Young adolescents’ musical identities and wellbeing: Narratives of psychological needs satisfaction in class music education
Author Identifier (ORCID)
Jason Goopy: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8766-1458
Abstract
Music education can influence and support adolescents’ musical identities and wellbeing. Musical identities are dynamic, situated, embodied, and enacted, and they can take the form of roles in music and the ways in which we use music to define our lives. Self-determination theory and psychological needs provide a lens to examine young adolescents’ musical identity formation and wellbeing. Using narrative inquiry featuring a draw and tell task, this chapter presents six narrative vignettes and accompanying drawings of Year 9 (ages 13–15) students describing their identity work in class music (also known as classroom or general music) in Australia. Their stories reveal an engaged community of music learners and how class music education satisfied their psychological needs of competency, relatedness, and autonomy and supported their wellbeing. Using this narrative study as an exemplar, this chapter proposes that class music education should be recalibrated to prioritise student musical flourishing, where music learning experiences empower students to lead joyful and meaningful lives in, through, and with music.
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Publication
1-1-2025
Publication Title
Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Arts and Arts Integrated Learning for Middle Level Education
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
School
School of Education
Copyright
subscription content
First Page
25
Last Page
40
Comments
Goopy, J. (2025). Young adolescents’ musical identities and wellbeing: Narratives of psychological needs satisfaction in class music education. In Multidisciplinary perspectives on arts and arts integrated learning for middle level education (pp. 25–40). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003562047-5