Subjective Observation in Music Therapy: A Study of Student Practicum Logs

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify music therapy teaching/learning concepts embedded in the subjective clinical assessments that undergraduate students wrote in clinical practicum logs. Inductive coding and interpretative analysis of 130 practicum logs from 15 students revealed 19 teaching/learning concepts. The concepts were categorized into subgroups by their relatedness to one another, and the subgroups were categorized into larger groups by their relatedness to one another. The large group Music Therapy Treatment includes the subgroups Assessment of Client, Assessment of Environment, Assessment of Music, and Treatment Planning. The large group How to Be a Music Therapist includes the subgroups Knowing What to Do and Knowing How to Be. Each subgroup includes two to five teaching/learning concepts. Results suggest the importance of balancing student learning between concepts related to the groups Music Therapy Treatment and How to Be a Music Therapist. This suggests that teaching music therapy students concepts such as those identified in this study might provide them with core ideas to explore across populations and approaches.