Packer, Yvonne Mary; (1992) Music and the therapeutic education of children in EBD schools. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

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Abstract

Abstract In this study I seek to evaluate the effect of music education on the personal and social development of disturbed children and to ascertain the feasibility of incorporating such teaching into the curriculum of EBD day schools. Apart from the author's own professional practice there was little observable practice and this, combined with the difficulties of actually observing teachers working with disturbed children, placed restrictions on the scope of empirical study. Within this limitation, action research was combined with interviews, case studies and questionnaires to determine the attitude of pupils to music. Analysis of the impact of music education on the behaviour of disturbed children indicates that it has some potential to benefit their social and emotional readjustment and, at the same time, demonstrates the marked effect of pupil behaviour on the curricular intentions of the teacher. It becomes apparent that it is not feasible to work within the confines of a prescribed, developmental syllabus and that, whilst the overall aim may be to encompass much of the mainstream syllabus, the inroads to that syllabus in this context will be apparently random reflecting the child's lack of sustained concentration and fleeting moments of interest. This changing emphasis brings about a re-evaluation of the concept of music teaching and a comparison is made with music therapy in an attempt to discern which is the nearest model to therapeutic education. A retrospective view of general educational provision for disturbed children includes consideration of causation, the special skills required of teachers and an analysis of classroom problems. Problems for the researcher working in this field are diverse but in spite of the restraints, limited findings emerge which constitute the central focus of this thesis - they being that music education can be successfully incorporated into the curriculum of EBD day schools and that it may positively effect the personal development and interpersonal relationships between disturbed children. These findings are central to the recommendations made for future research and curricular development.

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