Musical learning for the development of well-being, well-being approaches to deepen learning : an action research project integrating coaching, positive psychology, mindfulness, and music-making

Abstract

Music-making can be a powerful source of well-being but does not occur in a vacuum. Participation in, and benefits derived from, music-making opportunities is affected by participants' confidence levels, beliefs about their abilities, previous experience and more. In Western culture, beliefs about music-making often include the notion that only certain people have musical ability; a misguided belief that prevents many from seeking out or engaging with music-making opportunities which could benefit their well-being. Other limiting beliefs affect well-being; coaching aims to help coachees identify and refine or replace such beliefs, encouraging transfer of skills from one area of competence to in the pursuit of specific goals. Positive psychology offers strategies for increasing well-being, including gratitude practice. Finally, evidence is mounting about the positive effects of mindfulness practice on well- being, with proponents reporting reduced anxiety and self-judgement. This action research project combined coaching, positive psychology, and mindfulness techniques in a music education project to explore their interconnected impacts on participant well-being and learning. An international group of 10 adults with little or no prior musical training or a strong desire to return to musical practice took part in an 8-week programme of 2-hour group sessions centred around kantele tuition, alongside individual coaching sessions exploring skill transference to and from other life areas. Qualitative analysis was used to explore the interconnected effects of elements of the study on participant well-being, with reference to Seligman's PERMA model. Participants (age range=24-51, musical training in years=0 (4), 0.5 (1), 2 (3), 6-9 (1)) reported increased well-being across multiple aspects of the PERMA model during semi-structured interviews, with thematic analysis identifying additional well- being outcomes. Due to participant workload and feedback, no behavioural tracking or reporting tasks were added to the weekly sessions. This led to high reported pleasure, but perhaps at the expense of more marked results via stronger habit formation, which might have increased well-being further due to competency gains in musical and mindfulness skills. Future iterations of the action research cycle could explore these issues.