep them in the program. Several FSCs describe
the aspect of attrition as a source of stress as well as always having to market oneself
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and ones’ value in the school. Linked in with this sense of justification is the process
of managing the stress that arises from expectations—school, parents and self-
imposed.
Finally, the provision of adequate resources, rehearsals spaces are seen as
directly relating to feeling appreciated and levels of job satisfaction (Heston et al.,
1996). Daniel also described how not having something as simple as a desk affected
his lifestyle as a FSC.
Autonomy
A large majority of FSCs in the survey agreed or strongly agreed that they had a lot
of freedom in their decisions within the working environment. This would seem to
indicate a level of autonomy. This was echoed in comments around creative freedom
by one of the participants. However, throughout the interview process with Ken,
Daniel and Ruth there was an underlying sense that even though they felt that they
had a certain amount of freedom, there was an ever-present control exerted from
most parent committees and school administration. It was as if FSCs are able to do
what they like up until the point it interferes with another subject or a parent’s
perception as to whether their child is having a good time.
Remuneration and extra work
The three interviewees all earned significant incomes from their freelance careers.
However, like most of the survey participants, they earned incomes from outside
their regular FSC engagements and have to work during the holidays. Not having
holiday pay from an employed situation is a leading source of stress for FSCs and
one that Daniel identifies (along with other leave provisions and superannuation) as a
motivating factor in seeking a salary structure for school based conductors. Not
being paid for all the aspects of an FSC in a school is also negatively influencing the
way FSCs see what they do. With a classroom-teacher salary, there is an expectation
of preparation built into the load as well as the salary. In addition, all of the benefits
associated with employment are provided.
Burnout and stress
Whilst FSCs generally feel great about what they do and regularly feel that they are
‘making a difference’, there still remains periods of high stress, emotional and
physical exhaustion leading at times to burnout. With 24% of participants having
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consulted or considered consulting a medical professional, the issue of burnout needs
to be addressed by all the stakeholders within the framework of freelance school
conducting. From the interviews, it was clear that when Ruth, Ken and Daniel were
describing the times in the school year where their stress was leading to physical
symptoms such as lack of sleep, that this was affecting their overall satisfaction with
lifestyle as conductors. This level of stress can best be attributed to stressors found
within the broader concept of role stress—role overload and resource inadequacy
(Scheib, 2003, 2004, 2006a, 2006b).
Educational implications
The thrust of this chapter is around those highly motivated individuals who are
successfully navigating a portfolio career as a FSC like Ruth, Ken, and Daniel. It is
thus inevitable that the implications explored will be influenced by these FSCs as
well my own experiences. Nevertheless, the findings do prompt a number of
recommendations that might ameliorate the opportunities for highly motivated FSCs
to flourish in their work.
The findings of the study would suggest that there is a need among the
participants for training in business skills. Australian tertiary training in music does
not seem structured to equip musicians with a protean or portfolio career in the music
industry (Bennett, 2008b; Evans & Bodrova, 2011). Music Performance graduates
embarking on a career as a FSC often have limited or no training in the aspects
required to work as a FSC. Similarly, Music Education graduates, whilst trained in
pedagogy, have no training in the skills necessary to operate as a self-employed
professional. Interestingly, the Jazz course at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
has a compulsory course on Business Skills, whereas it is an optional elective for
classical performance and education majors. This structure seems to assume that
jazz musicians are more likely to operate as freelance musicians whereas classical
performance majors and music teachers have an expectation that they will be
appointed to a salaried position either within an orchestra or the classroom.
However, despite the perceived need for training in entrepreneurship, innovation in
curricular design around this area would need to be considered carefully in the light
of funding pressures (Evans & Bodrova, 2011) and an already crowded curriculum at
the tertiary level. In answer to this dilemma, the University of Western Sydney has
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recently launched a new Associate Diploma in Creative Industries, rather than try
and integrate the content into existing traditional degree structures (Johnston, 2012).
Motivation for ongoing professional development is mixed amongst the FSC
profession and so as per the classroom-teacher model, it needs to be aligned with
accreditation (A. Watson, 2010) and possibly suggested rates of pay. This would
also help future parent committees in the recruitment of FSCs knowing that they
have met certain industry and peer-established benchmarks. In order to facilitate this
accreditation, a state or preferably national body such as ABODA, would need to be
tasked with the maintenance of FSC accreditation.
The results from participants seem to suggest that the suitability of ongoing
professional development that is relevant to FSCs is limited in Australia. A recurring
theme in the interviews and in my own experience is the success of mentoring in
training young conductors and educators. Whilst learning ‘on the job’ is valuable
experience, having learnt from others more experienced can greatly aid in a
conductor’s development (Benson, 2008; Blair, 2008; Jacobs, 2008). Given the
difficulty for some FSCs to access a mentor due to distance and availability, existing
tertiary providers could deliver courses that will give teachers and qualified
musicians accreditation as FSCs as well as short courses in business development.
Nevertheless, as alluded to in the interviews and survey responses, past efforts
involving FSC professional development have been unsuccessful at providing a co-
ordinated and relevant training platform.
Freelance versus salaried
The freelance school conductor situation in NSW is in stark contrast to many states
of the USA and in the neighbouring Australian state of Queensland. In Queensland
Government schools, instrumental ensembles are directed by salaried instrumental
teacher/conductors. Education Queensland’s Instrumental music program has been
established for forty years in state schools. The program employs 400 instrumental
music instructors (over 300 full-time positions) teaching in excess of 50,000 students
annually (QLD Department of Education, 2012). These instrumental music
instructors are regarded and paid equivalent to a classroom music teacher. There is a
formal curriculum framework that exists (QLD Department of Education, 1990) and
as a result the job of the conductor and the course of instruction undertaken by
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students is considered to be curricular rather than extra or co-curricular (Hardy,
2006). These Queensland conductors are employed by the state government to
service a number of schools in the one area in order to make up a full-time load
(where desired by the teacher). This career pathway is then reflected in the training
offered at the pre-service level. That is, Queensland universities train teachers to be
employed (not freelance) conductors in schools and to operate within the salaried and
structured job environment offered by the government and many private schools in
the state.
Whilst there is no singular magic bullet to alleviate the concerns expressed by
FSCs in this study, the desire for a salary and its associated benefits is a recurring
theme. On the surface the Queensland and American situation would seem appealing
for the participants in this study, however further research would need to be taken to
identify the benefits and drawbacks of FSCs trading a portfolio career for a more
structured, salaried lifestyle. That is, the ability to craft one’s level of involvement as
a FSC and the perceived autonomy would need to be traded for a more fixed and
collegial working environment. Perhaps instead, stakeholders in the success of
school-based instrumental and choral programs need to look at ways in which
remuneration, working environment and training can be enhanced to better enable
FSCs to create a more sustainable and expandable portfolio career—if they so
choose. For example, Bill Shorten MP, Federal Minister for Employment and
Workplace Relations, recently canvassed the idea of portable long-service leave for
artists and musicians (Westwood, 2012).
Implications for further research
Part of the framework for this study came from the work of Hardy’s (2006) research
into success factors of large instrumental programs in NSW public schools. Large
instrumental and choral music education is a vital and significant part of the NSW
school environment (Pascoe et al., 2005). This research endeavoured to focus on
those individuals (FSCs) who are delivering via a freelance arrangement a critical
component in many schools’ music education.
As highlighted throughout this study there is a strong likelihood of sampling
bias in this project. This is due to two main factors. Firstly, the size of the sample
was in sufficient to arrive at empirically based findings that could be generalised
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across the FSC profession in NSW. As is evident in the survey results, there are
numerous differences that emerge in the lives of FSCs depending on how they have
chosen to construct their career. Secondly, despite efforts to make this project
available to all members of the FSC community, it is clear that conductors who are
motivated, professional and serious about the career are the ones most likely to
complete the survey. Indeed it was these kind of colleagues who participated in the
interview. In addition, with little representation of freelance choral conductors in the
survey and none interviewed, the lives of these FSCs needs much deeper
investigation. As a result, further research into a bigger sample size and deeper
representation of the freelance conductor profession would be of great benefit.
Following on from an increased depth and representation, there are many
aspects of this study that could be applied more broadly to include all freelance
school music educators, such as private music tutors. A longitudinal study into the
careers of musicians who are primarily freelance educators would be of great benefit
to the industry and future training design and government policy guidance.
The training of musicians to be conductors and educators in schools needs
continued investigation. FSCs clearly indicated that they did not achieve sufficient
pre-service training or ongoing professional development to equip them to operate in
their current capacity. There seems to be an increasing amount of research into the
protean and portfolio nature of artists in general. What to include in undergraduate
and professional development courses to meet the needs of FSCs with diverse
musical career needs closer examination. Part of this training needs to include skills
beyond the traditional ‘employability’ or technical skills taught by most music
institutions (Bridgstock, 2011b). In particular, research needs to be undertaken into
the lives of successful artist entrepreneurs and then how to transfer their success
factors across into a method of curriculum delivery for aspiring FSCs.
As alluded to in this chapter’s recommendations, many of the stress and job
satisfaction factors associated with remuneration, working conditions and itinerancy
could be alleviated if the concept of FSC was eliminated altogether. Detailed
research needs to be undertaken by governments as to whether a Queensland type
model could be implemented in NSW. With the advent of the National curriculum,
research needs to be undertaken as to how instrumental music is delivered on a
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national basis and by extension how the individuals delivering instruction in this area
(FSCs and peripatetic tutors) are trained, accredited and remunerated.
Finally, I would welcome research into comparing the lives of those who
pursue a conducting career that is focussed at top-level professional orchestras and
those who choose to conduct in a traditional education setting (school, university,
community). Comparing the levels of job satisfaction, lifestyle creation and musical
fulfilment would be of great interest in providing budding conductors with multiple
career choices that are engaging and sustainable.
Conclusion
In the opening pages of this study, I described the autobiographical motivations
behind embarking on this project. It would seem that overall the participants were a
highly motivated, highly professionalised group of determined, committed
musicians. This came out in the qualitative data as well as profiles within the
quantitative data. They have a high level of tertiary education and a lot of the
commitment could be a response to my recruitment, where I approached participants
through my own professional network. That is, people like me, highly committed
and serious about their work. Hence this study is really a case study about such
individuals. This study is not describing FSCs in general outside of the variability
that occurs in the sample highlighted above and in Chapter 4.
Freelance school conducting has been my life over the last six years and,
except for a few freelance community and tertiary engagements, my sole source of
income for the last three years. Through this time, I worked hard to develop myself
as a conductor, educator and business owner. The impetus for this project came from
a desire to see if my journey was the same for everyone and if not, what needs to be
improved and how can it be. As Ruth mentions in a follow up email to the initial
interview “the reality of freelance conducting is complicated but musically
rewarding.”
The reason I conduct and the reason many of the FSCs surveyed embarked
upon their musical journey was due to the inspiration of their own school conductor.
Instrumental and choral ensembles are a vital part of music education and by
extension those educators who conduct these groups (whether they be classroom or
FSCs) are important to the school communities in which they work. With this in
95
mind, FSCs need to be able to earn at least the equivalent to a classroom teacher and
be a recognised member of staff. It would also be beneficial if the rehearsals they
delivered were a recognised unit of study (Hardy, 2006) within the curriculum.
Measures need to be put in place—either by governments or the FSC
community themselves through organisations such as ABODA—which create a
legitimate ‘career’ pathway and sufficient income stream for current and future
FSCs. If FSCs are not going to be brought in under the auspices of the NSW
Department of Education and the relevant private school systems, then they need to
be trained in how to operate successfully as a small business entrepreneur. Dealing
with invoices and managing cash flow is a significant source of stress for FSCs and
can be easily solved with adequate training. Successful entrepreneurs are also skilled
at dealing with people—another source of stress for FSCs within their relationships
with parents and the school community.
Whilst FSCs in this study experience high levels of job satisfaction, they do
experience acute moments of burnout. It appears that FSCs are generally at their
peak levels of physical and emotional exhaustion around performances. This is
understandable as the school community as well as the FSC themselves, views
performing as the singular result of their work. However, it is purely a snapshot of a
program in development over time and FSCs and their employers need to be
educated in taking a long-term view.
Interestingly, nearing the completion of this project I was offered a full-time
salaried position as a Director of Bands in a private school and thus left the world of
freelance school conducting entirely. One could say that my journey in and out of
salaried employment has come full circle over the last six years. Like the freelance
school conductors in this project, I love conducting student ensembles. Participation
in ensembles is an important part of a young musicians development and needs to be
led by mentors who are not only musically literate but also equipped to lead. Above
all, it is my desire that more young musicians consider entering the profession of
conducting students and are equipped to deal with its freelance nature.
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Abbreviations
ABODA Australian Band and Orchestra Directors Association
AMEB Australian Music Examinations Board
ANCA Australian National Choral Association
ASME Australian Society for Music Education
ATAR Australian Tertiary Admission Rank
BAS Business Activity Statement
DEC Department of Education and Communities (NSW)
DET Department of Education and Training (NSW)
DETE Department of Education, Training and Employment (QLD)
GST Goods and Services Tax
HREC Higher Research Ethics Committee
IAJE International Association for Jazz Education
NSW New South Wales
QLD Queensland
TAU The Arts Unit
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Appendix A: Ethics Approval Letter
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Appendix B: Participant Information Statements
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Appendix C: Consent Forms
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Appendix D: Questionnaire (Online)
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Appendix E: Interview Protocol
Interview topics
Background
• Tell me about your training prior to becoming a conductor in schools.
◦ What are your formal qualifications?
◦ Were you trained in Education specific methods? For example, child
psychology, types of learning, behaviour management.
◦ Are you a qualified classroom teacher?
◦ Were you trained in conducting? What did this training consist of?
◦ Were you trained in running your own business?
◦ Were you trained in organisational leadership and development?
• What do you currently do?
◦ How many schools do you work at?
◦ What is the age range?
◦ What kind of ensembles do you direct?
◦ Public or Private or both?
• Do you conduct outside of school? In what capacity
• Do you work in any other field apart from conducting in schools? Why
Employment Conditions
• How are you paid?
• Do you have a contract? If so, for how long?
• Do you have a job description?
• What else do you have to do apart from conduct in the school?
Administration duties? Are you re-imbursed?
• Do you have any leave provisions?
• Do you feel appreciated and supported by the school?
• Do you feel appreciated and supported by the parents?
• What do you feel is lacking in the employment conditions of freelance
conductors?
• How much time do you spend chasing invoices/administration of your
business?
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• Are you also a classroom teacher? In the school where you conduct? How
does this affect your conducting effectiveness?
Professional Development
• Have you attended any professional development courses since you started
working in schools? What were they? How did they help you?
• What development opportunities would you like personally?
• What development pathway should there be for conductors?
• Do you think conductors in schools should be accredited with a state or
national body
• Do you think they need Education qualifications and formal conducting
training?
Job Satisfaction
• Do you enjoy conducting in schools?
• If you had a choice between working in schools and working with adult
professionals, which would you prefer? Why?
• Do you plan rehearsals? Does this have an impact on your satisfaction?
How?
• How long have you been working in schools as a conductor?
• Do you see yourself doing this until retirement? If not, why not?
• Have you ever suffered from burnout? Do you remember what brought this
on?
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Appendix F: Scripts
Email invitation
Dear Colleague,
I am writing to you to see if you would be able to answer some questions for my
thesis, in fulfilment of my Doctor of Musical Arts at the Sydney Conservatorium of
Music. I am undertaking a study that looks at job satisfaction, employment
conditions, and training of freelance conductors working with school children in
NSW.
The study will gather data through two methods—an interview and questionnaire.
The short questionnaire can be completed anonymously online by clicking on the
following link:
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/358194/gilmourdma
At the beginning of the questionnaire will be a Participant Information Statement
(PIS). Alternatively, you may complete a paper version of the questionnaire. Please
provide your details by return email if you wish to complete a paper copy of the
survey or would like a hard copy of the PIS posted to you.
If you are interested in also participating in a short interview, please reply to this
email and I will post you the formal Interview Participant Information Statement and
Consent Form approved by the University of Sydney.
Being in this study is completely voluntary and you are not under any obligation to
consent. Please feel free to ask me any questions that you might have regarding this
project.
Thank you in advance,
Yours sincerely,
Luke Gilmour BMus, LRSM, LMusA, [email protected]
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Website invitation
www.lukegilmour.wordpress.com
If you are a freelance school conductor in NSW, please consider completing this
survey…it will assist my DMA research into the profession.
http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/358194/gilmourdma
Script for phone invitation
Student Researcher (SR): Hi ______ how are you?
Potential Participant (PP): well thanks
SR: Just a quick call, to see if I could tell you about my Masters research and see if
you may be interested in participating in a survey and or interview? No pressure and
feel free to say no.
PP: Maybe, what does it involve?
SR: The study looks at job satisfaction, employment conditions, and training of
freelance conductors working with school children in NSW.
PP: Sounds interesting...
SR: I am gathering data through the questionnaire and interview. If you are
interested in completing the questionnaire, it can be done online or I can post the
information to you directly. Would you be interested?
If PP says yes: SR: great, can I grab your email and I will send you the link?
PP: my email is....................
SR: thanks would you like a hard copy of the survey or Participant Information
Statement posted to you?
PP: Yes/No
SR: Ok, thanks. Just one more question, would you like to be considered for an
interview? It would take around 30 minutes at a convenient time for you.
PP: Yes/No
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SR: If yes—great, could I please grab your postal address and I will send you the PIS
and Consent Form for the interview and then will call or email to arrange a time.
SR: If No—ok, no problems
SR: Do you have any questions? (Answer as necessary) Feel free to spread the word
to anyone who you think may be interested. My contact details are:...............Thanks
for your time, see you later.
PP: No problem, see you later
If PP says no: SR: Ok, no problem. Feel free to spread the word to anyone who you
think may be interested. My contact details are:...............Thanks for your time, see
you later.
PP: catch you around.