[en] In recent years, asylum reception centers in the Global North have emerged as distinct settings for participatory songwriting activities. Despite the growing body of research on music facilitation within these contexts, a more comprehensive exploration of challenges associated with songwriting is required, alongside the development of both conceptual frameworks and practical tools to optimize participatory songwriting facilitation. This study employed an action research approach to critically examine and enhance the music facilitation process of The Scratch Band, a songwriting project in a Belgian reception center. By analyzing preparatory notes, transcribed and annotated video recordings of rehearsals, and a reflexive diary, challenges encountered during songwriting workshops were identified and strategies were designed strategies to address them. The findings reveal three key insights: (1) the researcher-facilitator faced place-based, person-based, and procedure-based challenges; (2) embodied strategies—including soundwalks, embodied musical brainstorms, timbral improvisation and moving lyrics—fostered participant-led creativity; and (3) these embodied strategies aligned with the constraint-led approach, suggesting its potential as a framework for conceptualizing practices and designing facilitation tools. This study demonstrates the potential of action research to reflect and improve music facilitation in participatory music practices. The results offer practical implications for music facilitators, highlighting the use of embodied music strategies to address challenges in songwriting workshops with applicants for international protection.
Research center :
Cenetr for Social Action and Music Making
Disciplines :
Performing arts
Author, co-author :
Reynaert, Tina; Department of Art, Music and Theatre Science and Department of Social Work and Social Pedagogy, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
De Bisschop, An; Department of Art, Music and Theatre Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium ; Department KASK-Conservatorium, HOGENT-University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Ghent, Belgium
NIJS, Luc ; University of Luxembourg > Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE) > Department of Education and Social Work (DESW) > Institute of Musicology and Arts ; Department of Art, Music and Theatre Science, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
External co-authors :
yes
Language :
English
Title :
Participatory songwriting in a Belgian asylum reception center: addressing challenges through embodied strategies.
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. This research was funded by FWO (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek), grant number FWO.3F0.2023.0106.01.
Abrahamson D. Sánchez-García R. P. (2016). Learning is moving in new ways: the ecological dynamics of mathematics education. J. Learn. Sci. 25, 203–239. doi: 10.1080/10508406.2016.1143370
Beckles Willson R. (2021). Migration, music and the mobile phone: a case study in technology and socio-economic justice in Sicily. Ethnomusicol Forum 30, 226–245. doi: 10.1080/17411912.2021.1939088
Bergstrøm-Nielsen C. (1993). Graphic notation as a tool in describing and analyzing music therapy improvisations. Music. Ther. 12, 40–58.
Birch C. (2023). “The use of trauma-informed community music practice in enabling narrative through songwriting” in Traumas resisted and (re)engaged, landscapes: The arts, aesthetics, and education. eds. Griffin S. M. Niknafs N., vol. 36 (New York: Springer), 181–201.
Braun V. Clarke V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qual. Res. Psychol. 3, 77–101. doi: 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Braun V. Clarke V. (2012). “Thematic analysis” in APA handbook of research methods in psychology. ed. Cooper H. (Washington, DC: APA books), 57–71.
Braun V. Clarke V. (2013). Successful qualitative research: A practical guide for beginners. London: Sage.
Bröndum L. (2018). Graphic notation, indeterminacy and improvisation: implementing choice within a compositional framework. Open Cult. Stud. 2, 639–653. doi: 10.1515/culture-2018-0058
Bronfenbrenner U. Morris P. A. (2006). “The bioecological model of human development” in Handbook of child psychology: Theoretical models of human development. eds. Damon W. Lerner R. M., vol. 1. 6th ed (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley), 793–828.
Bruscia K. (1987). Improvisational models of music therapy. Springfield: Charles Thomas Publishers.
Butler J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive limits of sex. London: Routledge.
Cain T. (2008). The characteristics of action research in music education. Br. J. Music Educ. 25, 283–313. doi: 10.1017/S0265051708008115
Camlin D. (2015). This is my truth, now tell me yours. Int. J. Community Music. 8, 233–257. doi: 10.1386/ijcm.8.3.233_1
Caruso F. (2022a). “Voicing new belongings. Composing multilingual song in Italy’s refugee reception centers” in Music and encounter and the Mediterranean crossroads. eds. Davis R. F. Oberlander B. (New York: Routledge), 20–38.
Caruso F. (2022b). Musical resilience strategies for African asylum seekers in Italy: the cultural mediator Bawa Salifu. Ethnomusicol Forum 31, 373–392. doi: 10.1080/17411912.2022.2144402
Cohen M. L. Wilson C. M. (2017). Inside the fences: pedagogical practices and purposes of songwriting in an adult male U.S. state prison. Int. J. Music. Educ. 35, 541–553. doi: 10.1177/0255761416689841
Cohen M. L. Henley J. (2018). “Music behind bars: the many dimensions of community music in prisons” in The Oxford handbook of community music. eds. Bartleet B. Higgins L. (New York: Oxford University Press), 153–171.
De Martini Ugolotti N. (2022). Music-making and forced migrants’ affective practices of diasporic belonging. J. Ethn. Migr. Stud. 48, 92–109. doi: 10.1080/1369183X.2020.1790344
Dowlen R. McPherson D. H. J. Swarbrick C. Hoskin L. Thompson J. Keady J. (2024). Creating and reliving the moment: using musical improvisation and care aesthetics as a Lens of connection and self-expression for younger people living with dementia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 21:972. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21080972, PMID: 39200583
Ellingson L. L. (2017). Embodiment in qualitative research. London: Routledge.
Elliot J. (1991). Action research for educational change. Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
Farhan C. (2023). “Home is goose bumps (on a second skin): refugee experience in the songs of the Zollhausboys” in Refugee genres: Essays on the culture of flight and refuge. eds. Frangos M. C. Ghose S. (Cham: Palgrave Macmillan), 89–109.
Filges T. Bengtsen E. Montgomery E. Kildemoes M. W. (2024). The impact of detention on the health of asylum seekers: an updated systematic review. Campbell Syst. Rev. 20:e1420. doi: 10.1002/cl2.1420
Frederiksen B. Ridder H. M. O. Pedersen L. (2021). Alliance building in music therapy for forensic psychiatric patients with schizophrenia. An exploratory case study research design. Nord. J. Music. Ther. 30, 157–178. doi: 10.1080/08098131.2020.1827452
Foreman I. (2010). Vertiginous spaces, phantasmagorical geographies: soundscape composition after Sebald. Soundscape J. Acoust. Ecol. 10, 7–10.
Foucault M. (1977) Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison. Translated by Sheridan A.. Pantheon Books. New York.
Gallo D. Kuchenbrod E. (2022). ‘Can I sing you my song?’: Songwriting in elementary music with community artist mentors. Music. Educ. J. 108, 56–64. doi: 10.1177/00274321221085591
Grosz E. (1994). Volatile bodies: Toward a corporeal feminism. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Harrison K. Sunderland N. Jacobsen K. (2019). New skies above: sense-bound and place-based songwriting as a trauma response for asylum seekers and refugees. J. Appl. Arts Health 10, 147–167. doi: 10.1386/jaah.10.2.147_1
Hartonen V. R. Väisänen P. Karlsson L. Pöllänen S. (2022). A stage of limbo: a meta-synthesis of refugees' liminality. Appl. Psychol. 71, 1132–1167. doi: 10.1111/apps.12349
Hess J. (2018). Detroit youth speak back: rewriting deficit perspectives through songwriting. Bull. Counc. Res. Music. Educ. 216, 7–30. doi: 10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.216.0007
Hickey M. (2009). Can improvisation be 'taught'?: a call for free improvisation in our schools. Int. J. Music. Educ. 27, 285–299. doi: 10.1177/0255761409345442
Higgins L. (2008). The creative music workshop: event, facilitation and gift. Int. J. of Mus. Educ. 26, 326–338. doi: 10.1177/0255761408096074
Higgins L. (2012). Community music: In theory and in practice. New York: Oxford University Press.
Higgins L. Campbell P. S. (2010). Free to be musical: Group improvisation in music. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
Higgins L. Mantie R. (2013). Improvisation as ability, culture, and experience. Music. Educ. J. 100, 38–44. doi: 10.1177/0027432113498097
Hopper T. (2012). Constraints-led approach and emergent learning: using complexity thinking to frame collectives in creative dance and inventing games as learning systems. Open Sports Sci. J. 5, 76–87. doi: 10.2174/1875399X01205010076
Howell G. Higgins L. Bartleet B. L. (2017). “Community music practice: intervention through facilitation” in The Oxford handbook of music making and leisure. eds. Mantie R. Smith G. D. (New York: Oxford University Press), 601–618.
International Organization for Migration (2025). The global appeal for 2025. Available online at: https://www.iom.int/msite/global-appeal-2025/0 (Accessed January 22, 2025).
Kenny A. (2018). Voice of Ireland? Children and music within asylum seeker accommodation. Res. Stud. Music Educ. 40, 211–225. doi: 10.1177/1321103X18794197
Kenny A. (2021). “Body politics: positioning the pregnant researcher amongst asylum seekers” in The politics of diversity in music education. eds. Kallio A. A. Westerlund H. Karlsen S. Marsh K. Saether E. (Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature), 29–38.
Kenny A. (2022). Music facilitator experiences of working in asylum seeker centres: complexities, dilemmas and opportunities. Int. J. Music. Educ. 40, 542–553. doi: 10.1177/02557614221076150
Keylin V. (2023). Creative agencies in participatory sound art: two case studies. Organise Sound 28, 13–24. doi: 10.1017/S1355771822000085
Kreichauf R. (2018). From forced migration to forced arrival: the campization of refugee accommodation in European cities. Comp. Migr. Stud. 6:7. doi: 10.1186/s40878-017-0069-8, PMID: 29607293
LaBelle B. (2018). Sonic agency: Sound and emergent forms of resistance. London: Goldsmiths Press.
Lampasiak A. Welte A. (2024). Embodied musical improvisation: how the body fosters improvising groups. J. Res. Arts Educ. 2, 41–52. doi: 10.26034/vd.jrea.2024.4720
Lenette C. (2019). Arts-based methods in refugee research: Creating sanctuary. Singapore: Springer.
Lenette C. Procopis B. (2016). ’They change us’: the social and emotional impacts on music facilitators of engaging in music and singing with asylum seekers. Music Arts Action 5, 55–68.
Lenette C. Procopis B. Caballero P. (2018). “They’d just “flown away”: reflections on shifting gender norms in the context of engagement with asylum seekers and refugees through community music” in The routledge handbook of community development research. eds. Shevellar L. Westoby P. (London: Routledge), 41–54.
Lenette C. Weston D. Wise P. Sunderland N. Bristed H. (2015). Where words fail, music speaks: the impact of participatory music on the mental health and wellbeing of asylum seekers. Arts Health 8, 125–139. doi: 10.1080/17533015.2015.1037317
Loughran J. (2005). Researching teaching about teaching: self-study of teacher education practices. Stud. Teach. Educ. 1, 5–16. doi: 10.1080/17425960500039777
Lytle S. L. Cochran-Smith M. (1992). Teacher research as a way of knowing. Harv. Educ. Rev. 62, 447–474.
Mangifesta N. (2019). The role of smartphones in Stregoni’s improvised music workshops for asylum seekers and refugees. Contemp. Music. Rev. 38, 521–525. doi: 10.1080/07494467.2019.1684066
Mani C. (2022). The ‘becomings’: singing and songwriting with mothers and midwives at south-East Queensland. Health Promot. Int. 37, i37–i48. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daac019, PMID: 35435958
Matarosso F. (2019). A Restless Art: how participation won, and why it matters. Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
McCartney A. (2000) Sounding places with Hildegard Westerkamp. [Doctoral dissertation]. Toronto: University of York.
McNiff J. Whitehead J. (2005). Action research for teachers: A practical guide. London: David Fulton.
Merleau-Ponty M. (1962). Phenomenology of perception. Translated by Smith C.. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Middlewood D. Coleman M. Lumby J. (1999). Practitioner research in education: Making a difference. London: Paul Chapman.
Monk A. (2013). Symbolic interactionism in music education: eight strategies for collaborative improvisation. Music. Educ. J. 99, 76–81. doi: 10.1177/0027432112467823
Mulcaire J. Smetham D. Holt L. Zard S. Brady F. O'Driscoll C. (2024). Impact of the asylum determination process on mental health in the UK and EU+: a systematic review and thematic synthesis. BMJ Public Health 2:e000814. doi: 10.1136/bmjph-2023-000814, PMID: 40018616
Newell K. M. (2003). Change in motor learning: a coordination and control perspective. Motriz Rio Claro. 9, 1–6.
Nicolaou G. Nijs L. van Petegem P. (2023). Moving in musicking: the evolving pedagogical practice of the artist-facilitator within asylum seeker centers. Front. Psychol. 14:1177355. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1177355, PMID: 37425152
Nijs L. Nicolaou G. (2021). Flourishing in resonance: joint resilience building through music and motion. Front. Psychol. 12:666702. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.666702, PMID: 34135825
Nunn C.. (2018). Dispersed belongings: a participatory arts-based study of experiences of resettled refugee young people in regional cities in Australia and the United Kingdom. A report for project partners. Manchester Centre for Youth Studies.
O’Reilly Z. (2020). The in-between spaces of asylum and migration. Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
O’Toole M. F.. (2014). Sonic citizenship: music, migration, and transnationalism in Berlin’s Turkish and Anatolian diasporas. [dissertation]. [Chicago (IL)]: University of Chicago.
Paquette D. McCartney A. (2012). Soundwalking and the bodily exploration of places. Can. J. Commun. 37, 135–145. doi: 10.22230/cjc.2012v37n1a2543
Perry M. Medina C. L. (2011). Embodiment and performance in pedagogy research: investigating the possibility of the body in curriculum experience. J. Curric. Theor. 27, 62–75. doi: 10.63997/jct.v27i3.100
Petchauer E. Harvey T. Ybarra R. (2023). Sonic play: on the B-side of literacy and songwriting. Engl. Teach. Pract. Crit. 22, 462–481. doi: 10.1108/etpc-08-2023-0091
Pistrick E. (2020). Dangerous fields: existentiality, humanity and musical creativity in German refugee camps. Viol Int. J. 2, 1–22. doi: 10.1177/2633002420949551
Rosengren K. S. Braswell G. S. (2003). “Constraints and the development of children’s drawing and writing skills” in Development of movement coordination in children: Applications in the fields of ergonomics, health sciences, and sport. eds. Savelsbergh G. J. P. Davids K. van der Kamp J. Bennet S. (New York, NY: Routledge), 56–74.
Sloboda J. Baker G. De bisschop A. Karttunen S. Mazzola A. Rojas J. S. et al. (2020). Music for social impact: an overview of context, policy and activity in four countries. Belgium, Colombia, Finland, and the UK. Finn. J. Music Educ. 23, 116–143.
Small C. (1998). Musicking: the meanings of performing and listening. Wesleyan University Press.
Sunderland N. Istvandity L. Lakhani A. Lenette C. Procopis B. Caballero P. (2015). They [do more than] interrupt us from sadness: exploring the impact of participatory music making on social determinants of health and wellbeing for refugees in Australia. Health Cult. Soc. 8, 1–19. doi: 10.5195/hcs.2015.195
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2023). Global trends: Forced displacement in 2023. Available online at: https://www.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/2024-06/global-trends-report-2023.pdf (Accessed January 20, 2025).
Vallée M. (2020). Music, body, and embodiment: the aesthetic shaping of place. Contemp. Music. Rev. 39, 177–188 doi: 10.1080/07494467.2020.1802195
Van der Kolk B. A. (2014). The body keeps the score: Brain, mind, and body in the healing of trauma. New York: Penguin Books.
Van Zijl A. G. W. De bisschop A. (2023). Layers and dynamics of social impact: musicians’ perspectives on participatory music activities. Musicae Sci. 28, 348–364. doi: 10.1177/10298649231205553
Westerkamp H. (1994). “The soundscape on radio” in Radio rethink: Art, sound and transmission. eds. Augaitis D. Lander D. (Banff: Walter Philips Gallery), 87–94.
Western T. (2020). Listening with displacement: sound, citizenship, and disruptive representations of migration. Migr. Soc. Adv. Res. 3, 294–309. doi: 10.3167/arms.2020.030128
Weston D. Lenette C. (2016). Performing freedom: the role of music-making in creating a community in asylum seeker detention centers. Int. J. Commun Music. 9, 121–134. doi: 10.1386/ijcm.9.2.121_1
Wigram T. Pedersen I. N. Bonde L. O. (2002). A comprehensive guide to music therapy. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Yeates K. W. (2024). “Body-voice and improvisation to explore trauma-informed performative pedagogy” in Performative language learning with refugees and migrants. eds. Piazzoli E. Dalziel F. (London: Routledge), 157–173.
Zećo M. Videnović M. Žmukić M. (2023). Sound improvisation through image and shape. Vis. Arts Music 9, 101–112. doi: 10.22190/FUVAM231002009Z
Ziersch A. Due C. (2018). A mixed methods systematic review of studies examining the relationship t between housing and health for people from refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds. Soc. Sci. Med. 213, 199–219. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.045
