Fine Arts and Music Collected Works - Research Publications
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ItemFrom Dropping Out to Dropping In: Exploring Why Individuals Cease Participation in Musical Activities and the Support Needed to Reengage Them(American Psychological Association, 2019-06-24)Continued participation in music has been associated with well-being outcomes, yet many either fail to begin or cease musical participation after limited exposure. The current research examined why individuals cease participating, focusing on identifying barriers to participation and the support needed to reengage in musical activities. A sample of 190 Australian residents (Mage = 26.87; 75.80% female) who had ceased previous musical participation completed an online questionnaire in which they rated the degree to which 15 items reflected their reasons for ceasing musical participation and answered an open-ended question regarding their requirements for reengagement. An exploratory factor analysis of the quantitative responses identified 4 components relating to cessation: "access and opportunity," "activity experience," "obligations," and "difficulty with practicing." A grounded theory analysis concerning the support required for reengagement indicated 4 key themes: "personal investment," "requirements of the musical activity," "personal qualities," and "no interest in reengagement." Collectively, these results provide an in-depth understanding of factors external to music itself as influences on continued musical participation. With implications for facilitators and educators, these results suggest a need for collaboration and interaction between music facilitators and participants.
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ItemEffective Educational Strategies to Promote Life-Long Musical Investment: Perceptions of Educators(FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2018-10-25)While research has broadly considered the wide-ranging intellectual, social, personal, and physical benefits of active musical participation across the lifespan, there is little research that explores how music educators work to promote participant investment inside school and beyond. The present research, therefore, aimed to investigate the practices employed by leading music educators within a range of cultural and pedagogical contexts that facilitate investment toward life-long engagement in music. Interviews with North American, European, and Australian music educators with both practitioner and research expertise from within school as well as higher education institutions were undertaken to gather reflections on participants' own practices and beliefs. Content analysis of the interview transcripts revealed deep knowledge and skills relating to teaching music, education philosophy and pedagogy, and strong recognition of the support of peers, supervisors, institution/school, and local community. It was clear that interviewees were deeply influenced by local, national, and cultural trends. Further, the advice they offered for new/beginning music educators was to think beyond the structure of their own music education and to explore culturally diverse educational experiences for students. Educational approaches that fostered co-production were favored, thus guiding students in their pursuits in learner-directed environments. While the beliefs and practices described are not "new" - echoing well-established educational philosophies - all interviewees argue for a shift from the prevailing pedagogical practice based on expertise training to the promotion cultural connectedness and sharing in and through musical experience. These findings are discussed in terms of Self-Determination Theory, to provide a framework for how music educators can facilitate long-term musical investment through the development of autonomous engagement to generate personal meaning and value in music, which can translate to deeper, longer musical investment. Exploring these pedagogical practices and beliefs in terms of Self-Determination Theory is a significant addition to the literature, enabling the consideration of the type of motivation required to stimulate and develop long-term interest in music.
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ItemSocial and applied psychological explorations of music, health, and wellbeing(Palgrave Macmillan, 2018)This chapter explores the specific well-being benefits that diverse forms of musical engagement can promote from the particular perspective of the social and applied psychology of music. It surveys recent social-psychological literature broadly, and the authors also draw from their own research offering case studies to highlight research evidence concerning health and well-being benefits when applying a social-psychological lens to music research. It explores the influence of newer, digital technologies for promoting self-regulation, such as mood management via playlists; points to the range of benefits across types of well-being from music participation; and considers the role of music facilitators and educators with respect to promoting well-being. Relevant influences range from micro- to meso-level determinants interacting across the levels to influence our experiences every day.
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ItemThe PERMA well-being model and music facilitation practice: Preliminary documentation for well-being through music provision in Australian schools(SAGE Publications, 2017-06-01)The aim of this study was to consider how we can invest in music-making to promote well- being in school contexts. Web-based data collection was conducted where researchers identified 17 case studies that describe successful music programs in schools in Australia. The researchers aligned content from these case studies into the five categories of the PERMA well-being model: Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment in order to understand how each well-being element was realised through the music programs. The results indicate that the element of the PERMA well-being model that relates to relationships was described most often. Collaboration and partnership between students, teachers, and staff in schools, and local people in the community such as parents, local entrepreneurs, and musicians were repeatedly identified as a highly significant contributing factor in the success of the music program. The school leaders’ roles in providing opportunities for students to experience musical participation and related activities (engagement) and valuing these experiences (meaning) were also crucial in the facilitation of the music programs. The findings of this study indicate that tailored music and relationship-centred music programs in schools not only increase skills and abilities of the students, but also improve the psychosocial well-being of the students and the community.
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ItemOlder people’s motivations for participating in community singing in Australia(Intellect, 2016-07-01)The aim of this project was to investigate the motivations of older people who regularly attend community singing groups in Australia. Four focus group interviews were conducted with 64 participants belonging to three community singing groups. Participants explained their motivation to attend and sing with others in the groups. A total of eight motivating factors were identified via an inductive thematic analysis, including (1) the importance of singing in my life; (2) enormous pleasure of singing with little pressure; (3) challenge and achievement; (4) spiritual and uplifting emotions; (5) strength in overcoming my age, disease and hardship; (6) good leadership; (7) fellowship with others; and (8) purpose and meaning of group singing. The themes were discussed from various perspectives including positive psychology and the PERMA well-being model. The findings suggest that the older participants seem to experience different motivation factors while at different stages of their engagement in the groups.