Books by Ryan Humphrey
Fusion Looked After Children Research Report, 2018
Commissioned by soundLINCS and funded by Youth Music, the purpose of this document is to articula... more Commissioned by soundLINCS and funded by Youth Music, the purpose of this document is to articulate the findings of an investigation focused on the efficacy of a training initiative which sought a greater understanding of music, and its value as a resource and intervention for Children’s Services Practitioners (CSPs) in Lincolnshire. The research team took part in a number of training days and engaged the participants in interviews and focus groups exploring the interaction between the Community Music Facilitator and the Children’s Services Practitioners, the music skills being passed on and their potential impact on the workforce. Questions included: What are the distinctive approaches to music development CPD in the soundLINCS project? What are each stakeholder group’s experiences of music development CPD? What is the perceived impact of music development CPD from the perspectives of each stakeholder group? What are the wider implications of the project?
Both responding and adding to the existing literature on Looked After Children and associated theoretical frameworks, workforce development, and projects that have previously engaged with music making the research findings suggested that (1) All participants on the training had a significant experience of music and were able to articulate its importance throughout their life journey; (2) A distinctive aspect of the soundLINCS training was to engage participants in a reflective dialogue of their music experience. Reflective practice was embedded in the training and resonated with the participants; (3) The training approach was effective and connected deeply with the Children’s Services Practitioners, aligning the personal to the professional. This created a springboard through which the workforce could employ music in developing relationships with the client group in the future; (4) The workforce valued the training and saw it as something different to the usual CPD offer; (5) The workforce indicated that working with music, in the way they were shown had the potential for supporting issues around behaviour and communication. In order to achieve greater impact they would need further resources, particularly technology based ones and importantly senior management support.
One of the objectives of the funding that supported the projected was to establish an evidence base that might be replicable beyond the geographic location. Because of the limited sample size and range of stakeholders engaged, this research can only point to the desirability to upscale the project. It is however clear that the primary research and literature point towards the potential benefits of rolling out CPD music training to the Looked After Children workforce.
Thesis Chapters by Ryan Humphrey
Across the United Kingdom, numerous music projects are working with looked after children and the... more Across the United Kingdom, numerous music projects are working with looked after children and their support networks. However, there is very little research around the impact that participating in music making has on looked after children, particularly in helping them overcome difficulties in their lives and the broader impact that this engagement has on their family.
This study examines the impact that music making has for a looked after child by exploring the following questions:
• What, if any, are the holistic benefits that engaging in music projects has for a child in looked after care?
• What impact do these holistic benefits have for the family/support unit in the child’s lives?
• How are facilitators and organisations developing and running projects, in order to meet the musical needs as well as the development/care needs of the child?
Case studies of three projects contributed to the data collection: (1) SoundLINCS Fusion project, providing musical training for looked after children’s support workers based in Lincolnshire, (2) Loud and Clear Foster family learning, a project based in the North East of England working with foster children (aged 0-5 years of age) in a weekly music project, and (3) Loud and Clear Adoption family learning, a project based in the North East of England working with children going through the adoption process (aged 0-5 years of age) in a weekly music project. With these organisations, focus groups, interviews and participatory observations were undertaken.
The research may provide practitioners with an understanding of the importance that music can play within participants’ lives, helping them build attachments with family members, workforce staff and peers, ideally extending into the everyday life. A currently underexplored area within community music, this research aims to provide insight into how engaging in music projects can become an important and integral part of looked after children’s everyday life.
Papers by Ryan Humphrey
British Journal of Music Education
Living within state care can have detrimental effects on children’s development, as substantial r... more Living within state care can have detrimental effects on children’s development, as substantial research has proposed. Recognising how music-making may support children’s social, emotional and personal development, many cultural organisations have begun developing music projects that work specifically with care-experienced children. Although evaluation has detailed the various benefits these projects may have, there has been little research into the approaches employed by the facilitators who deliver these projects. With this in mind, this article examines a community music project that focused on foster family music-making. It explores the facilitators’ social pedagogical approach to music-making and the benefits participants report they have gained from the project, both to themselves and the children in their care.
Humphrey, Ryan (2020) A critical discourse analysis of the Sounding Board journals: Examining the... more Humphrey, Ryan (2020) A critical discourse analysis of the Sounding Board journals: Examining the concepts of ownership, empowerment and transformation in community music discourse. Transform: new voices in community music, 2. pp. 39-60.
Across the United Kingdom, numerous music projects are working with looked after children and the... more Across the United Kingdom, numerous music projects are working with looked after children and their support networks. However, there is very little research around the impact that participating in music making has on looked after children, particularly in helping them overcome difficulties in their lives and the broader impact that this engagement has on their family. This study examines the impact that music making has for a looked after child by exploring the following questions: • What, if any, are the holistic benefits that engaging in music projects has for a child in looked after care? • What impact do these holistic benefits have for the family/support unit in the child’s lives? • How are facilitators and organisations developing and running projects, in order to meet the musical needs as well as the development/care needs of the child? Case studies of three projects contributed to the data collection: (1) SoundLINCS Fusion project, providing musical training for looked after...
International Journal of Community Music
International Journal of Social Pedagogy
Social pedagogy has become a common feature of CPD training for staff working with looked after c... more Social pedagogy has become a common feature of CPD training for staff working with looked after children and adopted children. Social workers, foster carers and adoptive parents use the characteristic features of social pedagogical practice to develop meaningful relationships with a young person in care. Creative elements such as music have been noted to be useful activities in which both parties (children and support worker) can share a common interest and partake within a joint activity. This article sets out to examine the way in which a community music project working with adopted children and their adoptive parents uses social pedagogy and the impact that this may have on the participants. A case study strategy is used to examine the Loud and Clear adoption family learning project at Sage Gateshead, through which a multi-methodological approach was used, including interviews and participatory action research to gather participants’ and facilitators’ narratives of the impacts th...
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Books by Ryan Humphrey
Both responding and adding to the existing literature on Looked After Children and associated theoretical frameworks, workforce development, and projects that have previously engaged with music making the research findings suggested that (1) All participants on the training had a significant experience of music and were able to articulate its importance throughout their life journey; (2) A distinctive aspect of the soundLINCS training was to engage participants in a reflective dialogue of their music experience. Reflective practice was embedded in the training and resonated with the participants; (3) The training approach was effective and connected deeply with the Children’s Services Practitioners, aligning the personal to the professional. This created a springboard through which the workforce could employ music in developing relationships with the client group in the future; (4) The workforce valued the training and saw it as something different to the usual CPD offer; (5) The workforce indicated that working with music, in the way they were shown had the potential for supporting issues around behaviour and communication. In order to achieve greater impact they would need further resources, particularly technology based ones and importantly senior management support.
One of the objectives of the funding that supported the projected was to establish an evidence base that might be replicable beyond the geographic location. Because of the limited sample size and range of stakeholders engaged, this research can only point to the desirability to upscale the project. It is however clear that the primary research and literature point towards the potential benefits of rolling out CPD music training to the Looked After Children workforce.
Thesis Chapters by Ryan Humphrey
This study examines the impact that music making has for a looked after child by exploring the following questions:
• What, if any, are the holistic benefits that engaging in music projects has for a child in looked after care?
• What impact do these holistic benefits have for the family/support unit in the child’s lives?
• How are facilitators and organisations developing and running projects, in order to meet the musical needs as well as the development/care needs of the child?
Case studies of three projects contributed to the data collection: (1) SoundLINCS Fusion project, providing musical training for looked after children’s support workers based in Lincolnshire, (2) Loud and Clear Foster family learning, a project based in the North East of England working with foster children (aged 0-5 years of age) in a weekly music project, and (3) Loud and Clear Adoption family learning, a project based in the North East of England working with children going through the adoption process (aged 0-5 years of age) in a weekly music project. With these organisations, focus groups, interviews and participatory observations were undertaken.
The research may provide practitioners with an understanding of the importance that music can play within participants’ lives, helping them build attachments with family members, workforce staff and peers, ideally extending into the everyday life. A currently underexplored area within community music, this research aims to provide insight into how engaging in music projects can become an important and integral part of looked after children’s everyday life.
Papers by Ryan Humphrey
Both responding and adding to the existing literature on Looked After Children and associated theoretical frameworks, workforce development, and projects that have previously engaged with music making the research findings suggested that (1) All participants on the training had a significant experience of music and were able to articulate its importance throughout their life journey; (2) A distinctive aspect of the soundLINCS training was to engage participants in a reflective dialogue of their music experience. Reflective practice was embedded in the training and resonated with the participants; (3) The training approach was effective and connected deeply with the Children’s Services Practitioners, aligning the personal to the professional. This created a springboard through which the workforce could employ music in developing relationships with the client group in the future; (4) The workforce valued the training and saw it as something different to the usual CPD offer; (5) The workforce indicated that working with music, in the way they were shown had the potential for supporting issues around behaviour and communication. In order to achieve greater impact they would need further resources, particularly technology based ones and importantly senior management support.
One of the objectives of the funding that supported the projected was to establish an evidence base that might be replicable beyond the geographic location. Because of the limited sample size and range of stakeholders engaged, this research can only point to the desirability to upscale the project. It is however clear that the primary research and literature point towards the potential benefits of rolling out CPD music training to the Looked After Children workforce.
This study examines the impact that music making has for a looked after child by exploring the following questions:
• What, if any, are the holistic benefits that engaging in music projects has for a child in looked after care?
• What impact do these holistic benefits have for the family/support unit in the child’s lives?
• How are facilitators and organisations developing and running projects, in order to meet the musical needs as well as the development/care needs of the child?
Case studies of three projects contributed to the data collection: (1) SoundLINCS Fusion project, providing musical training for looked after children’s support workers based in Lincolnshire, (2) Loud and Clear Foster family learning, a project based in the North East of England working with foster children (aged 0-5 years of age) in a weekly music project, and (3) Loud and Clear Adoption family learning, a project based in the North East of England working with children going through the adoption process (aged 0-5 years of age) in a weekly music project. With these organisations, focus groups, interviews and participatory observations were undertaken.
The research may provide practitioners with an understanding of the importance that music can play within participants’ lives, helping them build attachments with family members, workforce staff and peers, ideally extending into the everyday life. A currently underexplored area within community music, this research aims to provide insight into how engaging in music projects can become an important and integral part of looked after children’s everyday life.