Summary of the impact

This case study details the broader impact of an extensive programme of research on participation in music and arts activities from childhood through to older adulthood. The research shows how people respond to, feel about, and take up opportunities provided to engage with music and the arts. We have shown that developing a robust musical identity in the early stages of childhood is important in a range of educational situations, including decision-making about later educational qualifications and continued involvement or motivation for involvement in music-making in later years. We have also shown that participation in the arts can contribute to enhancing community identity and challenging negative stereotypes about ageing. The research has had an extensive impact on arts education and participation policy in the UK as evidenced by discussion at major forums and inclusion in staff training, on the international music and arts practice community through inclusion in policy documents and multiple invitations to various events, and on wider public debate about the value of music and arts in people's lives as evidenced in the development of community arts events and discussion in editorials.

Underpinning research

This programme of research brought together experts in social and developmental psychology to investigate, using a range of innovative methodologies, the role of music and the arts in our lives. Keele academics working on this research comprise Alexandra Lamont (Lecturer 2001-6, Senior Lecturer 2006-present), Michael Murray (Professor 2006-present), Amanda Crummett (Researcher, 2008-2010), and PhD student Rebecca Hale.

a) Music and learning: The initial research (2001-2004) explored how children respond to opportunities to make music. Developing from the work of John Sloboda (2001), the research exploring children's and young people's engagement in extra-curricular musical activities generated some of the earliest data on musical identities and socio-cultural notions of development in context. The research also uncovered important concepts such as "authenticity" in school music-making (making it feel real for pupils, rather than just "school" music) (Lamont et al., 2003). Follow-up Qualifications & Curriculum Authority-commissioned research by Lamont highlighted that children's musical identities are complex, and their notions of success and achievement in music are wide-ranging (including being good at playing music, knowing about music, writing about music, teaching music, and having a creative spark). Subsequent projects have explored the impact of engaging in music training and singing collectively in primary schools, responding to government initiatives about whole class instrumental and vocal tuition, finding that children's aspirations are often sparked by such schemes but they do not fit all (Lamont et al., 2012). This line of research was developed to explore how childhood experiences of music affects adults' lifelong involvement in music and engagement in musical activities, with a focus on the role of music-making in supporting wellbeing across the lifespan (Lamont, 2011).

b) Community arts and older people: This project (which ran 2007-10) explored the potential value of engagement in arts and creative activity by older residents of disadvantaged urban neighbourhoods. The Call-Me project led by Murray (www.keele.ac.uk/callme) was one of 45 projects funded by the cross-council New Dynamics of Ageing (NDA) initiative. The aim of this project was to explore the character of the social relationships experienced by older residents, and the challenges and benefits in working with them to develop various community initiatives including arts and gardening. This project adopted a participatory action design informed by contemporary social psychological theory and was conducted in partnership with Manchester City Council. The project actively involved over 100 older residents in various activities and a series of local exhibitions. The research confirmed that the residents closely identified with their neighbourhoods, which they perceived as rejected and stigmatised by outsiders. At the start of the project the residents expressed feelings of loneliness and social isolation. However, follow-up research using questionnaires and group discussion confirmed the reaction to the various arts interventions in terms of enhanced self-esteem and improved social relationships (Murray & Crummett, 2010).

c) Older people's participation in choirs: The Call-Me project spawned a number of spin-off projects including a study in 2012 led by Lamont, in partnership with Manchester City Council, on the reaction of older people to the opportunity to participate in a choir. Using a range of participatory research methodologies the project identified various benefits to participation including enhanced self-esteem, social interaction, and sense of purpose. An interim report on the project led to sustained discussion with the city council and further funding for follow-up work (Lamont, Murray, Hale, 2010).

d) Role of theatre in older people's lives: Murray was Co-Investigator on the NDA Ages & Stages project (2008-12) (www.keele.ac.uk/agesandstages) which explored the role of theatre in older people's lives. The project team worked closely with the New Victoria Theatre in Newcastle- under-Lyme, which had developed an innovative form of docu-drama which actively promoted discussion about local issues. The team collected data from multiple sources including the extensive theatre archives as well as detailed interviews with actors, staff, volunteers and audience members who had retired. Analysis of the interviews and of the archival material detailed the impact of the theatre on individuals and the broader community, how representations of ageing connect with the immediate cultural context, and how performance can be an effective means of challenging negative stereotypes of ageing (Bernard et al., 2012).

References to the research

Funding for this work has come from the

• Qualifications and Curriculum Authority of England (2007): Pupils' Responses to music and the arts in and out of school (PI: Lamont); £12,000; (2008): Progression in Music and the Arts (PI: Lamont); £20,000

• Department for Children, Schools and Families (2009): Effective Singing Leading in Schools at Key Stage 2 (PI: Lamont); £25,000; (2007-2008): Evaluation of Musical Participation Programme in Primary Schools (PI: Lamont); £21,928

• Staffordshire Performing Arts (2009): Evaluation of Staffordshire Music Partnership (PI: Lamont); £14,982; Hallé Concerts Society (2009): Evaluation of North West Music Partnership (PI: Lamont); £9,980; Royal Philharmonic (2009): Developing Listening in Primary Schools (PI: Lamont); £3,500

• New Dynamics of Ageing (2007-2010): Promoting social engagement among older residents (PI: Murray); £350K; Manchester City Council (2012): Evaluating Golden Voices (PI: Lamont); £800

• New Dynamics of Ageing (2007-2010): Ages and Stages: The Place of Theatre in Representations and Recollections of Ageing (Co-I: Murray); £450K

Details of the impact

a) Music in schools: Showing that all children have equal potential to benefit from engagement in music was a key contribution of this research (Lamont et al., 2003). These findings have been taken up widely by the education and training community, as illustrated by a recent Teaching Music editorial (2012) and numerous on-going debates around music qualifications. The evaluations of initiatives designed to foster musical inclusion (e.g. Lamont et al., 2012) have informed public debate about the broader value of the arts; Lamont has been invited to share and debate the research findings in a number of forums (e.g., Battle of Ideas, London; International Research in Music Education conference (keynote), Exeter). Her argument about the myths of musical talent across the lifespan has fed directly into teacher training events, e.g. Nigel Scaife, Syllabus Director of the Associated Board for the Royal Schools of Music has used the research in his sessions at the ABRSM conferences (e.g. October, 2012 attended by over 380 instrumental and vocal music teachers. The importance of this research conducted in England has had a wider international impact; Singapore's Teachers Academy for the Arts, a professional consortium of art and music teachers, refers to this work as the starting point for their own initiatives (STAR, 2013), indicating that these findings have shaped the policy debate beyond England.

b) Community arts and older people: According to self-reports, the research on community arts had an immediate beneficial impact on the older participants but also on the wider community through the various exhibitions and associated events (details on a number of websites (see examples in section 5)). The exhibitions attracted over 100 local residents, community partners, and city councillors, and were reported in the local press (e.g., Manchester Evening News, 17 July, 2010; This is East, 10 July, 2010). The project newsletters produced broader awareness of the project especially among community workers as evidenced in follow-up discussions. At the close of the project a policy document based upon the key findings was produced to promote discussion among Manchester City Council (MCC) officials and community partners. This detailed the main project findings about the social and psychological benefits of arts and creative activities for older people and the local steps that could be taken to sustain community interventions. The key article (Murray & Crummett, 2010) and policy document were discussed fully with MCC officials, at various ageing forums in Manchester (e.g. Full of Life Festival, 2010), and at the Local Government Association conference (2011). They were used by city officials in the development of the Manchester Age Friendly City plan and the city's Cultural Offer for Older People. They were also used by MCC staff in their contributions to broader discussion, e.g., the launch of the EU Year of Active Ageing in Copenhagen (2011) and the World Health Assembly in Geneva (2011). Murray was invited to discuss the research findings at the Ageing Artfully conference (Manchester, 2011) and at the Arts & Health conference (Stoke-on-Trent, 2011). These events attracted several hundred participants from community, arts and older people's organisations. Broader impact in the international policy arena is evident in the many invitations to give keynote presentations at conferences, e.g. Health for All (Leipzig, Germany, 2011), Annual Citizen Participation Conference (Barcelona, 2010), International Congress on Culture, Health and Wellbeing (Turku, Finland, 2011), and European Culture Forum (Brussels, 2013).

C) Older people's participation in choirs: The recommendations from the work on the value of participation in music by older people (Lamont, Murray & Hale, 2010) have been enthusiastically adopted by MCC with music and the arts now a central plank of their Valuing Older People (VOP) programme. We continue to be involved in discussion with MCC about the implications of this research. The potential for music to be used for wellbeing in later life and the importance of music in the community has also attracted interest in local community groups, as evidenced for example by invitations from Croydon's Café Scientifique (in 2008), Broughton Women's Institute (in 2012) and the Société France-Grande Bretagne in Cahors, France (in 2013). These community organisation talks have provided a means of promoting greater acceptance of the value of music and arts activities disseminating research findings to the general public. This work was detailed in the Mental Health Foundation report on the value of creative activities for older people.

d) Role of theatre in older people's lives: One of the outputs of this project was a new docu- drama — `Our Age, Our Stage' — as well as an exhibition and resource pack. These outputs were derived from the archival and interview material collected for the project. The play was performed to a capacity audience of 400 people at the New Vic Theatre in July 2012 by a group of older people who had been interviewed for the project supplemented by members of the New Vic Youth Theatre. This was extended through the performance road-show which has played to over 700 people at schools, colleges, retirement communities, local councils and has been invited to perform at the Royal Exchange, Manchester, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and Manchester City Council Arts & Ageing Festival. Evidence for the positive impact on the participants was apparent in the written feedback and in follow-up discussion. The project also attracted substantial interest in the local newspapers (e.g. The Sentinel 4/12/09 and 26/05/11). A 12 month follow-on project has been funded by the AHRC which has enabled us to establish the Ages & Stages Theatre Company and to devise a new interactive forum theatre piece on ageing. Initial discussion about a Creative Age Festival attracted interest from over 20 arts organisations in North Staffordshire.

Sources to corroborate the impact

a) Music in schools

• Evans, K. (2012). Editorial, Teaching Music, October 2012.
  http://www.teachingmusic.org.uk/story.aspx?lngStoryID=18124
• Ping, H.H. & Ling, C.S. (2013) Piloting Informal and Non-formal Approaches for Music Teaching in Five Secondary Schools in Singapore: An Introduction. In: Singapore Teachers' Academy for the aRts (2013). Connecting the Stars: Essays on Student-centric Music Education. Singapore: Ministry of Education.
• Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

b) Community arts and older people

• Website of `West Gorton 10x10: A Library Theatre Company Community Project':
  http://westgorton10x10.wordpress.com/
• Website of `Ian McKay, British Visual Artist Working in Manchester, UK':
  http://www.mckayart.co.uk/M1211/finishedworkgallery/gallery1.html
• Manchester City Council: Manchester - A great place to grow older, Manchester City Council, 2009, p. 68. http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/file/11899/manchester_a_great_place_to_grow_ older_2010-2020

c) Older people's participation in choirs

• Mental Health Foundation (2011). An evidence review of the impact of participatory arts on older people. London: Baring Foundation.
• CoEditor, National Association of Music Education journal (NAME).
• Manchester City Council

d) Role of theatre in older people's lives

• Sentinel newspaper, `Theatre's stages of man under uni's spotlight', 4<sup>th</sup> December 2009:
  http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Theatre-s-stages-man-uni-s-spotlight/story-12561509- detail/story.html
  and `'Theatre in plea on new project', 26^th May 2011:
  http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Theatre-plea-new-project/story-12123259-detail/story.html
• Creative Age Festival
  http://www.keele.ac.uk/media/keeleuniversity/group/agesandstages/downloads/Scoping%2 0Creative%20Age%20Festival%20meeting%20report%20final.pdf
• New Vic Theatre