Music Therapy in Australian Educational Settings: A Survey of Current Practice.

Within an ever shifting and evolving landscape of policy and practice across educational systems in Australia, it was timely to conduct a survey of practice study with Australian registered music therapists (RMTs) to document current music therapy practice in educational settings. This study sought...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Australian Journal of Music Therapy Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 7 - 31
Autores principales: McFerran, Katrina Skewes, Steele, Megan
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Australian Music Therapy Association, Inc. 2024
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Within an ever shifting and evolving landscape of policy and practice across educational systems in Australia, it was timely to conduct a survey of practice study with Australian registered music therapists (RMTs) to document current music therapy practice in educational settings. This study sought to answer the following questions: "How do Australian RMTs report on their employment, orientations, and practices in educational settings across Australia?" and "How do these Australian RMTs describe what their practices look like?" Through a combination of online survey and follow up interviews a total of 32 local music therapists consented to the first stage of the study, with 20 completing full responses to the survey. This was followed by 12 online interviews with RMTs predominately working across special education, mainstream primary schools, and early childhood educational settings across Australia. The results from this study have indicated a breadth of music therapy practice across varied educational contexts, and illustrated the flexible nature of music therapy service provision and the potential for RMTs to work across a tiered approach to student learning and wellbeing support. This was dependent on a range of aspects including leadership desires, music therapist training and interest, funding models, and balance of student needs. Interestingly, most RMTs shared that their number one program focus was "regulation," with varying descriptions and understandings of regulation as a concept, which warrants further exploration in such a complex and highly nuanced system of practice.