As a consequence of restructuring instrumental music education in the Netherlands, Art Centres increasingly cease to facilitate instrumental music lessons. As a consequence, instrumental teachers are no longer employed in these Centres and have started working as independent entrepreneurs now. The question is how (future) teachers can share their knowledge, renew their profession and shape their professional development without being organised within institutions.In research conducted by the research group Lifelong Learning in Music into instrumental lessons for elderly learners we worked with a ‘Community of Practice’ (CoP; Lave & Wenger 1991). A group of recently graduated teachers provided instrumental lessons for elderly people. This group of teachers formed a CoP together with teachers with experience in teaching elderly students and the researchers in this study. Members worked within the CoP in varying formations in peer learning sessions and seminars. Meetings of the CoP centred on the exchange and development of knowledge. In this study I look into the transfer and development of knowledge within this CoP. The data used in writing this paper are the reflective dairies and logbooks written by the participants following the lessons with elderly students and the meetings of the CoP. The central question of this study is:“What learning took place in the Community of Practice?ResultsThe CoP is a rich learning environment. Learning takes place in a multitude of ways. Learning is stimulated by the multiformity of the group make-up and by using a variety of work forms. Equality is achieved when all the participants have the same opportunity to contribute to the CoP.Learning in the CoP is influenced by the way in which participants observe, formulate their observations and put these into words. When setting up a CoP as a learning environment attention should be paid to the ways in which reflection as a result of the observations and exchange can be stimulated further.The collaborative learning which takes place in the CoP is useful for the transfer and development of knowledge. Working with a CoP at the intersection of the professional practice and the professional training is of great value to all those involved.
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.
Music performance anxiety (MPA) is one of the most reported psychological problems among musicians, posing a significant threat to the optimal performance, health, and psychological wellbeing of musicians. Most research on MPA treatment has focused on reducing symptoms of performance anxiety, but complete “cures” are uncommon. A promising addition or alternative that may help musicians enhance their performance under pressure, despite their anxiety, is pressure training (PT). In other high-pressure domains, such as sports and police work, pressure training has been proven effective in reducing choking and enhancing performance quality under pressure. Therefore, the aim of this narrative review is to explore the potential of pressure training in music settings. Specifically, we first provide a theoretical overview of current models explaining performance declines due to anxiety. Second, we discuss the current state of research on the effectiveness and application of pressure training in sports and police work as well as recent developments in pressure training interventions for music settings. While there is a limited number of studies investigating the effectiveness of pressure training on musicians' performance quality, research focusing on musicians' experiences has shown that pressure training can be particularly beneficial for enhancing performance skills, preparing for performances, and managing performance anxiety. Based on the reviewed literature, the final section points out suggestions for future research as well as recommendations for musicians, teachers, and music institutions for practical applications.
Students in Higher Music Education (HME) are not facilitated to develop both their artistic and academic musical competences. Conservatoires (professional education, or ‘HBO’) traditionally foster the development of musical craftsmanship, while university musicology departments (academic education, or ‘WO’) promote broader perspectives on music’s place in society. All the while, music professionals are increasingly required to combine musical and scholarly knowledge. Indeed, musicianship is more than performance, and musicology more than reflection—a robust musical practice requires people who are versed in both domains. It’s time our education mirrors this blended profession. This proposal entails collaborative projects between a conservatory and a university in two cities where musical performance and musicology equally thrive: Amsterdam (Conservatory and University of Amsterdam) and Utrecht (HKU Utrechts Conservatorium and Utrecht University). Each project will pilot a joint program of study, combining existing modules with newly developed ones. The feasibility of joint degrees will be explored: a combined bachelor’s degree in Amsterdam; and a combined master’s degree in Utrecht. The full innovation process will be translated to a transferable infrastructural model. For 125 students it will fuse praxis-based musical knowledge and skills, practice-led research and academic training. Beyond this, the partners will also use the Comenius funds as a springboard for collaboration between the two cities to enrich their respective BA and MA programs. In the end, the programme will diversify the educational possibilities for students of music in the Netherlands, and thereby increase their professional opportunities in today’s job market.
This project aims to develop a measurement tool to assess the inclusivity of experiences for people with varying challenges and capabilities on the auditory spectrum. In doing so, we performed an in-depth exploration of scientific literature and findings from previous projects by Joint Projects. Based on this, we developed an initial conceptual model that focuses on sensory perception, emotion, cognition, and e[ort in relation to hearing and fatigue. Within, this model a visitor attraction is seen as an “experienscape” with four key elements: content, medium, context, and individual. In co-creative interviews with experts by experience with varying challenges on the auditory spectrum, they provided valuable insights that led to a significant expansion of this initial model. This was a relevant step, as in the scientific and professional literature, little is known about the leisure experiences of people with troubled hearing. For example, personal factors such as a person’s attitude toward their own hearing loss and the social dynamics within their group turned out to greatly influence the experience. The revised model was then applied in a case study at Apenheul, focusing on studying differences in experience of their gorilla presentation amongst people with varying challenges on the auditory spectrum.Societal issueThe Netherlands is one of the countries in Europe with the highest density of visitor attractions. Despite this abundance, many visitor attractions are not fully accessible to everyone, particularly to visitors with disabilities who sometimes are not eligible to ride due to safety concerns, yet when eligible generally still encounter numerous barriers. Accessibility of visitor attractions can be approached in various ways. However, because the focus often lies on operational and technical aspects (e.g., reducing stimuli at certain times of the day by turning o[ music, o[ering alternative wheelchair entrances), strategic and community-focused approaches are often overlooked. More importantly, there is also a lack of attention to the experience of visitors with disabilities. This becomes apparent from several studies from Joint Projects, where visitor attractions are being visited together with experts by experience with various disabilities. Nevertheless, experience is often being regarded as the 'core product' of the leisure sector. The right to meet, discover, develop, relax and thus enjoy this core product is hindered for many people with disabilities due to a lack of knowledge, inaccessibility (physical, digital, social, communicative as well as financial) and discrimination in society. Additionally, recreation entrepreneurs still face a significant gap in reaching the potential market of guests with disabilities and their networks. Thus, despite the numerous initiatives in the leisure sector aimed at improving accessibility on technical and operational fronts, often people with disabilities are still not being able to experience the same kind of enjoyment as those without. These observations form the pressing impetus for initiating the current research project, tapping into the numerous opportunities for learning, development and growth on making leisure offer more inclusive.Benefit to societyIn total, the current project approach comes with a number of enrichments in terms of both knowledge and methodology: a mixed-methods approach that allows for comparing data from different sources to obtain a more complete picture of the experience; a methodological co-design process that honours the 'nothing about us without us' principle; and benchmarking for a group (i.e., people with challenges on the auditory spectrum) that despite the size of its population has thus far mostly been overlooked.
Binnen het huidige muziekaanbod voor ouderen zijn veel praktijken gericht op woonzorg- en verpleeghuizen. Het grootste deel van de kwetsbare ouderen woont echter thuis. Vanuit de gedachte dat muziek een katalysator kan zijn voor welzijn en welbevinden, wordt met Dichtbij met Muziek een nieuwe innovatieve muziekpraktijk geïnitieerd waarbij professionele musici op maat muziek maken voor kwetsbare ouderen die (nog) thuis wonen en hun mantelzorgers. De uitbraak van de corona-pandemie zorgde ervoor dat de praktijk uiteindelijk virtueel tot stand is gekomen.Voorziene uitkomsten van het onderzoek naar de (virtuele) praktijk zijn:-Een nieuw ontworpen virtuele vorm van persoonsgericht musiceren met kwetsbare ouderen die (nog) thuis wonen en hun mantelzorgers, mogelijk inzetbaar in diverse situaties van isolatie;-Beter begrip van de bijdrage die (virtueel) persoonsgericht musiceren kan leveren aan het welzijn van kwetsbare ouderen, hun mantelzorgers en hun directe omgeving.Professionele musici ontwikkelen steeds vaker praktijken in ouderenzorgcontexten. De afgelopen jaren heeft het lectoraat Lifelong Learning in Music in samenwerking met (inter)nationale partners uit de muziek- en zorgsector nieuwe intramurale persoonsgerichte muziekpraktijken ontwikkeld: in verpleeghuizen voor mensen met dementie (Muziek en Dementie 2010-2014) en in het ziekenhuis (MiMiC - Meaningful Music in Healthcare 2015-heden). Gemeenschappelijk bij al deze praktijken is de persoonsgerichte aanpak, waarbij musici (gearrangeerd) repertoire spelen of een nieuw stuk improviseren, ‘in het moment’ en op maat van mensen. Binnen het huidige muziekaanbod voor ouderen zijn veel praktijken gericht op woonzorg- en verpleeghuizen. Het grootste deel van de kwetsbare ouderen in Nederland woont echter thuis. Dichtbij met muziek wil onderzoeken hoe persoonsgericht musiceren kan worden ingezet op maat van een groeiende groep thuiswonende kwetsbare ouderen en hun mantelzorgers. Als gevolg van de coronapandemie is de ontwikkeling van de praktijk gestart op virtuele wijze.Het doel van dit onderzoek is de ontwikkeling van een virtuele vorm van persoonsgericht musiceren voor kwetsbare ouderen en hun naasten, cq. mantelzorgers, waarbij wordt gedoeld op het versterken van bestaande relaties en gevoel van menselijke waardigheid.
