Page 24 - IJPS-9-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Re-conceptualizing music education

distinct as to merit attention in music education research within each paper for coherence across research questions,
(e.g., Creech & Hallam, 2015). Therefore, we investigate in theoretical framework, methods, and interpretation,
this study the discourse associated with music and older establishing whether participants’ voices were adequately
people, whether health and well-being benefits, evidenced represented, whether researcher positionality was
by “music and health” networks, the emergence of “music acknowledged, and whether ethical issues were addressed
in care,” and “arts on prescription,” have been considered (Lockwood et al., 2015). Articles retained for full-text
in the research. The underlying risk in these discourses is analysis were analyzed systematically, with extracted
that they might emphasize physical and cognitive decline data being coded according to the SPIDER (Sample,
and how music may fix or hide the natural processes and Phenomenon of Interest, Design, Evaluation [i.e., key
human characteristics of aging, thus perpetuating the findings], Research Type) tool (Jahan et al., 2016).
pathologized identities assigned to older individuals. In
other words, even if musical activities were made available, 2.1.1. Criteria for inclusion and search protocol
the justifications for older adult music education may The criteria for inclusion and the search protocol were
remain narrow and limited. refined over several reflective discussions between the two
Therefore, we ask the following research question: What researchers, grappling with the question of how to define
is the state-of-the-art research on older adults and music with precision a search protocol within a topic area that
education in the studies published since the Seoul Agenda? itself is not well-defined. For example, the question of how
to define “older adult” was critical yet ambiguous, leading
This research task was approached by three sub- us to abandon chronological age boundaries and instead
questions: rely on the language used to describe participants in each
(1) Who are the older adult participants in these studies study. Where it was agreed that the language indicated
and how are they portrayed? study participants were deemed by the researcher to be in
(2) What kinds of research methods and processes the later part of the adult lifespan, studies were included in
are used in the studies, and what are the principal the study (Table 1 for examples).
phenomena of interest? The retained articles were limited to peer-reviewed
(3) How are music learning and participation in the older empirical studies published in English that addressed
adult life course conceptualized in these studies? older adult music learning and/or participation in natural
research settings. This analysis was conducted by two
2. Methodology authors who are proficient in multiple languages, although
We adopted a sequential design, beginning with a studies published in non-English language were excluded
systematic review and followed by a meta-synthesis. While from analysis. Besides, we also excluded theoretical articles,
systematic review offers filtered and unbiased information music therapy-related studies, or clinical studies focused
of the respective field as it comprises the systematic on the cognitive, physical, or psychological effects of music
selection and appraisal of the quality of the included studies and conducted in laboratory environments. Because our
Jahan et al., 2016, p. 6; Page et al., 2021), meta-synthesis rationale for the study was framed by the goals expressed
is used to yield a more comprehensive view i.e., “theory in the UNESCO’s Seoul Agenda (2010), we limited our
development, higher-level abstraction, and generalizability
to make qualitative findings more accessible for application Table 1. Inclusion criteria
in practice” (Zimmer, 2006, p. 313). The systematic review Year of publication 2010 – 2021
paired with a meta-synthesis provided a methodological
framework for interpretive analysis of the grand narratives Language English
or interpretive translations emerging from the integration Type of article Full-text peer-reviewed journal article reporting
and comparison of the key findings of the studies. empirical study
Context Music education in a real-world context (excluding
2.1. Systematic review professional training, professional development,
music therapy in clinical contexts, clinical or
Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and experimental music interventions where the focus
Meta-Analyses guidelines provide the roadmap for the is on clinical outcomes and higher education)
systematic review, including developing search protocol Key concept Music learning and/or participation among adults
and establishing inclusion criteria to be applied in the Participants Participants (learners and/or facilitators of
screening of identified articles (Moher et al., 2015). To learning) in music learning and/or participation.
evaluate the rigor of the studies, we used the JBI Checklist Participants identified as older adults (e.g., older
for Qualitative Research (JBI, 2017), for example, to check adult, senior, elder, and retired).

Volume 9 Issue 3 (2023) 18 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.383