Supporting interaction and wellbeing with participatory music activities - Experiences from Family Sound Hammock in social services
- Children, young people and families
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This session focuses on the potential of a musico-pedagogical environment, participatory music activities, in supporting the wellbeing of families living in demanding life situations.
It introduces a research project Family Sound Hammock, a three-year research and development project that took place in the metropolitan area of Finland from 2020 to 2023.
The project aimed to systematically support the well-being of families, especially by strengthening their capacities for interaction in and through music education activities.
This phenomenological-hermeneutic research focuses on the affordances emerging in family music activities, asking: What kinds of affordances can be recognised in and through music activities as part of family social work?
The findings are presented in three categories:
- experiential environment of music education practice
- social interaction
- experiences of consistency, that each highlight the potential of music education for redirecting agency, participation and inclusion of parents and children
The findings emphasise the professional facilitation of an inviting and safe musico-pedagogical environment applying pedagogical sensitivity.
The session invites participants to join the interdisciplinary discussion in the intersections of arts experiences, participation, experienced inclusion and family interaction as well as methodological themes related to qualitative research.
The purpose of this connection event is to bring together attendees to provide an opportunity to network, to share ideas and insights. Due to the two way interactive nature of the event, this event will not be recorded and certificates of attendance will not be issued.
How to take part
This event will be held online.
Join the event
If you have any further questions, please contact [email protected].
Speaker - Dr. Laura Huhtinen-Hildén
Dr. Laura Huhtinen-Hildén is a principal lecturer and researcher at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, specialising in arts, health, and wellbeing.
She leads Finland’s Cultural Wellbeing, Research and Education Centre (CuWeRE) and heads the transdisciplinary Master’s programme Creativity and Arts in Social and Health Fields, which she established.
From 2007 to 2022, she led Metropolia’s BA programme in Early Childhood Music Education and Community Music. Her research explores the intersections of creativity, arts, health, and wellbeing, with a strong emphasis on building inclusive, research-informed environments.
As a scholar, she focuses on advancing higher education pedagogy, particularly through approaches that integrate critical reflexivity and transdisciplinary collaboration.
She currently investigates the development of professional competencies essential to the cultural wellbeing sector, alongside learning experiences within transdisciplinary higher education.
Central to her work is the intertwined nature of theory, research and practice–viewed as mutually reinforcing in both research and education.
Dr. Huhtinen-Hildén is also a prolific author of teaching materials, articles, and books on arts, wellbeing, and music education.
She has contributed to international networks through board roles in the European Network for Music Educators and Researchers of Young Children and the International Society for Music Education's Early Childhood Commission.