Ryan Humphrey 'Music Making and the potential impact for a child in foster care'
I want to share with you an article written by one of our Music Leaders. Ryan Humphrey is also a Masters by research student at York St John University having completed his BA (Hons) in Community Music through the University of Sunderland a few years ago. It is great to have some academic rigour applied to the work CoMusica is doing, in this case with early years looked after children.
Using a case study strategy to examine the Loud and Clear project based at Sage Gateshead, his findings indicated that attending a music project helped facilitate a sense of structure for foster children while also providing unique opportunities for carers to socialise with one another—these being two key areas that are often lacking in participants’ lives.
His study looked at the following questions:
• What if any are the holistic benefits that engaging in music projects has for a child in foster care?
• What impact do these holistic benefits have for the carers in the child's lives?
• How are facilitators and organizations developing and running a project, to meet the musical needs as well as the development/care needs of the child?
His conclusion was ... '
'Engaging in music making was indicated as having several benefits for both foster children and their carers. The most significant benefit that engaging in music had for children in foster care was the sense of structure and routine which could be facilitated through musical activity. Literature surrounding looked after children indicates how it can be difficult for children to form a sense of structure while in care, leading to detrimental effects on their ability to form attachments, develop behavioural skills and build resilience (Bazalgette et al., 2015; Stein, 2005; Simkiss, 2012). Therefore, using an engaging tool such as music for developing structure and routine can impact and provide opportunities for carers and children to form attachments, facilitate behavioural skills and increase the child’s resilience.
For foster carers, attending a music project such as Loud and Clear provided an opportunity to develop confidence and knowledge of how to adapt the musical activities to build a routine. Carers described a reliance on attending a group where they could communicate and gain support from other individuals going through similar circumstances. These support networks were often a reliable source both in and outside of the session for providing carers with advice for working with the child. Thus, it could be deemed that providing music projects for this community may play a crucial role for developing a safe space where carers and children can feel supported to build networks and have unique musical experiences.'
The complete article can be found here ...
https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/3539/1/Humphrey%20Ryan%20David%20Final%20Thesis.pdf