college & university


• Group musicking – including ensembles – offers social engage- ment that helps to coregulate the autonomic nervous system (Hooper, 2023).


• Singing in harmony, moving to- gether and improvising each pro- motes synchronicity in the body (Seighman, 2015), coherence in the self (Geller, 2018) and trust among students (Durham, 2023).


• Songwriting enables narratives that allow for both individual and collec- tive space-making (Birch, 2024).


Indeed, our ability to recognize the cogni- tive, social and polyvagal benefits of mu- sicking are limited only by how we choose to engage with music. Yet, a helpful start is to wholeheartedly and enthusiastically embrace play – especially in the realm of music teacher education.


The topic of play, while sometimes taken for granted, has become so important that in 2023, Michigan State University hosted a conference titled, “Play in Music Educa- tion Across the Lifespan.” Researchers like Brown (2009) point out that play is like oxygen: “It’s all around us yet goes mostly unnoticed or unappreciated until it is missing” (p. 6). Indeed, play is the life- blood of social connection, and when we bring a spirit of playfulness into the music classroom, we offer a learning environment where it is safe to try, to reflect, to honor and to connect with one another (emphasis added).


In summary, polyvagal theory provides a language – both in music teacher educa- tion and across society – for communi- cating about our survival responses and those survival responses of the people with whom we work in a non-judgmental fashion (Porges, 2017). Furthermore, play also expands our freedom to connect with ourselves and one another. Therefore, as we seek to better understand the impacts of trauma and how we can support one another, we can develop ways through musicking to facilitate affirming and ex- pressive spaces that promote creativity, freedom and safety.


Wisconsin School Musician References:


Birch, C. (2021). Voices From the Inside. In D. Bradley, & J. Hess (Eds.), Trauma and Resilience in Music Education (pp. 141–156). New York: Routledge.


Brown, S., & Vaughan, C. (2009). Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul. New York: Penguin.


Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging in the Rhythm of Regulation. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.


Durham, M. (2023). “Singing in Co- Harmony: An Introduction to Trauma Informed Voice Care.” Journal of Singing, 79(3), 369–378.


Faulkner, S.C. (2023). “Drumming, Rhythm and Regulation Through a Polyvagal Lens.” JoCAT, 18(1). https:// www.jocat-online.org/pp-23-faulkner


Geller, S. M. (2018). Therapeutic Presence and Polyvagal Theory: Principles and Practices for Cultivating Effective Therapeutic Relationships. In S. W. Porges & D. Dana (Eds.), Clinical Applications of the Polyvagal Theory: The Emergence of Polyvagal-Informed Therapies (pp. 106–126). New York: W. W. Norton.


Grooten, H. (2023). The Polyvagal Theory and Voice Disorders. In Koriath, E. J. (Ed.), Trauma and the Voice: A Guide for Singers, Teachers, and Other Practitioners (pp. 29–48). London: Rowman & Littlefield.


Hooper, L. (2023). A Comparison of Three Mind-Body Intervention Packages to Improve Transdiagnostic Symptoms Associated With Chronic


Stress Exposure in Children [Doctoral dissertation, University of Canterbury]. UC Campus Repository. https://doi. org/10.26021/15093


McFerran, K. S., Lai, H. I. C., Chang, W. H., Chin, T. C., Stokes, H., & Crooke, A. H. D. (2020). “Music, Rhythm and Trauma: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis of Research Literature.” Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 324. https://doi. org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00324


Percival, H. (2021). Can You Hear the Connection? A Study on Musical- Social Bonding (Publication No. 87551) [Doctoral dissertation, Texas Tech University]. TTU Campus Repository. https://hdl.handle.net/2346/87551


Porges, S. W. (2017). The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.


Seighman, G. B. (2015). “Exploring the Science of Ensemble Gestures, Emotion, and Collaboration in Choral Music Making.” The Choral Journal, 55(9), 8.


Small, C. (1998). Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.


David Potter is the assistant professor/ coordinator of music education at UW-Superior.


Email: dpotter1@uwsuper.edu


Jennifer Sharp is an assistant professor of counseling in the Department of Education at UW-Superior.


Email: jsharp4@uwsuper.edu


WMEA Service Awards


Learn more, and make your nominations today


at wmeamusic.org/awards. 23


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57