Search Results (25)

Despite growing interest in transmedia edutainment, its limits—especially those experienced by students embedded in non-western educational cultural settings—remain underexamined. This article offers a theoretically grounded and empirically supported analysis of the cultural–pedagogical frictions shaping transmedia edutainment in Hong Kong higher education, focusing on students whose learning dispositions have been historically and institutionally formed by examination-oriented meritocracy and instrumentalist epistemologies. Using a mixed qualitative design combining focus-group interviews and classroom ethnographic observations, we show why implementation efforts frequently stalled and how they were ultimately absorbed by a prevailing neoliberal–Confucian educational culture that moralizes achievement and standardizes value recognition. Drawing on a Bourdieusian framework, we interrogate how students’ educational illusio—animated by content instrumentalism, grade-oriented compliance, and meritocratic time-discipline—recasted multimodal engagement as instrumentalized participation optimized for legibility, security, and risk minimization. Moving beyond prevailing emphases on technological access or digital divides, we foreground habitus–field incongruence as the mechanism structuring ambivalent participation and deculturation from the intended ethos of creativity, critical inquiry, and collaborative participation. We conclude by calling for culturally responsive pedagogical shifts necessary for cultivating more genuine participatory cultures in transmedia learning environments. Full article

The mathematical universe of the quantum topos, which is formulated on the basis of classical Boolean snapshots, delivers a neo-realist description of quantum mechanics that preserves realism. The main contribution of this article is developing formal objectivity in physical theories beyond quantum mechanics in the topos-theory approach. It will be shown that neo-realist responses to non-perturbative structures of quantum field theory do not preserve realism. In this regard, the method of Feynman graphons is applied to reframe the task of describing objectivity in quantum field theory in terms of replacing the standard Hilbert-space/operator-algebra ontology with a new context category built from a certain family of topological Hopf subalgebras of the topological Hopf algebra of renormalization as algebraic/combinatorial data tied to non-perturbative structures. This topological-Hopf-algebra ontology, which is independent of instrumentalist probabilities, enables us to reconstruct gauge field theories on the basis of the mathematical universe of the non-perturbative topos. The non-Boolean logic of the non-perturbative topos cannot be recovered by classical Boolean snapshots, which is in contrast to the quantum-topos reformulation of quantum mechanics. The article formulates a universal version of the non-perturbative topos to show that quantum field theory is a globally and locally neo-realist theory which can be reconstructed independent of the standard Hilbert-space/operator-algebra ontology. Formal objectivity of the universal non-perturbative topos offers a new route to build objective semantics for non-perturbative structures. Full article

With amateur and professional musicians facing high risks to mental and physical health, it is important to reflect on the nature of instrumental music education and to design novel educational approaches that take the development of well-being into account. In this article, I plead for a “caring” stance towards instrumental music education, conceiving the development of well-being as an integral element of the development of musicianship. First, I define such a caring stance, conceiving of musical development and the development of well-being as the two chains of the DNA of music education, with the PERMA building blocks of well-being as the bases of the ladder that connects the two chains. Next, I discuss how a synergy between the development of musicianship and well-being can be achieved by a constraints-led approach to integrating these building blocks of well-being into the dynamics of a music lesson. Then, I present a novel approach to instrumental music education that seeks to achieve the synergy between developing well-being and musicianship by educating the performing body beyond a mere instrumentalist approach to the body and musical instruments through the incorporation of movement-based learning activities. After elaborating on the guiding principles of this “kinemusical” approach, I exemplify the presented framework by discussing two learning activities in relation to the constraints-led integration of the PERMA building blocks of well-being. This exploratory work is presented as an initial step in a broader research agenda. It invites critical engagement and dialog to refine and advance the proposed kinemusical approach, with implications for both formal music education and the wider field of music research. Full article

In this paper, we argue that what is sometimes at fault for the poor attendance and lack of engagement in schools observed from historically marginalized families is a missed opportunity to increase understanding or cultural relevance on the part of schools. In this paper, we use the construct of “counter stories” which has the potential to change the script on the instrumentalist demands of quantity versus quality in parent engagement. By providing examples of what we consider “quality” engagement techniques via the staff’s interpretation of their roles within one demographically rich early learning center, the strategies used to engage parents are documented. Counter-stories of practice show family-centrism as interpreted by school leaders. By describing one community context and its practices of building relationships with newcomer families, relationally driven parent engagement techniques are revealed. The authors highlight how inquiry-based methods surpass the generic approaches described in policy. When parent engagement “arises” from within parents’ motivations and informs authentic knowing (by teachers and school leaders), community systems are elevated. Professionals’ decisions about children and community groups that are informed by families’ knowledge are consequently meaningful and authentic. Full article

It is well established that women’s representation in scientific and technical fields decreases with societal affluence, but the mechanisms underlying this so-called paradox remain contested. This study leverages distinctive features of the Israeli educational system to identify social psychological and organizational mechanisms driving contextual variability in the gendering of physics and computing subjects. Using in-depth interviews and original surveys, we compare gender gaps in ninth graders’ attitudes and aspirations across two highly segregated yet centrally administered state school sectors: one serving the socioeconomically marginalized Arab Palestinian minority, and one serving the Jewish secular majority. Results reveal curricular affinities, discourses, and course-taking patterns that are differentially gendered across school sectors. While boys and girls in Arab Palestinian schools report more instrumentalist motivations and more positive attitudes toward mathematically intensive fields, students in Jewish schools engage in highly gendered, self-reflexive discourses that support gendered course-taking. Findings support arguments positing gender-specific effects of postmaterialist, individualistic value systems, and suggest that the cultural and organizational processes that generate larger gender gaps in more affluent countries may also play out within countries. Full article

Multiselfing is a form of musicianship where one person digitally clones themself into several single selves, creating layers and a musical collective that would otherwise be impossible without the mediation of technology. There are various kinds of multiselfers. This article categorizes them as the following: singers, instrumentalists, loopers, live performers, and hybrids. While these five categories are presented distinctly here, they may often overlap. This article explores the notion of multiselfing and its implicit potential when situated in music education to develop comprehensive music skills. Comprehensive musicianship is important because it enables students to grow in broad musical knowledge and skills at all levels of instruction by synthesizing the musical materials they are working with and by making conceptual connections through performance, analysis, and composition. In addition to including many examples, this article also includes lists of resources and applications to help schoolteachers better understand how to integrate multiselfing into their pedagogic practices. Full article

Background: Recent studies have shown an association between playing wind instruments and their impact on the orofacial system. However, they have not fully evaluated all aspects of the topic, leaving a gap in the overall understanding. Methods: A thorough search of the National Library of Medicine database was conducted using our research strategy, resulting in the identification of relevant studies. An expert perspective was obtained by conducting two in-depth expert interviews with a professor of horn-playing and a specialised dentist. Results: Thirty-seven relevant publications were included in the traditional literature review. The most common diseases among professional wind instrumentalists include the lip area, temporomandibular joint, oral mucosa, respiratory system, oral allergic reactions, and orofacial trauma. Special measures, preventive measures, and expert opinions were utilised to address and overcome the associated orofacial problems. Conclusions: Wind instruments affect the oral health and tooth movement of professional instrumentalists, and dentists should consider the impact of dental changes on embouchure and performance. Dental impressions and three-dimensional intra-oral scans are important for reconstruction. This research highlights the need for specialised dental care for professional wind instrumentalists, and further studies are necessary to fully explore this topic. Full article

Playing-related pain poses a significant health concern for musicians, often impacting their ability to perform. Therapeutic exercise emerges as a viable approach to alleviate these symptoms, offering a low-cost intervention with minimal side effects. This review seeks to examine and assess the efficacy of therapeutic exercise in reducing pain intensity among instrumental musicians. Three major databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus) were systematically searched from November 2023 to June 2024. The inclusion criteria required studies to be randomized clinical trials focusing on pain intensity in instrumental musicians, published in the last 10 years. Two independent researchers assessed the characteristics and methodological quality of the selected studies. Out of 305 identified studies, 15 underwent full-text reviews, with 5 ultimately included in the analysis. The total participant count was 273, with an average intervention duration of 32.5 min per session, twice weekly for eight weeks. Overall, therapeutic exercise interventions demonstrated favorable effects, with three studies exhibiting good methodological quality. The meta-analysis revealed significant positive results favoring exercise in reducing pain intensity, with positive responses observed across all clinical populations, so therapeutic exercise appears to be an effective approach for reducing pain intensity in musicians experiencing playing-related pain. Full article

This paper outlines three broad models that have informed the relationship between the law and children’s involvement in decision making—the property/instrumentalist approach, the welfare approach, and a rights-based approach. It identifies and critiques contemporary legal practices that regulate children’s decision making against the standards required under a rights-based approach. The focus is on three contexts—(i) statutory bright line minimum age rules; (ii) presumptive age limits, and (iii) individual decision making involving children where there is often an interplay between the principle of Gillick competency and the parens patriae jurisdiction of a court. The key arguments advanced are that a rights-based approach tolerates minimum age rules and presumptive age limits under certain conditions. A rights-based approach also aligns closely with the principle of Gillick competency but offers a deeper and more nuanced insight into how to enable and support decision making with children across childhood. Finally, a rights-based approach also offers novel insights into how the parens patriae jurisdiction of common law courts, with its historical emphasis on the protection of children, could be developed to better protect children’s rights and decisional autonomy. Full article

The aim of this study is to highlight the changes that occur regarding dento-facial morphology, facial, and masticatory muscles in musicians who play wind instruments. Anatomical and functional changes may occur after the long-term use of each type of wind instrument. We considered studies of the impact of playing the wind instrument on the masticatory muscle activity and the resulting modifications. Both children and adults can be affected by playing wind instruments in regard to tooth positioning and facial morphology. These changes relate to the type of wind instruments, the type of vowels and tones used by instrumentalists. There most valuable breathing techniques have been identified that improve the redistribution of pressure, with a minimizing effect on the morphological changes in the oral cavity and cephalic extremity, implicitly on the masticatory functional disorders. In addition to these beneficial effects on the stomatognathic system, these breathing techniques favorably increase lung capacity. Furthermore, a series of toning exercises for neck muscles—which are actively involved and overworked by wind instrument-playing artists—was identified. The study concludes that less experienced instrumentalists demonstrate increased facial muscle engagement, possibly leading to excessive strain, while experienced instrumentalists exhibit more optimized patterns of muscle activity. The novelty of this research lies in its interdisciplinary approach to understanding the influence of wind instruments on dento-facial morphology, addressing preventive and corrective measures to mitigate undesirable outcomes. Full article

Musicians often report orofacial pain (OFP) and performance-related psychological distress related to occupational neuromuscular overuse, but to date, no study has been performed in Asian musicians to assess these factors. This study evaluated OFP, psychological distress, coping behaviors, and disability among Asian musical performers. A total of 201 participants in Singaporean music ensembles were surveyed from which 159 met the inclusion criteria for vocalists or instrumentalist musicians (mean age 20.26 ± 2.20 years). Self-administered questionnaires assessed musical practices, jaw/neck pre-conditioning exercises, pain-related temporomandibular disorders (TMD), OFP descriptors, pain chronicity and disability, coping behaviors and psychological distress. Univariate and multi-variate analyses were carried out. OFP, while performing, was more than two-fold higher in instrumentalists when compared to vocalists (41.4–48% vs. 17.2%, p = 0.002). A similar trend occurred for OFP that progresses while playing (p = 0.035) and for persistent OFP that reduces playing (p = 0.001). There were no differences in psychological distress, pain coping and disability between groups. Vocalists were found to practice jaw/neck pre-conditioning exercises more frequently (75% vs. 4–12.9% in instrumentalists, p < 0.0001). While performing, Asian vocalists reported less OFP when compared to instrumentalists. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm if pre-conditioning exercises play a protective role against OFP in vocalists. Full article

Due to airborne transmission of the coronavirus, the question arose as to how high the risk of spreading infectious particles can be while playing a wind instrument. To examine this question and to help clarify the possible risk, we analyzed 14 wind instruments, first qualitatively by making airflows visible while playing, and second quantitatively by measuring air velocity at three distances (1, 1.5, 2 m) in the direction of the instruments’ bells. Measurements took place with wind instrumentalists of the Bamberg Symphony in their concert hall. Our findings highlight that while playing, no airflows escaping from any of the wind instruments—from the bell with brass instruments or from the mouthpiece, keyholes or bell with woodwinds—were measurable beyond a distance of 1.5 m, regardless of volume, pitch or what was played. With that, air velocity while playing corresponded to the usual value of 1 m/s in hall-like rooms. For air-jet woodwinds, alto flute and piccolo, significant air movements were seen close to the mouthpiece, which escaped directly into the room. Full article

Background: Specific dentofacial characteristics in wind instrumentalists should be taken in consideration when analyzing physiological and anatomical issues regarding the musician’s embouchure, posture, and biomechanics during musical performance. Objectives: To compare tooth cephalometric characteristics between wind instrument players and string players (overjet, overbite, lower facial height, facial convexity, lower incisor inclination, and interincisal angle). Methods: In total, 48 wind instrumentalists (67%) and 24 string instrumentalists (33%). These musicians performed lateral tele-radiography and the correspondent linear and angular measurements of the dentofacial cephalometric analysis. Statistical comparison of wind and string instrumentalists was made by using an independent t-test. Results: Small variations on the analyzed parameters were found between the wind and string instrument groups. Based on the cephalometric analysis the variable interincisal angle was statistically significant (p < 0.05), when comparing the wind and string instrument group. Conclusions: Knowledge of the overjet and overbite value permits a substantial analysis on the tooth position of wind instrument players, where both of these parameters are increased and greater than the norm value. The cephalometry was an added value on the interpretation of possible factors that lead to the position of the central incisors of wind instruments. Till some extent in this group of musicians the applied forces during the embouchure mechanism on the anterior teeth and the existing perioral forces promote an equilibrium on the vector of forces. This study findings demonstrate that when evaluating the two samples, wind and string instruments there are different dentofacial configurations, however the only statistically significant differences that were found are related to the interincisal angle (p < 0.05). Full article

Background: The occurrence of an orofacial trauma can originate health, social, economic and professional problems. A 13-year boy suffered the avulsion of tooth 11 and 21, lost at the scenario. Methods: Three intraoral appliances were manufactured: A Hawley appliance with a central expansion screw and two central incisors (1), trumpet edentulous anterior tooth appliance (2) and a customized splint (3) were designed as part of the rehabilitation procedure. Objectively assessing the sound quality of the trumpet player with these new devices in terms of its spectral, temporal, and spectro-temporal audio properties. A linear frequency response microphone was adopted for precision measurement of pitch, loudness, and timbre descriptors. Results: Pitch deviations may result from the different intra-oral appliances due to the alteration of the mouth cavity, respectively, the area occupied and modification/interaction with the anatomy. This investigation supports the findings that the intra-oral appliance which occupies less volume is the best solution in terms of sound quality. Conclusions: Young wind instrumentalists should have dental impressions of their teeth made, so their dentist has the most reliable anatomy of the natural teeth in case of an orofacial trauma. Likewise, the registration of their sound quality should be done regularly to have standard parameters for comparison. Full article

This article constitutes a literature review, focusing on the idea of holistic learning, as found in key sources, and its essential contrasting with instrumentalist approaches to learning. It will move to explore updated research on holistic learning factors, with special attention to insights gleaned from values pedagogy and the research that underpins it. The article will juxtapose those insights with the instrumentalism that, it will allege, too often dictates teacher education directions. The article will conclude with an argument that teacher education has become, in modern times, a service industry, too often serving the agendas of governments and teacher unions, rather than preparing teachers to follow the guidelines provided by the latest research into student wellbeing and societal betterment. The article will focus especially on a number of Australian examples to mount the argument that nonetheless applies more generally across Western domains. Full article