Case study on the impact of IOE research Music Education

<strong>Case</strong> <strong>study</strong> on the impact of IOE research
this country. The programme is a unique
collaboration between five UK research
councils. 12 The NDA music project being
led by researchers at the Institute of
Education is examining whether older
people’s participation in music-making,
particularly in community settings,
can improve their well-being. It is
also trying to establish whether there
are spin-off benefits for families and
residential communities when older
people become actively involved in
making music.
The <strong>study</strong> is being carried out by four
IOE researchers – Sue Hallam, Andrea
Creech, Maria Varvarigou and Hilary
McQueen – and involves three-case<strong>study</strong>
sites:
• The Sage Gateshead, where
more than 500 people take part
in weekly music activities such
as singing, African drumming,
and playing guitars, recorders,
steel pans and ukuleles.
• The Guildhall Connect Project,
which runs community music
projects in East London with
people from a wide range
of backgrounds, ages and
experiences. It offers everything
from classical to popular music,
western and non-western
genres.
• The Music Department of the
Westminster Adult Education
Services, which provides
community music activities
for older people. Courses are
offered in not only singing and
playing instruments, but sound
engineering and composing.
Interviews, focus groups and
observations have been carried out at
each case-<strong>study</strong> site. Questionnaires
have also been completed by 350
older people participating in musical
activities and by a control group of just
over 100 people who are taking part
in non-musical activities. Most of the
participants are aged between 60 and
80. Preliminary findings suggest that
levels of well-being are higher amongst
the music participants than amongst
the control group.
Usability of Music for the Social
Inclusion of Children (UMSIC)
The UMSIC project (2008–2011) is
supporting children’s social inclusion
through music. It is doing this by
developing a hand-held JamMo
(jamming mobile) which encourages
children to communicate musically
using mobile phones. The JamMo
enables them to compose songs, then
create new versions of the song using
virtual instruments. As it has a karaoke
function, a child can also listen to a
song, sing along, save the result and
share it with a teacher, friend or relative.
The project, which also aims to
foster children’s creative musical
development, is targeted at both
pre-school youngsters (3–5 years) and
primary school pupils (6–12 years).
Whilst intended to be suitable for
all children, the JamMo is primarily
designed to help two groups at high
risk of marginalisation: (i) children with
social, attention or emotional disorders
and (ii) migrant children.
The research is funded by the European
Commission (EC) and involves a
network of researchers from universities
in Finland, Switzerland and the UK, as
well as software specialists in Greece
and the phone company Nokia.
During the first two years of the project,
its London team (Professor Graham
Welch, Ross Purves and Dr Tiija Rinta)
has researched aspects of children’s
social inclusion and initiated pilot
studies in primary schools to evaluate
the emerging software packages. The
latest report from the EC (October
2010) praises the quality of these pilot
studies, and says that the IOE team and
its European colleagues are making a
“state-of-the-art contribution” to this
research field.
One project is developing
mobile phones that allow
children to compose music.
The aim is to help those at
risk of social marginalisation.
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