Cultural Influences on Decision- Making Preferences in Australian and British Amateur Choir Rehearsals David Anthony Taylor
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Sydney eScholarship Cultural Influences on Decision- Making Preferences in Australian and British Amateur Choir Rehearsals David Anthony Taylor Sydney Conservatorium of Music The University of Sydney A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts August 2018 i Originality Statement ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at the University of Sydney or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at the University of Sydney or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project’s design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Date .......................................................................... ii Contents Contents .............................................................................................................................................. iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................................. vii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. ix Table of Figures .................................................................................................................................... x CHAPTER 1 – Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 General Aims .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Specific Aims ........................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Overview ................................................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2 – Background .............................................................................................................. 5 2.1 The Difference Between Authority and Leadership ................................................................. 6 2.2 Transactional and Transformational Leadership ..................................................................... 10 2.2.1 Transformational and transactional leadership in music organisations ................................... 11 2.3 Authority in Music ................................................................................................................. 13 2.3.1 Two types of authority .............................................................................................................. 14 2.3.2 Decision-making as part of conductor authority ...................................................................... 19 2.4 Cultural Effects on Leadership ................................................................................................ 21 2.4.1 Collectivism and individualism .................................................................................................. 21 2.4.2 Vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism ............................................................. 27 2.5 Australian Egalitarianism ....................................................................................................... 28 2.6 Australian Attitudes to Authority ........................................................................................... 31 2.6.1 Anti-authority ........................................................................................................................... 31 2.6.2 Authority dependent ................................................................................................................. 34 2.6.3 Criticism and critique ................................................................................................................ 35 2.7 Tall Poppy Syndrome ............................................................................................................. 36 2.8 Chapter Summary .................................................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER 3 – Method ................................................................................................................... 40 iii 3.1 Research Methodology .......................................................................................................... 40 3.2 Design .................................................................................................................................... 40 3.3 Participants ............................................................................................................................ 41 3.4 Materials ............................................................................................................................... 42 3.5 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 45 3.5.1 Scale responses ......................................................................................................................... 45 3.5.2 Open-ended comments ............................................................................................................. 46 CHAPTER 4 – Results .................................................................................................................... 47 4.1 Results by Statement ............................................................................................................. 49 4.1.1 The conductor should be responsible for all musical decisions. ................................................ 49 4.1.1.1 Overall (all responses combined) ..................................................................................... 49 4.1.1.2 Comparing country (all Australian responses compared with British responses) ........... 49 4.1.1.3 COMMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 50 4.1.2 It is important that individuals are able to have input into musical decisions and that their opinion is heard. .................................................................................................................................... 51 4.1.2.1 Overall (all responses combined) ..................................................................................... 51 4.1.2.2 Comparing country (all Australian responses compared with British responses) ........... 52 4.1.2.3 Highly experienced, comparing country (over 20 years) ................................................. 52 4.1.2.4 COMMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 53 4.1.3 It annoys me when other choristers offer suggestions regarding musical matters during the rehearsal. ............................................................................................................................................... 53 4.1.3.1 Overall (all responses combined) ..................................................................................... 53 4.1.3.2 Comparing country (all Australian responses compared with British responses) ........... 54 4.1.3.3 Highly experienced, comparing country (over 20 years) ................................................. 55 4.1.3.4 Least experienced, comparing country (under 2 years combined with 2-10 years) ........ 56 4.1.3.5 Medium experience, comparing country (between 10-20 years) .................................... 56 4.1.3.6 COMMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 57 4.1.4 New members of the choir should be allowed to contribute to the way things are done musically and artistically. ....................................................................................................................... 58 4.1.4.1 Overall (all responses combined) ..................................................................................... 58 4.1.4.2 Comparing country (all Australian responses compared with all British responses) ....... 58 4.1.4.3 Highly experienced, comparing country (over 20 years) ................................................. 60 4.1.4.4 Least experienced, comparing country (under 2 years combined with 2-10 years) ........ 60 4.1.4.5 Medium experience, comparing country (between 10-20 years) .................................... 60 4.1.4.6 COMMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 61 4.1.5 When I’m at rehearsals, I just like to be told what to do. ......................................................... 62 4.1.5.1 Overall (all responses combined) ..................................................................................... 62 4.1.5.2 Comparing country (all Australian responses