Religious music in everyday life: adolescents’ identity work in Catholic schooling

Abstract

This study sought to investigate adolescents' lived experiences of religious music in three Australian Catholic schools. Specifically, this study explores how religious music is used within Catholic schools and examines how religious music experiences in Catholic schools shape adolescents' religious and musical identities.As a practising music teacher in a Catholic school, the motivation to undertake this study emerged as I witnessed adolescents' engagement with religious music on a regular basis. I was intrigued to ascertain the ways in which their engagement with religious music was supporting or shaping their identity work.Existing literature revealed the ways in which music in the everyday life of adolescents influences their identity work. However a significant gap existed concerning the ways in which religious music may influence or inform adolescents' identity work. Religious music is a vital part of Catholic schools' identity, whereby students become religious observants to this important tradition.Australian Catholic schools were chosen as sites for this study as these schools provide a unique social context with specific cultural values and a contextualised exposure to music participation. (2001) emphasised how music can be considered as a life philosophy for adolescents. Music is used as a resource to make sense of lifeworlds and as a tool for worldbuilding (DeNora, 2000(DeNora, , 2003. Literature also describes the active role music plays in the construction of an individual's identity (DeNora, 2000). Music can be used as a social dialogue, to express personal meanings, and has the ability to influence behaviour. D. H. Hargreaves and Hargreaves (1967) and Hargreaves and North (1997) argue that social interaction, social institutions, and our social environment shape musical identities. Consideration of those interactions, institutions, and environments unique to Catholic school settings underpins this study.iii A qualitative research design was chosen to gain a deep and rich insight into the meanings, beliefs, and values adolescents hold about religious music experiences. Using an interpretivist paradigm suggests that adolescents' lifeworlds are central to the research process, and acknowledges the subjective position of adolescents' experiences. The study's educational environment consisted of three Australian Catholic schools: one all-girls, one all-boys, and one co-educational. Data was generated over one school term, using a case study design. Data methods included individual interviews, group interviews, and observation. These methods enabled adolescents to share their views, beliefs, and experiences, illuminating their rich and complex identity work. Through narrative inquiry, I created an authentic and detailed account (Kroon, 2009) of each participant's experiences, in order to examine the phenomenon of adolescents' religious and musical identities, and how these identities are shaped by religious music. The narratives were then analysed to draw key themes, as well as similarities t...