Derrington 2012 thesis.pdf - Anglia Ruskin Research Online

8.6 Case study 5: David
David’s story was introduced in vignette 4.7 in chapter four to illustrate how
conversation can form a large part of his sessions. He had lost a close relation his own
age just before music therapy began and, on top of his own difficulties with low selfesteem
and coping at school, he was worried about life and how it would turn out.
David reported in his interview that he was pleased that his behaviour had changed
since music therapy. The biggest difference for him was his self-confidence: he said
he felt stronger and more resilient, less anxious and was able to face the future.
However, his self-assessment scores (appendix 6.2a.14) did not reflect what he said in
his interview: his anxiety score increased by three although he felt his anxiety
dropped after music therapy and his self-concept score decreased by three although
he said that he felt more together. This sense of feeling more contained however, is a
reflection that he feels closer to his real feelings and thus, he could have scored
himself more accurately than before, as discussed in 6.3.4.
The teachers had also noticed a difference in David and this was reflected in all three
of the teachers’ change scores which increased by +34, +20 and +22 respectively.
This created an average improved score of +25.3. One teacher reported back to me
that he was a totally different boy and a pleasure to teach. David knew teachers felt
positive: “Yeah they said I’m a lot calmer than I used to be” (appendix 7.1.28, p.422).
8.7 Conclusion
These case studies bring together elements from both quantitative and qualitative
findings. In each case 52 there is an underlying theme of finding identity which is
central to adolescence: each student developed a greater understanding of their own
feelings. For some this did not lead to improved behaviour but meant that they could
recognise and acknowledge some of their reactions and feelings. Such a change in
students may not be obvious and therefore not necessarily be revealed in any
quantitative data. However, it is an extremely important development for the student
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