Abstract
The school where this research took place, was created from the merger of two primary schools in the aftermath of the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Since that time staff and learners have been engaged in daily singing, specifically to promote the wellbeing of staff and learners. We engaged in action research to examine the ways the singing has been facilitated and sustained, and explored teacher and learner perception of the relationship between singing and wellbeing. During one of our cycles of learning it became clear that many of the teachers thought of the daily singing for wellbeing as a distinctly different activity to a music education task. In the subsequent cycle of learning we examined this idea further via focus group discussions and individual interviews, and engagement with relevant literature. We found there is considerable diversity in terms of the understandings and values that underpin music education programmes, and the approach taken as a result. However when singing is employed specifically to enhance wellbeing in schools, the focus needs to be on being together and having fun, rather than on learning to sing.
Highlights
Waitākiri School in Christchurch, New Zealand, where this research took place, was formed in 2014 from the merger of Burwood and Windsor Schools, as part of the larger restructuring of Christchurch schools following the 20102011 earthquakes
This article focused on findings from one school where teachers were facilitating daily singing, to support staff and learner wellbeing following the Christchurch earthquakes
We described teachers’ facilitation of the daily singing, which was intuitively tailored to the needs of a community living in a post-earthquake environment
Summary
Waitākiri School in Christchurch, New Zealand, where this research took place, was formed in 2014 from the merger of Burwood and Windsor Schools, as part of the larger restructuring of Christchurch schools following the 20102011 earthquakes. ‘Singing for Well-being’ was a two-year Action Research (AR) project, involving collaboration between Waitākiri School and Victoria University of Wellington. It involved an examination of the ways in which the daily singing for well-being had been facilitated and sustained at Waitākiri School, and of teacher and learner perception of the relationship between singing and well-being. We found that singing contributes to learner well-being because it promotes positive emotions, improves mood, energises, connects people (peers, teachers, family), fosters identity, can comfort and calm, can result in a sense of achievement, and helps us learn (Rickson, Legg & Reynolds, 2018). This article focuses on our findings with regard to teachers’ facilitation of the daily singing
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