Health tourism: an opportunity for sustainable development

In February 2017, the “Programma Mattone Internazionale Salute” (ProMis), that is the Italian Program for Internationalization of Regional Health Systems of the Ministry of Health (MoH), presented the first version of its Position Paper on Health Tourism, which embeds a first shared approach to the recommendations expressed by the European Committee of Regions (CoR) on "AgeFriendly" tourism. The CoR stresses the importance of local and regional authorities in the coordination of multi-sectoral policies such as healthcare, social assistance, transport, urban planning and rural development in relation to the promotion of mobility, security, accessibility of services, including health care and social services. "Age-friendly" tourism is an example of an innovative tourist offer that strives to meet the health needs of the entire "traveling" population, with an integrated and cross-sector approach that involves various organizations operating in sectors such as healthcare, accessibility and transport. The aim of the workshop was to explore the interest of the stakeholders to participate in a systemic action in the field of "health" tourism, and to identify priority implementation areas that offer opportunities to take advantage of validated, innovative experiences that strengthen the accessibility to health and social services in regional, national and international contexts. This effort provides the opportunity to take advantage of aligning the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) to the development of tourism, coherently with the needs and resources of local and regional health authorities

Investigating young people\u27s engagement with music through technology in formal and informal settings

This paper describes a new study investigating young people’s attitudes to and engagement with music to explore how these relate to choices about studying music. The research takes an innovative approach to developing an understanding of a young person’s musical world that is holistic, by encompassing engagement with music through technology across everyday and academic settings. In so doing the research addresses gaps in current understanding about young people’s engagement with music by including the full range of consumption, sharing and creation practices inside and outside of school. It also extends research into digital media creation that to date has focused on video and text-based cultures. Importantly, the study investigates claims made about how information and communication technology is changing engagement with music and consider the implications for school-based music education

Designing a curriculum to teach secondary schools conducting to increase their musicianship and ensemble

This study examines the communication and musicianship developed through conducting between teachers and students in secondary school music ensembles. As conducting is regarded as a primary method of communication and musical leadership in music ensembles, it is essential for playing musicians to understand conducting gestures and techniques. In secondary school environments, it would seem important to teach students conducting gestures so they are better able to interpret, respond to and understand these gestures with the aim of improving their learning of the music and develop greater artistic awareness. Therefore, the developed curriculum is significant as it helps to address the documented gap in developing student musicianship in school-based ensembles. The curriculum was created using a design-based methodology commonly implemented in learning technology studies and adapted for music education. Knowledge, skills and understandings significant to learning conducting and increasing musicianship were identified and formed the basis of a draft document. A panel of experts including music professionals, conservatorium staff, curriculum teachers and ensemble directors from Australia and Canada were invited to take part in the development of the curriculum. The document was subsequently re-written and re-designed with the feedback from the panel that differed significantly in their view of teaching secondary school students about conducting. The completed curriculum will be implemented in a NSW secondary school in early 2011 and assessed for its effectiveness and value. The findings will be important in furthering our understanding of student learning and engagement in school-based music ensembles and the effectiveness of teaching musicianship through conducting

Examining pre-service generalist primary teachers\u27 pedagogical content knowledge for teaching music in the K-6 classroom

Recent research has highlighted a substantial lack of willingness within generalist primary teachers towards teaching music. While pre-service and in-service primary teacher self-efficacy towards teaching music is well documented, the understanding of pre-service generalist primary teachers\u27 content knowledge and confidence in teaching music requires further research. While much research has been undertaken examining the theory of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) in relation to science, mathematics, and ICT within a secondary context, little research has been done in the primary music content area. This study investigated generalist pre-service teachers\u27 musical content knowledge, general pedagogy knowledge, and knowledge of music teaching before and after completing a mandatory music education course in a Bachelor of Primary Education degree program at an Australian university. The findings revealed that pre-service teachers ideally need practical experiences where they can teach music in a primary school context and complementary tertiary learning experiences, as it is through knowledge and practical experiences together that confidence in teaching music is developed