Work Experience with IMM

My work experience placement consisted of two days online (during which I completed tasks on mapping and observed on a meeting) and 2 in-person days (spent observing music therapy sessions).

The first in-person day involved local year 6 students and elderly people from a church community. The atmosphere was vibrant and friendly! Everyone was signing along and the children danced (joined by some adults!) and performed songs from their school musical. Both age groups recognised lots of the same songs, and (since many were performed regularly at previous sessions) they were a routine that they both looked forwards to. Often, students asked elderly participants to dance together, and the older participants made jokes with students.

The second day involved a session with SEND students and elderly living in a care home. The positive atmosphere was overwhelming, even the nurses and carers seemed to enjoy it! There was a variety of abilities – many joined in to dance and sing while others observed. The music therapist ran interactive songs/activities to involve some of the elderly participants who otherwise wouldn’t be able to participate on their own. One of the students and an elderly participant (who later in an interview recalled her days as a music teacher in Galway) played the piano for the group. Participants were asked for their favourite songs, which were also included. Both groups were incredibly supportive of each other and found common interest within the songs. The students often interacted with the elderly participants, from shaking hands and high fives to short friendly conversations or shared smiles.

I learned how vital effective, friendly communication (with a variety of ages, abilities and needs) was a crucial part of each session. I developed my time management and research skills during the virtual days, doing independent research and recording it on an excel spreadsheet (which proved more difficult than I expected!)

My favourite part of the placement was getting to work with a variety of people – the working environment was incredibly friendly! This experience showed me ways to apply existing skills and musical knowledge in ways that I hadn’t considered before. It showed me an accessible, interactive side to music. The placement left me with a new-found certainty that I would like to work in the music therapy profession. I received advice from the music therapists about how they got into music therapy and on my next steps moving forwards, which was incredibly helpful!

In the future I would have loved the opportunity to attend more sessions or talk to more professionals in the field (I would have loved the opportunity to ask some more questions about their work!) I really enjoyed some of the virtual work experience too, and I would have loved to see how the project continues after the mapping has been complete. Sitting in on a meeting was a part of this, but I would have loved to see more about how sessions are organised and planned for. Overall, this was a great experience, thank you!