Although the social, emotional, physical and cognitive benefits of engagement in music are well known, little research has been conducted on the psychological benefits of music in the context of music festivals. This article draws on theoretical constructs from the field of positive psychology to interpret the impact of music festival attendance on participants’ psychological and social well-being. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected from a focus group and questionnaire survey with young festival-goers aged 18—29 years. Four facets of the music festival experience were identified that were associated with well-being outcomes. These are explored and discussed with reference both to participants’ focus group comments and statistical analysis of questionnaire responses. A conceptual model is presented in order to guide further research in this area, and enable both festival organizers and attendees to take optimal advantage of the potential of music festivals to impact positively on young adults’ psychological and social well-being.

Compared with other members of the general population, adults living with a chronic mental illness or disability tend to participate less frequently in occupational and social interactions. This may exacerbate problems such as emotional flattening and social isolation. Supported activities like choir singing present an opportunity for meaningful activity and social connectedness for these individuals. The aim of this study was to explore the personal experiences of choir members (89% of whom experienced chronic mental health problems, 28% physical disabilities and 11% intellectual disability) in relation to their wellbeing using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 21 members of the choir at three time points in the choir's inaugural year: at the inception of the choir, after six months, and after 12 months. Three content themes emerged: (1) personal impact (positive emotions, emotional regulation, spiritual experience, self-perception, finding a voice); (2) social impact (connectedness within the choir, connection with audience, social functioning); and (3) functional outcomes (health benefits, employment capacity, and routine). A fourth theme of time was also apparent in the data. Results of this study were consistent with the social identity theory notion that forming a new and valued group identity (as a choir member) was associated with emotional and health benefits for the participants.

The quality of teaching occurring in schools is directly linked to the quality of preservice preparation that teachers receive (Darling-Hammond, 2000). This is particularly important in the area of music teacher education, given the unique challenges that classroom music teachers commonly face. This paper reports research designed to investigate the knowledge and skills that early-career music teachers perceive to be necessary to function effectively in the classroom, and their perceptions of the effectiveness of current teacher education programs in preparing them to teach secondary classroom music. Questionnaires were completed by 76 secondary classroom music teachers in their first three years of teaching in Queensland, Australia. Importance-Performance Analysis was used to determine those areas of the preservice course that constitute a high priority for attention. The findings suggest that preservice teachers need increased support in their development of pedagogical content knowledge and skills, and non-pedagogical professional content knowledge and skills. This research provides an empirical basis for reconceptualising music teacher education courses and raises important issues that music teacher educators need to address in order to ensure that graduates are adequately prepared for classroom music teaching.Preservice music teacher education programs aim to equip prospective music teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach music in the classroom. As the quality of teaching occurring in schools can be directly attributed to the preservice teacher preparation that teachers receive (Carter, Carre and Bennett, 1993, Committee for the Review of Teaching and Teacher Education, 2003, Darling-Hammond, 2000, Iredale, 1996, Temmerman, 1997, it is clear that the quality of music teacher education is of vital importance to the music education profession.There is a high incidence of 'burnout' among music teachers (Kelly, 1999, Leong, 1996, which has been linked to the specific challenges faced by music teachers in schools. Some of these challenges include classroom music teachers' extra-curricular 1 music involvement, the prevalence of private tuition among those students whose parents can afford it, and the isolation of music teachers (Chadwick, 2000, Kelly, 1999, Hodge, Jupp and Taylor cited in Spencer, 1996. These challenges, which are arguably unique to the specific experiences of classroom music teachers (Ballantyne, 2001) present difficulties for early-career music teachers in particular.If early-career teachers are not adequately prepared for the challenges associated with their work, they are likely to experience what is known as 'praxis shock' (Mark, 1998), as a result of the discrepancies between their expectations of school life and the realities of teaching. If teachers' expectations are 'shattered' in this way, they tend to focus on their own survival rather than on learning how to teach more effectively (Wideen, Mayer-Smith and Moon, 1998). Ultimately, this is not the best outcome for the mu...

Attendance and participation at popular music festivals has become an important and increasingly common experience for people in many Western societies, yet little is known about the kinds of benefits visitors perceive they gain as a result of attending. This research explores attendees' perceptions of the psychological and social benefits associated with their attendance at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland (Australia). Based upon the research findings, music festival management strategies are suggested to improve the design of festival experiences to better cater to the artistic, musical, social and psychological needs of attendees thereby increasing the impact and depth of the experience.

This study investigates pre-service music teacher’s (PSMT) perceptions of their professional identities. University-level education students in the United States America (USA), Spain and Australia were all asked interview questions based on general themes relevant to teacher identity development, and their responses were subjected to content analysis. Similarities were found in their perceptions of the role of ‘music teacher’ and their pre-university experiences/influences. Across the sites it seems that there was a dynamic and shifting relationship between PSMTs’ understandings of themselves as ‘musicians’ or as ‘teachers’ during their university years. This study confirms previous research in the area and contributes to the field in its discovery that these themes are found across three international sites. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations made for future research and practice.