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International literature on early childhood education refers to visual arts education as central to educational practice. However, visual art lessons in mainstream reception units tend to focus on individual children experimenting individually with art media. An assumption underpinning this research was that structured group activities in art lessons can benefit children with autism in developing social interaction skills. Some scholars recommended modifying mainstream art activities in order to facilitate reciprocal interaction among children with autism, their peers and teachers. The limited number of studies in this field that stimulated the current research into the potential use of visual arts lessons to teach young children with autism. The project took the form of action research in a reception class of a mainstream school in the south west of Greece with four separate cycles of planning, acting, observing and reflecting on practical action. The research developed, implemented and evaluated the effectiveness of a visual arts-based curriculum unit for children with autism, aged 4 to 7 years. It consisted of four sessions and the outcome was a small video animation. The curriculum content was organised around constructing and narrating the story, creating the characters using the traditional art medium of plasticine and finally using the stop-motion application of the iPad to create a video animation. The curriculum intervention set out to: (i) enhance children on the spectrum social interaction skills and (ii) bolster their task engagement through digital storytelling and animation, as part of a team. The main findings showed that the children with autism were more engaged and motivated during the plasticine and iPad tasks. During these tasks, children on the autism spectrum were more included and reinforced for social interactions, such as turn-taking and give-and-take with their peers. They were less engaged or included during a story narration task. However, their engagement and attention were sustained when the narration was accompanied by drawings and pictures. Overall, the visual arts curriculum unit offered opportunities for interaction and enhancement of co-operation, task participation and inclusion. The structure of the sessions and the visual instruction strategies were beneficial, regarding understanding sessions' content, managing challenging behaviours, as well as improving motivation, participation and turn-taking. Finally, the study discusses effective strategies to include young children with autism in mainstream classrooms. It also discusses the original development of visual arts curriculum units that combine traditional art media with information and communications technology (ICT) devices, and their delivery from teachers to classes, comprising children that are both 'typically' developing and with autism.

Musical environments have been observed to be highly engaging for autistic children, ameliorating barriers often experienced in everyday communication and interaction. Musical play provides an ideal space in which to support and encourage engagement with caregivers and peers, as well as self-expression for this group. Over 12 months, 25 families with autistic children between the ages of three and eight years participated in an innovative home-based musical programme based on the Sounds of Intent in the Early Years framework of musical development, which was designed to encourage parents to help their children engage in musical play in everyday life. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, including the qualitative analysis of interviews and diaries, alongside observations of musical play and quantitative behavioural measures that explored the role of musical spaces for supporting interaction, creativity and development in autistic children. The findings showed that music was widely used as a tool by parents to orientate their children in their home environments, scaffolding routines, enhancing communication, and supporting emotional regulation. Significant changes in musical and interactive behaviours were observed over the course of the intervention, alongside significant improvements in social communication, highlighting possible interactions between musical play and wider development. More broadly music was found to facilitate shared enjoyment and emotional regulation. Crucially, the strategies were those that parents themselves could undertake with their children. There is a growing need to recognise and develop safe spaces to support autistic children and their families. This research highlights how a music programme using an accessible model can be implemented across community and informal educational settings.

This mixed-methods study applies the Sounds of Intent in the Early Years framework (SoI-EY) to explore the trajectory of young children's musical development. Musical development is considered as it occurs in relation to children's surrounding environment and social context. Seven hundred and ninety-six naturalistic observations of 44 children engaging in musical activity were captured by video in early years settings by the researcher, and at home by parents. Questionnaires were also employed to gather information on children's musical engagement at home. Video observations (ranging in length from 30 seconds to 5 minutes) were coded according to the SoI-EY framework, surrounding environment and social context. First, quantitative analysis was applied to explore broad patterns across all the data. A nonlinear logistic growth model was used to analyse the trajectory of children's musical development over time. Multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between children's SoI-EY level of musical development, surrounding environment, and musical activity. Following this, the musical development of three children was explored through longitudinal case studies, with comparisons made in relation to the results of the full data set. Researcher and parent observations, questionnaire data and parent interviews were triangulated and analysed for each case study. Quantitative results indicate that the trajectory of young children's musical development is non-linear and includes phases of faster and slower growth; individual differences in musical development were also revealed. Results further suggest that children are observed to engage with music at more complex stages of development at home compared to early years settings, when engaging with another rather than when alone, and during singing activity rather than instrumental activity. Results of the qualitative analysis revealed that playfulness, shared musical culture, choice and 3 repetition encouraged children's musical engagement, particularly as observed at home; this is important in its implication for practice.

This study explores musical creativity in 9 to 11-year-old children, looking at two factors in particular: the choice of stimuli (derived either from Western classical or 20th century experimental music) and whether or not the children concerned have instrumental tuition. In relation to the first issue: research has shown that experimental music is virtually non-existent in the school music curriculum in the UK (Landy, 1992; Spencer, 2016). Yet experimental music has historically been viewed as providing an effective means of widening the relevance of participation in classroom music and promoting creativity (Dennis, 1967; Self, 1970; Paynter, 1970; Schafer, 1975). However, the pioneering ideas that were advanced in the 60s and 70s, although seen as progressive at the time, failed to gain a foothold in the mainstream of school music education. This research aims to establish whether, as its proponents suggested, there is in fact a link between the use of experimental music in the classroom and musical creativity. In relation to the second issue: instrumental teaching in the UK largely bases its pedagogy on traditional teaching practices that, arguably, lack creativity (Gaunt, 2008). At the same time, the impact of instrumental teaching on musical creativity is an unexplored area of research - an area that this study seeks to address. 69 research participants of 9 -11 years old were divided into groups according to whether or not they took instrumental lessons, and they were asked to compose in response to Western classical and experimental musical stimuli. Compositional responses using a variety of percussion instruments were videoed to capture primary data for analysis. Participants' creative products in the form of compositions were analysed using an adaptation of the Sounds of Intent framework of musical development (Ockelford, 2013). The new 'composing' framework with a particular focus on composition, used an applied musicological methodological approach to extract and analyse specific factors pertaining to four collaborative compositional processes, which were: levels of musical coherence, the use of musical stimuli, the structure and content of the compositions and levels of collaboration. The results showed a statistically significant difference between the outputs of non-tutored and tutored participants, with non-tutored participants achieving higher scores than tutored across all four areas of compositional process. Results showed no statistically significant difference between the compositional outputs of children to experimental or traditional musical stimuli, however tutored participants use of stimulus material and levels of collaboration were significantly affected by the type of musical stimuli used, whereas non-tutored participants were not. Results showed that tutored participants scored significantly higher in response to experimental musical stimuli than they did to the classical stimulus. This suggests an interaction effect between levels of being tutored or non-tutored and different types of musical stimuli. Examination of the musical materials produced by the children suggested that the differences found between tutored and non-tutored scores could be the result of non-tutored participants' higher levels of communication and musical imitation during the group compositional process, and that differences found in tutored participants use of experimental and Western classical stimuli could be a result of aural perceptions to unfamiliar sounds. These results supports the argument that instrumental learning is not a prerequisite of musical creativity in children, and that experimental music may promote musical creativity.

Perfectionism has been suggested as one of the main causes of music performance anxiety (MPA). Past research examining the relationship between perfectionism and MPA has not examined the factors underlying the development of these conditions. The present research addressed this gap by adopting a mixed methods study in three phases (qualitative-quantitative-qualitative) to investigate (i) the role that self-concept plays in musicians’ perfectionism and MPA, (ii) the way perfectionism affects the cognitive and physiological aspects of MPA, and (iii) the manner in which relationships with parents and teachers can influence musicians’ self-concept, perfectionism and MPA profiles. The interview findings (Phase 1) suggested that maladaptive perfectionism and non-constructive thinking styles contributed to MPA, and the attitudes of parents and teachers influenced musicians’ identity and development, and their career choices. These findings served as the foundation for administering a questionnaire (Phase 2) to professional and student musicians (N = 233). Results showed that positive self-concept with high self-esteem and musical self-image decreased MPA. The findings also revealed that musicians’ low confidence levels about their playing, experiencing distress and frustration to imperfections during practising and performance, and being dissatisfied with the quality of their performance, can increase MPA. Further, results disclosed that teachers’ autonomy supportive instruction styles contribute to the prevention of MPA and maladaptive perfectionism. The findings of the in-depth interviews (Phase 3) suggested that focusing on the self and one’s preconceived ideas of achieving perfection creates tension, exacerbating the experience of MPA. In contrast, focusing ‘outside’ one’s self and aiming for perfection only in the practice room creates a sense of composure on stage which keep MPA levels low. These findings lay the foundation for educational policy and practice which will approach developing musicians in autonomy supportive ways, and raise their awareness for positive aspects of their competence, performance standards and evaluation.

It has long been asserted that the mind’s predisposition to predict the future based on the past and present underpins the understanding and enjoyment of music. An oft-considered paradox in music psychology is that if a listener’s thwarted expectations cause an emotional response, how does this occur even when a piece is familiar? This motivates two objectives that concern melodic expectations in response to repeated music listening: the first is to empirically investigate the changing interplay between varying sources of expectation in adult listeners, and the second examines how melodic expectations evolve as a result of ‘typical’ and ‘atypical’ development. Investigation is achieved by empirically examining the interaction between different forms of expectation proposed by zygonic theory: schematic, within-group and veridical. Adults, typically developing children, and children with high-functioning autism took part in two experimental sessions separated by one week. In each session, individuals rated their perceived pitch-by-pitch expectedness using a Continuous Response Measurement Apparatus in response to a 4 x repeated 26-note melody. Results show that the relationship between the three forms of expectation functions differently in each participant group. Adult listeners’ schematic and within-group expectations remain consistent, despite a cumulative increase in veridical expectations. ‘Typical’ children base their expectations on absolute properties and pairs of notes at 6-8 years, on longer sequences of notes and connected groups at 9-12 years, and more complex relational structures at 13-17 years. This aligns with age-related changes in memory capacity and efficiency. Children on the autism spectrum demonstrate a local processing bias and an ability to process global melodic structure, but not in a cumulative way that is sensitive to repetition. This implies an atypical interaction between long-term and working memory. In sum, the present thesis demonstrates how the interplay between three sources of expectation is underpinned by differences in memory function in the context of melodic repetition.

This mixed methods study explores the potential use of the piano as a medium to promote musical skills in children with autism spectrum condition (ASC) who have severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties. The thinking behind the research is underpinned by the Sounds of Intent (SoI) framework of musical development. The aims of the research are to develop and evaluate new approaches to piano pedagogy that are suitable for children with ASC from the earliest stage of musical development (Sounds of Intent, Level 2). The new approaches involve re-conceptualising the piano as a multisensory resource that can engage children with ASC in a number of different proto-musical and musical ways. The two major advantages of this reconceptualisation are that with appropriate pedagogy: a) it promotes inclusion in music education, since all children, irrespective of their level of musical development, can engage with the same resource in different ways, and b) it fosters progress in musical development, since the single resource has immense flexibility in the way it can be used, from advancing an understanding of ‘cause and effect’ to permitting the creation and production of complex abstract narratives in sound over time. Fourteen children and young people with ASC participated in the research, drawn from two special schools in London that use SoI. Each participant took part in 13 music sessions with the researcher, who acted as the teacher, over the course of 6 months. Each session lasted 5–30 minutes, depending on the participant’s interest and willingness to cooperate. The sessions were recorded using two video cameras. A mixed methods approach was applied whereby participants’ levels of engagement with each strategy were measured quantitatively using a simple binary measure of ‘on task’ and ‘off task’ and then subject to detailed interpretative phenomenological analyses. The results revealed that the engagement of the children was affected by several factors: the cognitive functioning of the children, their levels of interest in the sounds and music that the piano could produce, the teaching quality and their willingness to interact with the teacher. The most effective strategies were those that were aligned with children’s levels of musical development, were adapted to their preferred learning styles, and were often multimodal in design (visual, auditory and kinaesthetic). The study shows that the piano can be used as a learning resource for children on the autism spectrum with severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties to promote the development of musical skills and abilities, and to foster wider learning and development.

Permission has been gained from Children’s Rehabilitation Centre, Minsk and from the relevant authorities in Belarus to use the name of the Centre in this thesis. This research explores the principal meeting points and tensions, for practitioners at Children’s Rehabilitation Centre Minsk, between Winnicott’s theories of the holding environment (1960) and play (1971), and current classroom practice with children with complex needs based on Vygotsky’s theory of defectology. It considers whether and in what ways those practitioners are able to assimilate Winnicott’s theories, and their usefulness in supporting classroom-based work with children with complex needs. Finally, the research explores perceived changes in relationships between staff and children arising from this experience, in accordance with CRC’s self-identified need for support in this area. A mixed-methods design was adopted, employing qualitative and quantitative research methods. Winnicott’s theories provide the framework for the development of a new evaluation instrument. This gives the theoretical structure for a specifically designed staff development programme, integrating teaching, experiential work and practice-based sessions, which was central to the fieldwork at CRC. Eight staff participants evaluated their usual musical interaction with a child with complex needs (pre-intervention). Following engagement with the staff development programme (intervention), participants undertook ten individual music sessions with the same child (post-intervention). Sessions were filmed, and two self-chosen extracts pre- and post-intervention were self-rated against the descriptors of the evaluation instrument. Participants then reflected on the experience with the child in interviews. To provide triangulation, the same 16 video extracts were randomised, and then rated in the same way by 16 UK music therapists in an online study. Thematic analysis of data shows that the experience of Winnicott’s ‘holding’ in the learning process enabled participants to attune to, and empathise with the child. Quantitative analysis shows consequent adaptation to the child. It is concluded that Winnicott’s theories are accessible, relevant and applicable within classroom practice at CRC, to support the establishment and development of positive relationships between staff and children.

Education reform has created an environment in the Early Years sector in which Early Years Practitioners (EYPs) are increasingly directed to look for outcomes, rather than developing an understanding about the process of learning. The issue of EYP competence and knowledge is often overestimated by an education system which assumes that confidence and high levels of understanding are standard. Therefore, reconciling the difference between what policies expect, and what EYPs can do, is of great interest. Working from a Vygotskyian perspective on group collaboration and peer learning, this study examines the effect of an intervention with a team of EYPs, who took part in group supervision sessions to explore their Observation, Assessment and Planning practice. The aim is to help to develop a model which can support and enhance professional practice. The study began with four participants who attended ten facilitated group discussions over ten months, in which they addressed specific observational issues to gain insight into how their key child was learning. These sessions provided an opportunity for the participants to engage in professional dialogue and robustly analyse their observations. Data was interpreted using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), to explore how a group approach might support the participants’ professional development and their understanding of children’s learning. The EYPs reported links between their own learning within the group and changes in their practice and understanding about children's learning. Evidence from the study suggests that the Group Intervention had a positive impact on the participants’ practice and that they developed skills in making professional judgements about how best to support and extend the child’s learning. The findings also suggest that collaborative endeavours are a key factor in helping EYPs to succeed at their OAP tasks and enable the development of professional learning.

Over the last 20 years there has been a hotly argued debate about the potentially positive and negative outcomes of including children with special educational needs, particularly those on the autism spectrum, in mainstream schools. The present study explores whether, and in what ways, pupils with autism can benefit from a music and dance intervention in terms of their participation and interaction with their peers, and how it can enhance their inclusion. This study involves an intervention that was designed and carried out in primary mainstream settings in London with forty two children in total; among which seven were on the autism spectrum, aged 5-8 years. The intervention consists of a story, accompanied by music and dance activities, presented over six sessions. The six sessions were recorded on video. The results were analysed using a mixed-method design to allow comparison of the different variables through quantitative and qualitative analyses. The research used spatial proximity and task participation as proxy measures of inclusion. The main findings show that the pupils with autism and their peers were more engaged during music and that the children on the autism spectrum were more included during music and dance tasks, and less engaged or included during other activities unrelated to music or dance. Music and dance are effective tools for relaxation, helping children to self-regulate and organise their responses to sensory stimuli. The activities also offered opportunities for interaction, enhancing co-operation and inclusion. Music was found to be a positive cue for pupils to remember and perform tasks. The structure of the sessions and the repetition of tasks was also found to have a positive impact. Building on the findings, the study discusses how the inclusion of pupils on the autism spectrum can be successful and suggests introducing music and movement in other curricular areas, including literacy.