Burnout and engagement in music performance students

This dissertation focuses on burnout and engagement in music performance students. While involvement in music can be detrimental to the health of those involved, it can also foster their well-being. There has been a growing interest in the experiences of music students but there is very little research on aspects of their music-related well-being such as burnout and engagement.1 Not so much is known about the degrees to which students feel burned-out and engaged, and whether their demographic characteristics influence their burnout and engagement. A quantitative study was therefore undertaken to establish the levels of burnout and engagement in this population, and explore potential differences with respect to them between music performance students in Australia, Poland and the UK, and men and women (N=331). With a view to understanding why performance students burn out or become engaged, and what characterises their experiences of burnout or engagement, the mixed-method approach was employed. The results from a quantitative longitudinal study carried out in Australia and the UK (N=124), and the interviews with students classed as burned-out (N=7) or engaged (N=7) were combined to identify the factors underpinning the development of burnout and engagement, and to explore how they are experienced by music performance students. The findings suggest that performance students display comparatively low levels of burnout (although one in 10 could be at risk), and moderate degrees of engagement. The study points to cross-national and sex differences in the levels of music-related well-being experienced by performance students. Burnout develops as a consequence of inadequate motivation underlying involvement in music or limited personal and social resources to support learning. Burned-out students experience problems with their physical health (but devaluation of music may be a protective factor) and their overall psychological well-being is negatively affected. Students are likely to become engaged when music represents their true values, and when they have personal and social resources facilitating their selfactualisation through music. Engagement further fuels students’ proactive approach to learning and resultant progress. The findings form the basis for practical advice for teachers, institutions and students themselves on how students’ music-related well-being could be protected and enhanced

Engagement and burnout among music performance students

The psychological and physical demands of the music profession can take their toll, putting musicians’ health and wellness at risk. Despite its potential impact on the changes in attitudes towards music- making, well-being remains under-researched in the context of tertiary music education.The current paper reports a study of two facets of well-being: engagement with performance and burnout among music performance students at conservatoires. The study aimed to establish and compare the levels of engagement and burnout in music students in the UK and Australia, exploring their potential social-environmental determinants and health and performance-related consequences. In line with the literature on sport and dance, Basic Psychological Need Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), which seeks to explain the role of satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness in well- being, was used as the theoretical framework for studying the possible determinants of engagement and burnout. A cross-sectional design and questionnaire methods were employed in the study. Data were collected from 146 performance students from several conservatoires in the UK and a single conservatoire in Australia. The results revealed that while burnout was not prevalent in the sample, the respondents tended to experience moderate to high levels of engagement. Overall, there were no differences between the students in the UK and Australia in terms of engagement and burnout. Only weak correlations were found between engagement and burnout, and health issues, musculoskeletal pain and practice strategies employed by respondents. The findings of the study suggest that the social context of the conservatoire and the sense of competence may play a major role in the psychological well-being of music performance students, confirming the basic tenets of Basic Psychological Need Theory.The study sheds light on determinants and consequences of well-being in music education setting, thus contributing to the better understanding of healthy careers in music and forming the basis of practical advice for institutions and principal studies tutors on how to enhance music-related well- being in conservatoire students.Keywords: music education, psychological well-being, engagement, burnout, Basic Psychological Need TheoryReferences Deci, E.L., Ryan, R.M. (2000) The ”˜what’ and ”˜why’ of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry. Vol.11 No.4, 227-268

A preliminary comparison study of burnout and engagement in performance students in Australia, Poland and the UK

While there is a growing body of research concerning the well-being of music students, burnout and engagement remain largely unexplored. Likewise, cross-national variations in approaches to music education, and different educational experiences of men and women may influence burnout and engagement. This preliminary study aimed to inform further research by establishing the levels of, and exploring cross-national and sex differences in burnout and engagement in music performance students at conservatoires in Australia, Poland and the UK (n = 331). Self-reported levels of burnout were, typically, low to moderate. Nevertheless, one in ten students reported symptoms such that they could be classified as burned out. Australian and UK students displayed more burnout than students in Poland, although Australian students reported lower levels of reduced sense of accomplishment than Polish and UK students. Self-reported engagement was, typically, moderate to high. Students in Poland reported higher levels of engagement than those in the UK. Women displayed higher levels of global burnout and emotional/physical exhaustion, while men reported lower levels of reduced sense of accomplishment. Further research on burnout and engagement could build on this investigation to gain a better understanding of their impact and the influence of the educational experience on students’ music-related well-being