This field report examines initiatives in music lifelong learning through the research network Lifelong Learning in Music (LLM) of the Prince Claus Conservatoire in the Netherlands. LLM collaborates with other schools on various projects. As well, there is an innovative masters programme ‘New audiences and innovative practices’ with a variety of partners.
DOCUMENT
This book has been written for musicians who want to engage with audiences beyond the concert hall and other traditional venues. The study is equally worthwhile for conservatoires and music academies aiming to change the increasingly unrealistic goal of training young musicians solely for the stage. When taking the changing music profession and its market opportunities seriously, higher music education institutions can become aware of creative opportunities for establishing professional music practices in areas in society that are remote from concert halls and big festivals, from public media and stardom, and instead look for settings which reach out to various kinds of audiences. This does not mean, of course, that the results presented here wish to diminish the wonderful gift of being an accomplished soloist or chamber musician, but they would like to show that the role of music can be exhaustive, where artistic connection can bring about strong communication between people. Music can make a difference and be deeply influential, especially in social fields of illness and suffering, weakness and depression. ‘Music and dementia’ is the challenging topic of this book. It is not about educational suggestions to care staff to sing well-known children's songs in care homes for residents with dementia, just to lift the mood. Through engaging in music as a participatory process, its goal is to make the person behind the dementia visible again. The project presented in this study not only shows that this idea can be realised for people with dementia and their caregivers, but it has also opened up learning processes for the musicians involved which nobody would have expected before, nurturing their professional lives and development. The project has changed their understanding of the place of music in people’s lives; it has touched their personality and stimulated deep reflections about their identity. This positive effect should benefit young musicians in their music education. However, musicians are not the only target group. The discoveries of the study are also helpful and inspiring for caregivers of people with dementia and for families of a loved one living with dementia. The book explores the interaction between music and dementia through the stories of people who have been working closely together: three musicians, eight women living with dementia, five caregivers, a staff development practitioner, a project coordinator and three scientific observers. The result is a book in which all of them have participated in their own way. It consists of field observations, reflective journals, conversations, interviews and careful scientific analyses. If it can be read by many people at a profit, the project has worked. There will be, in the words of Clifford Geertz, a 'thick description' of a new friendship between music and dementia, a story about a fascinating practice that will stimulate and bolster committed people.
DOCUMENT
The concept of lifelong learning refers to the several skills able to provide forneeds of music graduates. Such as it occurs with other areas, the domain ofmusic is in constant modification, either for the incorporation of new technologies, either had the cultural demands or for the multiplicity of activities that music has accumulated. Observing the deficits in the formation of the students, the lifelong learning appears as an alternative to enable the acquisition of tools which improve continuously the professional. The lifelong learning includes a new notion of knowledge that brings together the formal, non-formal and informal teaching, making possible experiences of knowledge objective and practical, as a way to consider the several challenges that appear to the profession. To hold the lifelong learning in the Music Colleges as an objective many changes are requested, and all the structures of the Music Colleges must be engaged.
MULTIFILE
Building on burgeoning research in the field of arts and health, this article explores the role that learning musical instruments can play in enhancing wellbeing in older adulthood. Despite an increasing focus on the role of learning in supporting mental wellbeing, there is strikingly little research that examines this in relation to music, or that explores wellbeing as a subjective phenomenon captured through mixed-methods enquiry. This research addresses this gap through two inter-related studies. Study 1 adopts questionnaire measures of wellbeing with 98 music-learning and comparison participants, concluding that learning in older adulthood offers significant wellbeing benefits, with music particularly enhancing some health-promoting behaviours. To explore in more detail what learning music means to older adults, Study 2 adopts qualitative methods with a sub-group of 21 music-learning participants, concluding that learning music can enhance subjective wellbeing through six mechanisms: (1) subjective experiences of pleasure; (2) enhanced social interactions; (3) musically-nuanced engagement in day-to-day life; (4) fulfilment of musical ambition; (5) ability to make music; and (6) self-satisfaction through musical progress. Drawing the two studies together, the article concludes by arguing for further research to contribute to the growing body of evidence placing music learning at the centre of healthy ageing agendas.
LINK
n research (2010-2012) conducted by the research group Lifelong Learning in Music into instrumental lessons for elderly learners, a ‘Community of Practice’ (CoP; Wenger & Lave) was set up in which instrumental music teachers exchanged expertise and reflected together on their actions in lessons with elderly pupils. Meetings of the CoP centred on the exchange and development of knowledge. In 2012-2013 a follow-up study was conducted which looked into the transfer and development of knowledge within this CoP. Central in this follow-up study were the questions: “What learning takes place in the CoP?” and “Can collaborative learning contribute to the professional development of teachers?”
DOCUMENT
n research (2010-2012) conducted by the research group Lifelong Learning in Music into instrumental lessons for elderly learners, a ‘Community of Practice’ (CoP; Wenger & Lave) was set up in which instrumental music teachers exchanged expertise and reflected together on their actions in lessons with elderly pupils. Meetings of the CoP centred on the exchange and development of knowledge. In 2012-2013 a follow-up study was conducted which looked into the transfer and development of knowledge within this CoP. Central in this follow-up study were the questions: “What learning takes place in the CoP?” and “Can collaborative learning contribute to the professional development of teachers?”
DOCUMENT
Chapter in a book. Discusses the concept of idiocultural music education.
DOCUMENT
In this reflective handbook, Rineke Smilde clarifies fundamental concepts of Lifelong Learning in Music through examples of research projects which were explorative and innovative. She identifies several key themes such as reflective practice, artistry, excellence, reciprocity and artistic response. She gives special attention to the notion of the ‘reflexive conservatoire’, which is rooted within the framework of lifelong learning and includes attention to tacit knowing, artistic excellence and the crucial connection to the outside world. In the end, Smilde makes a strong case for all musicians developing an informed social role that reflects their own identity and underpins their professional performance.
LINK
This article considers four learning biographies from professional musicians. Each musician holds a different portfolio career and is from a different age category. The key questions I ask are: "How does one learn as a musician?", "What knowledge, attitudes, values and artistic skills are necessary to function effectively and creatively as a contemporary musician?", and "What is the necessary framework of lifelong learning in music education?" My findings are analysed in the light of lifelong learning for musicians with a focus toward teaching and learning.
DOCUMENT
