by Author Ben Sandbrook

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The Impact and Outcomes of Music-based Mentoring

Does music-based mentoring work?

This page is part of a resource pack on Music-based mentoring.

  YES!     Music-based mentoring works . . .
  • . . . because of the music
  • . . . because of the values of the organisation and the mentors
  • . . . because it provides a springboard to other opportunities
  • . . . because it’s a cost-effective way of helping young people develop
  • . . . because it produces measurable developments in young people

 

. . . because of the music

Music can be used as a mentoring aid because it is inherently linked to a young person's development generally. The music can transcend the personal issue, making it irrelevant to think of a distinction between music development and personal development: you can’t get one without the other:

  •   “Young people are entrenched in a music culture, they identify with their idols on the local and national music scene. In music, you can feel really free to do and think whatever you want to without an authority figure telling you what to do. They have never really been listened to.
  • We also link with sports programmes and outdoor education programmes but music does have this particular appeal.”

Music produces its effects in a variety of ways:

  • Engagement Music as a hook, to get young people into the programme
  • Trust The shared interest of music-making; the credibility of the mentor as a respected musician
  • Transferable skills Communication skills, giving and receiving criticism, increased confidence, developing resilience
  • Success Doing something well and getting praise for it; stepping out into the professional world
  • A safe place Developing a community with peers and adults
  • Social pedagogy Room for a more equal relationship between mentor and mentee
  • Telling the tale (expressing yourself) Most directly with rap lyrics, but seen in music generally
  • Therapeutic aid Music not as therapy, but as therapeutic
  • Creative cooperation Not only in group projects but also creating music with the help of a mentor
  • Personal reflection On life challenges, understanding of self, and the art they do.

Some of these effects are not specific to music making: a sports programme, for example, would be as likely to be hooks for some young people in terms of initial engagement and trust-building. But a number of the effects are certainly or arguably to be found only in arts programmes or specifically music programmes – some of the elements of transferable skills and social pedagogy perhaps; certainly the four elements of telling the tale, therapeutic aid, creative cooperation, and personal reflection.

. . .because of the values of the organisation and the mentors

Organisations who undertake music based mentoring are likely to be ones who have a strong track record in the use of music for personal or social development. They understand where young people are coming from and how they can help them move on:

  •   “With the young people we work with, I rarely see anyone who has a straightforward engagement with traditional learning environments. By working with a trusted adult on something that interests and excites a young person, you start to see what makes a young person tick and help them to reach their potential.”

Good mentors have a rich relationship with mentees, who recognise them as fellow-musicians they wanted to learn from, rather than authority figures there to tell them what to do (whether musically or socially). Mentees want "someone who listens to me, who has time to talk”, and good music mentors intuitively know what their mentees are about:

  •   “Young people with more challenging circumstances have a lot more to say and say it in more interesting ways. These young people articulate the world from a different perspective, a different slant. They look at the world with different eyes. They have alternative thinking and speak in way you haven't thought about before, simply put but put in way you haven't previously thought. Young people with challenging personalities are quite good at that.”

. . . because it provides a springboard to other opportunities

A good mentoring relationship asks “what next”? and points mentees to a range of progression routes. These can include:

  • using music socially
  • developing better relationships with family and friends
  • formal education
  • becoming a mentor or workshop leader.
  • developing a career in music

A progression route is not only important to a mentee in its own right. It also:

  • extends the short-term nature of the mentoring relationship
  • gives the mentoring relationship a focus
  • gives the mentee something longer term to aim for.

(See: Mentoring as a springboard to new opportunities)

. . . because it’s a cost-effective way of helping young people develop

The total annual cost of crime that someone on a supervision order is likely to commit if he or she reoffends has been calculated at over £82,000; and the average cost of a persistent truant at over £44,000. So a productive music based mentoring programme can be economically justifiable, even if it only helps a small proportion of young people out of their challenging circumstance*.

More – the additional cost of the mentoring element of a music based mentoring programme is small: perhaps no more than £300 a mentee according to one calculation. Traditional mentoring programmes have been calculated to cost between £2,000 and £4,000 a mentee, so music based mentoring gives a mentee a great musical experience plus a cost-effective mentoring relationship**.

. . . because it produces measurable developments in young people

Young people taking part in the Youth Music Mentor programme were asked to rate themselves at the beginning and end of the mentoring relationship, for various aspects of their life ***:

musically

  • how they would rate their musical abilities
  • how much they knew about opportunities there were to develop their music making

about themselves

  • did they feel people listened to them
  • did they make good decisions
  • did they feel they had control over their lives

On average, all the ratings improved at the end of the programme, showing that music based mentoring had a positive effect on young people and their lives. As overall proportions, over three-quarters of the mentees reported improvements in their musical abilities, and in some measure of how they felt about themselves.

On further questioning, 89% of mentees felt they had learned to work better with others, 79% felt they were better able to turn up on time, 93% felt they were better able to respect other people's views, and 95% felt they were better able to express themselves.

References:

* Van Poortvliet M, Joy I, & Nevill C (2010) Trial and error: Children and young people in trouble with the law. New Philanthropy Capital http://www.philanthropycapital.org/download/default.aspx?id=1084 Accessed 13 April 2011
 Brookes M, Goodall E, & Heady L (2007) Misspent youth: The costs of truancy and exclusion. New Philanthropy Capital http://www.philanthropycapital.org/download/default.aspx?id=352 Accessed 13 April 2011 ** Sandford, S et al (2007) Lean on me: mentoring for young people at risk - a guide for funders and donors. New Philanthropy Capital *** Lonie, D (2010) Attuned to Engagement: The effects of a music mentoring programme on the agency and musical ability of children and young people London: Youth Music.

For more on the topics covered in this chapter read 'Move On Up – an evaluation of Youth Music Mentors' – Pages 11,12,33,34,35,54,55,56,72-75,78-80