Explaining how young adults living with Williams syndrome learn life skills through music : a case study

Abstract

This study was motivated by the fact that young adults living with Williams syndrome in South Africa do not have access to post-secondary institutions capable of addressing their distinctive educational needs. I was further driven to conduct this study due to the lack of support in the South African post-secondary educational system for young adults with Williams syndrome. The issues addressed in this study are: 1) the untapped potential of using music to teach life skills to young adults living with Williams syndrome as well as 2) a lack of scholarly literature on how young adults with Williams syndrome learn life skills through music. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to generate a theory that explains how young adults living with Williams syndrome, at Berkshire Hills Music Academy (BHMA) in Massachusetts, USA, learn life skills through music. Data were collected at BHMA over six weeks during which I was mostly a nonparticipant observer. Thematic analysis of data was the method adopted to analyse transcripts of in-depth semi-structured interviews, photos, observation notes, emails, blog entries and Facebook posts in ATLAS.ti 7. The theory emerging from this study includes the following constructs: 1) inhibiting conditions (specific challenges inhibit the learning of young adults living with Williams syndrome); 2) central phenomenone (engagement in music activities facilitates learning for young adults living with Williams syndrome); 3) causal conditions (you are safe, valued and able); 4) strategies: (“breaking the mould”, putting students’ needs and abilities first); 5) consequences (learning life skills through engagement in music activities). The relationship between the concepts and constructs of this theoretical proposition can be summed up as follows: i. If young adults living with Williams syndrome have the opportunity to learn through engagement in music activities (central phenomenon) within a safe environment in which they are engaged and feel supported, appreciated and motivated, and feel that they belong and feel that they are competent (causal conditions), and How young adults with WS at BHMA learn life skills through music ii. if educators are willing to focus on the abilities of these young adults by putting their needs first (strategies), iii. then the young adults living with Williams syndrome should be able to overcome various challenges (conditions inhibiting learning) and ultimately develop the life skills they need to live well (consequences). This study made me realise the importance of advocating for the inclusion of music into the general curriculum, especially at post-secondary level in South Africa. There is also a need for more research on how to accommodate the educational needs of young adults living with Williams syndrome, as even the most recent research related to the topic is focused on the education of children living with Williams syndrome.