Costanza Preti

The National Singing Programme for primary schools in England: an initial baseline study

The ‘Sing Up’ National Singing Programme for primary schools in England was launched in November 2007 under the UK governments ‘Music Manifesto’. ‘Sing Up’ is a four-year programme whose overall aim is to raise the status of singing and increase opportunities for children throughout the country to enjoy singing as part of their everyday lives, in and out of school. As part of the Programmes research evaluation, a key focus has been to build an initial picture of singing in primary schools across England. This information could then be used as a ‘baseline’ by which the programmes subsequent impact could be judged, including ‘before’ and ‘after’ measures of schools that receive particular ‘Sing Up’ input. This paper reports an overview of key outcomes of the first five months of baseline profiling (October 2007–February 2008), embracing analyses of the singing behaviours of 3472 children in 76 primary schools. These findings are complimented by additional analyses of childrens views on singing in and out of school; and the self-efficacy of their class teachers (n=90), both as singers and as teachers of singing.

Music in a Hospital Setting: A Multifaceted Experience.

The article offers an explanation of the effects of music on children within a hospital setting and points up the multifaceted nature of this experience. The nature of the client group allows the musical experience to work on many different levels, such as modifying the child’s perception of pain and reducing stress, whilst at the same time having an integral educational element that supports musical development. The evidence base is drawn from an extensive review of the music/medicine literature, interfaced with the first author’s experience over many years as a participant musician in a paediatric oncology ward.

Learning about what constitutes effective training from a pilot programme to improve music education in primary schools

The new primary strategy in England has raised the profile of foundation subjects, including music, yet many primary school teachers lack skills and confidence in their ability to teach music. This research explores a year-long programme of training across 16 primary schools in England that sought to improve music education. The programme involved whole school in-service training, advisory teachers offering support within the classroom and further training for music co-ordinators. The implementation of the programme, the training received, lesson observations throughout the programme, difficulties arising and the longer term benefits were explored through questionnaires, interviews and school visits with participant teachers, and senior managers in the Local Authorities and schools. The findings indicated that the programme had been effective in improving teacher confidence, and musical understanding, and the quality of teaching. Factors contributing to the success of the programme and lessons for the development and implementation of future programmes were identified.

The incidental impact of music on hospital staff: An Italian case study

Objective: This study focuses on a group of nurses (n = 11) and doctors (n = 9) who have been regularly exposed to live music for the past five years, as part of a music programme targeted on children, in an Italian paediatric hospital. The aims of the study were to focus on the impact of incidental exposure to music of the hospital staff and to analyse any repercussion that such exposure had on their work. Methods: Grounded theory research method informed the analysis of the semi-structured interviews (N = 20). Results: Results suggest that the hospital staff have a positive view of the music intervention in the light of its perceived benefit on the patients. However, some aspects of the programme, such as the selection of music, were reported to impact negatively on their work. Conclusions: Implications for the development of music programmes in hospitals are discussed.

The inherent challenges in creative musical performance in a paediatric hospital setting

The paper investigates the challenges that musicians face when playing in a paediatric hospital, drawing on case study evidence from a long-standing programme in Italy. The research focussed on identifying: (i) the inherent challenges of being a performer in a hospital; and (ii) the professional characteristics of the musicians who perform in hospitals. As part of a wider, cross-cultural study, musicians (N = 8) were asked to report their (i) physical and (ii) psychological perceptions, before and after their musical performance in the hospital across four weeks. Interview data were analyzed according to content analysis and were informed by grounded theory. Results suggest that performing in a hospital setting is particularly demanding psychologically and emotionally where the nature of the musicians’ role requires them to improvise (i) as part of their normal performance practice, seeking active collaboration by the patient, and (ii) environmentally, in relation to changes in the medical condition of their client/patient/audience. The results are also explained in terms of inherent tensions in a professional musical identity that requires expert performance in a clinical setting.

O canto como comunicação interpessoal e intrapessoal

A vocalizacao humana apresenta pontos chave do nosso desenvolvimento musical e e ela que promove nossas primeiras manifestacoes de habilidades para podermos nos comunicar musicalmente. As melodias da fala constituem os primeiros elementos linguisticos a serem vivenciados e dominados, e sao precursores indistinguiveis do canto melodico, posto que sao elementos essenciais na comunicacao musical intrapessoal e interpessoal. O canto como forma de comunicacao tem origem nos contornos melodicos vocais, cujos intervalos musicais sao explorados na fala dirigida do adulto1 (pais, responsaveis ou cuidadores)2 ao bebe3 (lactente ou crianca) para promover o desenvolvimento da linguagem. Caracteristicas semelhantes, porem, mais explicitas, sao evidenciadas no canto dirigido do adulto ao bebe atraves de cancoes de ninar e de cancoes de brincar. Esses elementos musicais basicos da comunicacao podem ser percebidos ainda no utero e formam as bases para as vocalizacoes e comportamentos musicais subsequentes do bebe. Alem disso, a integracao fundamental da emocao com a percepcao e a cognicao da origem a uma rede de comportamentos vocais e emocionais interligados que sao centrais para a comunicacao humana. O capitulo investigara a crescente evidencia da comunicacao musical como parte integral da vocalizacao humana e da expressao emocional.

Professional identities and motivations of musicians playing in healthcare settings: Cross-cultural evidence from UK and Italy

The role of professional musicians playing in healthcare settings is largely non-documented, chiefly because musicians have worked on a voluntary basis or outside established music programmes. However, research in arts and health suggest that these musicians have acquired a level of expertise and that they have consequently developed a professional identity related to their work. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two groups of musicians performing in healthcare settings in UK (N = 8) and Italy (N = 9) to investigate their motivations and perceived musical and interpersonal skills developed in their work. Interview data suggest that such musicians are highly motivated, wanting to perform in a variety of healthcare settings, often for strongly moral reasons, occasionally because of religious reasons. Musicians were conscious of the fact that any positive outcome of their performance was unlikely without possessing specific skills in social interaction, entailing empathy, appreciation, openness, flexibility of response and a sense of humour. The results are discussed in the light of the literature on professionalism and professional identity in healthcare settings.