Numerous studies have been made of wind band programs in the United States. Given the great cultural differences between the United States and Taiwan, however, those studies are not always of much use to the person seeking to develop wind band programs in Taiwan. Even more importantly, they do not address such problems or practices peculiar to Taiwan as the student-parent relationship, the strict school system, and the importance of cultural inheritance.
The explicit purpose of this study is to systematically investigate current practices and attitudes with respect to the wind band programs found in ten of Taipei's elementary schools. Its implicit purpose is to provide its readers with data and suggestions that they can draw upon, as they seek either to develop new wind band programs or to upgrade existing ones in Taipei County, Taiwan.
This study's three basic sample populations were the wind band teachers (N = 16), the students participating in wind band programs (N = 438), and the students' parents (N = 400)--all of them in Taipei County, Taiwan. The two research strategies employed were survey questionnaires and oral interviews.
The study has produced the following findings for Taiwanese school wind band programs among many related results: (a) the reasons that students join and continue on in a wind band program are simply that they like music and that they like to perform on their instruments: this finding shows that the students themselves are motivated to join the wind band rather that following their teachers' and parents' suggestions; (b) the parents believe the total wind band experience encourages students' social interaction and develops qualities of good citizenship; (c) the administrative components of an effective a wind band programs are as follows: a wind band requires at least two responsible teachers; strategically it is best to enroll all wind band students in one or two homerooms; daily instruction is most effective; the hiring of an extra director and tutors in the individual instruments is necessary for a school wind band; and performance schedules should be limited to two concerts a semester.
