Abstract

Action Research is a qualitative strategy that is particularly suitable and successful where the intended outcome is to implement change, improve a situation or solve a practical problem, rather than to generate new knowledge (Elliott, 1991). Action Research operates within flexible cycles of enquiry, intervention and evaluation (Somekh, 2006), and is characterised by always being carried out by insiders within an organisation (Wilson, 2009). As a specialist physiotherapist employed within one of the UKs pre-conservatoire Specialist Music Schools, I had a strong sense that the playing related injuries amongst the pupils that I was treating were preventable. Injuries ranged from ‘inconvenient’ to ‘career ending’. This concurred with findings from research looking at injuries in Conservatoire students and professional orchestral musicians. Health promotion and performance-wellness strategies within Conservatoires have been found to be successful in reducing injuries, but have been found to have no impact on injuries that occurred prior to joining a Conservatoire. This presentation illustrates how Action Research, as an EdD project, is being used to change attitudes and approaches to playing related injuries, health promotion and injury prevention within one of the UKs Specialist Music Schools.