Marc Sarazin
University of Oxford, Education, Graduate Student
- Currently undertaking a DPhil (PhD) on the social processes present in El Sistema-inspired musical interventions. I have an interdisciplinary training with strengths in sociology, psychology, anthropology and neuroscience.
My special interests are in research which illuminates the many ways in which music and social relationships (together or separately) impact on the lives of young people. I am also specially interested in relational studies using Social Network Analysis.edit
Many studies and accounts argue that collective music-making can contribute to building social cohesion and training social skills, and particularly that student interdependence in collective music education programmes can foster this. I... more
Many studies and accounts argue that collective music-making can contribute to building social cohesion and training social skills, and particularly that student interdependence in collective music education programmes can foster this. I argue that this implies two assumptions: first, that students mostly experience interdependence in music programmes positively, and second that their experiences of interdependence are not significantly affected by their experiences in other settings. To address these assumptions, this paper reports on findings from a mixed-methods case study of a French in-school collective music education programme targeting disadvantaged students. The findings suggest that students could experience interdependence negatively in the music programme, and that this was informed by the tendency for interdependence to be framed negatively in the school context. Further, the study suggests that the school's pedagogical notion of the cadre led students to frame negative interdependence not as an encouragement to act cohesively, but rather as an adult imposition. The paper ends by discussing the implications of these findings and arguing for further studies investigating the mechanisms that link different collective music-making and educational settings with positive outcomes.