Journeys towards learning in a new key Researching the challenge of introducing deep cultural and psychological resources in classrooms

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore and reflect upon the staged process that took place in the LINK project to introduce musical listening and improvisation as a regular social, emotional and therapeutic experience in the classroom. It will describe the gradual steps necessary for shifting cultural perspectives and practices in one partner school so that non-verbal forms of communication are valued. Teachers engaged in a two-year programme of professional development with music therapists and teacher trainers to enhance their teaching practice by introducing music listening and music making with vulnerable young people. A participatory action research approach was taken by gathering data from narrative accounts of practice in five different classrooms, throughout the project. The training process was in three stages. Teachers were encouraged to reflect systematically throughout the whole course and explored for themselves the process of listening to and making music away from the classroom. Over time their confidence increased and their capacity to participate in the classroom with young people developed. Additionally, teachers advanced insight into the impact of listening and playing music for young people’s capacity to self-regulate, as the young people achieved enhanced levels of sensory integration, building social skills through non-verbal approaches. Teachers also understood the value of such experiences to prepare young people for engagement in more formal learning processes.