Within a study on ‘musicians as lifelong learners’, explorative biographical research was used. When analysing the learning biographies informed by grounded theory, the emergence of profession-related health issues was striking. More than half of the portrayed musicians suffered from both physical and psychological problems, the latter mostly consisting of performance anxiety (stage fright), which was often connected to low self-esteem.However creative coping strategies were also frequently found by the musicians, showing their extensive use of metacognitive skills. This paper addresses the coping strategies found and relates it to musicians’ transformative learning.
DOCUMENT
Within the study ‘Musicians as Lifelong Learners: Discovery through Biography’, biographical research was used to examine key developments in the professional lives of musicians, focusing on the relationship between their life, educational and career span ant their learning styles. This resulted in a collection of 32 narrative learning biographies of musicians from different countries and with various careers. Musicians with a performing career, music pedagogues, and musicians with a portfolio career, who combine different roles within various areas of engagement, are portrayed. The main thread throughout the biographies is the question of how these musicians learn as ‘lifelong learners’.
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