Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Research Publications

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    Hidden diversity in the conservatoire: A qualitative enquiry into the experiences of higher education music students with disability
    Thompson, G ; de Bruin, L ; Subiantoro, M ; Skinner, A (SAGE Publications, 2024)
    Students undertaking higher education music degrees represent a rich tapestry of experiences, cultures and needs. However, equity and inclusion issues related to music students with disability in higher education are frequently addressed in generic ways, and without consultation or consideration of their unique requirements. With limited research available, this qualitative study within an Australian Conservatorium of Music analysed the experiential and situated reflections of 18 music students with disability. Based on our reflexive thematic analysis, we propose that issues related to equity and inclusion for music students in higher education are multi-faceted and interrelated. By foregrounding the participants’ voice, the qualitative themes suggest that enhancements related to disclosure processes, quality of communication and reliability of resources, would fortify equity and inclusion. The findings span the need for reforms at the institutional level, as well as specific professional development for educators and awareness raising amongst the student cohort. Informed by the participants’ lived experience, the findings call for music educators, professional staff and institutional leaders to effectively apply features of inclusive, caring, professional practices so that music students with disability can thrive in higher education.
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    The dynamics of musical participation
    Schiavio, A ; Maes, P-J ; Schyff, DVD (SAGE Publications, 2021)
    In this paper we argue that our comprehension of musical participation—the complex network of interactive dynamics involved in collaborative musical experience—can benefit from an analysis inspired by the existing frameworks of dynamical systems theory and coordination dynamics. These approaches can offer novel theoretical tools to help music researchers describe a number of central aspects of joint musical experience in greater detail, such as prediction, adaptivity, social cohesion, reciprocity, and reward. While most musicians involved in collective forms of musicking already have some familiarity with these terms and their associated experiences, we currently lack an analytical vocabulary to approach them in a more targeted way. To fill this gap, we adopt insights from these frameworks to suggest that musical participation may be advantageously characterized as an open, non-equilibrium, dynamical system. In particular, we suggest that research informed by dynamical systems theory might stimulate new interdisciplinary scholarship at the crossroads of musicology, psychology, philosophy, and cognitive (neuro)science, pointing toward new understandings of the core features of musical participation.
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    Phenomenology, Technology and Arts Education: Exploring the Pedagogical Possibilities of Two Multimedia Arts Inquiry Projects
    Schyff, DVD (Inference, 2016)
    The relevance of phenomenology for arts education is explored through two multimedia arts inquiry projects. I begin by offering a brief outline of what arts inquiry and phenomenology entail. Following this, I consider a phenomenological study relevant to creative multimedia studies, and develop the relationship between phenomenology, critical pedagogy, and creative praxis in the arts. Drawing on these ideas, I then discuss the processes involved in creating the multimedia projects and consider possibilities for similar projects in educational contexts. Most importantly, I attempt to show how such projects might open arts educators and students to more reflective, imaginative and participatory ways of being-in-the-world, while simultaneously developing deeper historical, cultural, technical, and aesthetic understandings of the art forms they are engaged with.
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    Music interventions for dementia and depression in elderly care (MIDDEL): The Australian part of an international cluster randomised controlled trial
    Baker, F ; Lee, YEC ; Sousa, T ; Stretton-Smith, P ; Clark, I ; Sveinsdottir, V ; Geretsegger, M ; Gold, C (Wiley, 2021-12-01)
    BACKGROUND: Dementia and depression are highly prevalent, comorbid conditions in older adults residing in care homes and are associated with individual distress and associated challenges for care staff. Music-based interventions are widely used and potentially effective nonpharmacological interventions, due to the relative preservation of the ability of people with dementia to respond to music even with disease progression. However, there is a lack of large-scale studies evaluating the effectiveness of music-based interventions in dementia care. Music Interventions for Dementia and Depression in the Elderly (MIDDEL) is the first large-scale international cluster-randomised controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of small group music therapy (GMT), recreational choir singing (RCS) and their combination on levels of depression in residents with dementia. The trial is currently being conducted across six countries, and this presentation will outline the study outcomes from the Australian arm of the trial. METHOD: Between June 2018 and November 2019, 20 care home units were randomised to music interventions (GMT, RCS, GMT and RCS) or standard care delivered over 6 months. The primary outcome was level of depression as measured by the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). Secondary outcomes included neuropsychiatric symptoms, quality of life, care staff burden and adverse events collected at baseline, 3-months, 6-months and 12-months post-randomisation. Outcomes were analysed as intention-to-treat, per-protocol, and with exploratory predictor analyses. RESULTS: 318 participants (215 female; 103 male) aged 65 years or more with diagnoses of dementia and at least mild depressive symptoms (as defined by score of 8 or above on MADRS) residing in care homes were recruited. In addition, 131 care staff (108 female; 23 male) answered questions regarding perceived care burden to search for potential ripple effects of the music interventions. We will present the main findings of the study including the predictive effects of clinical characteristics on efficacy. CONCLUSION: The presentation will include discussion of contextual factors and conditions that support efficacy, and clinical implications for safety and quality of life for people with dementia living in care homes.
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    HOMESIDE-A home-based family caregiver-delivered music and reading intervention for people living with dementia: A randomised controlled trial.
    Baker, F ; Odell-Miller, H ; Wosch, T ; Stensaeth, K ; Bukowska, A ; Clark, I (Wiley, 2021-12)
    BACKGROUND: Pharmacological interventions to address behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) can have undesirable side effects, therefore non-pharmacological approaches to managing symptoms may be preferable. Past studies show that music therapy can reduce BPSD, and other studies have explored how formal caregivers use music in their caring roles. However, no studies have examined the effects on BPSD of music interventions delivered by informal caregivers (CGs) in the home setting. Our project addresses the need for improved informal care by training cohabiting family CGs to implement music interventions that target BPSD, and the quality of life (QoL) and well-being of people with dementia and CGs. METHODS: An international three-arm parallel-group randomised controlled trial has so far randomised 130 of the target 495 dyads from Australia, Germany, UK, Poland and Norway. Dyads are randomised equally to standard care (SC), a home-based music programme plus SC, or a home-based reading programme plus SC for 12 weeks. The primary outcome is BPSD of people with dementia (measured using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire). Secondary outcomes examine relationship quality between CG and people with dementia, depression, resilience, competence, QoL for CG and QoL for people with dementia. Outcomes are collected at baseline, at the end of the 12-week intervention and at 6 months post randomisation. Resource Utilisation in Dementia captures economic data across the life of the intervention and at 6-month follow-up. Our presentation will briefly outline the study protocol and describe the caregiver training protocol and interventions in detail with video footage illustrating how the intervention looks in practice.
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    By myself but not alone: Agency, creativity, and extended musical historicity
    Schiavio, A ; Ryan, K ; Moran, N ; van der Schyff, D ; Gallagher, S (Routledge, 2022-11)
    In this paper we offer a preliminary framework that highlights the relational nature of solo music-making, and its associated capacity to influence the constellation of habits and experiences one develops through acts of musicking. To do so, we introduce the notion of extended musical historicity and suggest that when novice and expert performers engage in individual musical practices, they often rely on an extended sense of agency which permeates their musical experience and shapes their creative outcomes. To support this view, we report on an exploratory, qualitative study conducted with novice and expert musicians. This was designed to elicit a range of responses, beliefs, experiences and meanings concerning the main categories of agency and creativity. Our data provide rich descriptions of solitary musical practices by both novice and expert performers, and reveal ways in which these experiences involve social contingencies that appear to generate or transform creative musical activity. We argue that recognition of the interactive components of individual musicking may shed new light on the cognition of solo and joint music performance, and should inspire the development of novel conceptual and empirical tools for future research and theory.
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    How accurate are self-evaluations of singing ability?
    Yeom, D ; Stead, KS ; Tan, YT ; McPherson, GE ; Wilson, SJ (WILEY, 2023-12)
    Research has shown that people inaccurately assess their own abilities on self-report measures, including academic, athletic, and music ability. Evidence suggests this is also true for singing, with individuals either overestimating or underestimating their level of singing competency. In this paper, we present the Melbourne Singing Tool Questionnaire (MST-Q), a brief 16-item measure exploring people's self-perceptions of singing ability and engagement with singing. Using a large sample of Australian twins (n = 996), we identified three latent factors underlying MST-Q items and examined whether these factors were related to an objective phenotypic measure of singing ability. The three factors were identified as Personal Engagement, Social Engagement, and Self-Evaluation. All factors were positively associated with objective singing performance, with the Self-Evaluation factor yielding the strongest correlation (r = 0.66). Both the Self-Evaluation factor and a single self-report item of singing ability shared the same predictive strength. Contrary to expectations, our findings suggest that self-evaluation strongly predicts singing ability, and this self-evaluation is of higher predictive value than self-reported engagement with music and singing.
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    Home-based family caregiver-delivered music and reading interventions for people living with dementia (HOMESIDE trial): an international randomised controlled trial
    Baker, FA ; Soo, VP ; Bloska, J ; Blauth, L ; Bukowska, AA ; Flynn, L ; Hsu, MH ; Janus, E ; Johansson, K ; Kvamme, T ; Lautenschlager, N ; Miller, H ; Pool, J ; Smrokowska-Reichmann, A ; Stensaeth, K ; Teggelove, K ; Warnke, S ; Wosch, T ; Odell-Miller, H ; Lamb, K ; Braat, S ; Sousa, TV ; Tamplin, J (ELSEVIER, 2023-11)
    BACKGROUND: Music interventions provided by qualified therapists within residential aged care are effective at attenuating behavioural and psychological symptoms (BPSD) of people with dementia (PwD). The impact of music interventions on dementia symptom management when provided by family caregivers is unclear. METHODS: We implemented a community-based, large, pragmatic, international, superiority, single-masked randomised controlled trial to evaluate if caregiver-delivered music was superior to usual care alone (UC) on reducing BPSD of PwD measured by the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Questionnaire (NPI-Q). The study included an active control (reading). People with dementia (NPI-Q score ≥6) and their caregiver (dyads) from one of five countries were randomly allocated to caregiver-delivered music, reading, or UC with a 1:1:1 allocation stratified by site. Caregivers received three online protocolised music or reading training sessions delivered by therapists and were recommended to provide five 30-min reading or music activities per week (minimum twice weekly) over 90-days. The NPI-Q severity assessment of PwD was completed online by masked assessors at baseline, 90- (primary) and 180-days post-randomisation and analysed on an intention-to-treat basis using a likelihood-based longitudinal data analysis model. ACTRN12618001799246; ClinicalTrials.govNCT03907748. FINDINGS: Between 27th November 2019 and 7th July 2022, we randomised 432 eligible of 805 screened dyads (music n = 143, reading n = 144, UC n = 145). There was no statistical or clinically important difference in the change from baseline BPSD between caregiver-delivered music (-0.15, 95% CI -1.41 to 1.10, p = 0.81) or reading (-1.12, 95% CI -2.38 to 0.14, p = 0.082) and UC alone at 90-days. No related adverse events occurred. INTERPRETATION: Our findings suggested that music interventions and reading interventions delivered by trained caregivers in community contexts do not decrease enduring BPSD symptoms. FUNDING: Our funding was provided by National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia; The Research Council of Norway; Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany; National Centre for Research and Development, Poland; Alzheimer's Society, UK, as part of the Joint Programme for Neurodegenerative Diseases consortia scheme.
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    Understanding the impact of international music therapy student placements on music therapy practice and professional identity
    Bolger, L ; Murphy, M (Taylor and Francis Group, 2023)
    Introduction: In this article, authors present and contextualise findings from a research project examining the experience and impact of participation in an international music therapy student placement for nine Australian music therapists. Research participants reflect on the impact both at the time of the student placement, and subsequently on their professional lives as music therapists. Method: Researchers used qualitative thematic analysis to analyse nine open-ended interviews with the research participants. Themes were articulated over three iterations of analysis and were developed into a series of narratives that reflected various perspectives on key emerging themes. Results: Researchers interpreted five broad areas of learning from the data: Placement structure; challenges and supporting factors on placement; learning opportunities identified within the placement; future impact on individuals; and broader insights for the international development music therapy literature. Discussion: Learning from across these five areas is considered in relation to the context of international development as an emerging practice area in music therapy. Researchers suggest how key data points may inform future approaches to music therapy practice. A critical lens is used to consider some ethical considerations related to this area of work, and to propose ways that research learning may inform future music therapy practice in international development.
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    Editorial: Community series: towards a meaningful instrumental music education. Methods, perspectives, and challenges, volume II
    Schiavio, A ; Nijs, L ; Schyff, DVD ; Juntunen, M-L (Frontiers Media SA, 2023)
    Our Community Series introduces a comprehensive and dynamic perspective within the evolving field of instrumental music education. The first volume of this series, entitled Towards a meaningful instrumental music education: methods, perspectives, and challenges, examined a range of pivotal topics including technology, meaning, and expression. Likewise, the 11 contributions to this second volume are collaborative and draw upon a diverse spectrum of perspectives—they integrate empirical insights, engage robust theoretical frameworks, and develop reflective insights from pedagogical practice. In doing so, they enrich our comprehension of music's role within broader pedagogical contexts and showcase possibilities for catalyzing transformative shifts within music education itself. Like the first volume, this Research Topic provides insights that resonate with educators, researchers, and students alike.