Facilitating focus groups in a research project about the long-term impact of Experiential Learning Groups: Learnings and reflections.
Experiential Learning Groups (ELGs) are a well-established element within UK music therapy training programmes, yet their longer-term impact on professional development and clinical practice remains largely unexplored. Focus groups were used to generate data for this qualitative study which explored how qualified music therapists retrospectively understand their experiences of ELGs. The research questions focused on understanding how music therapists made sense of their experiences and how these experiences have shaped professional identity, emotional wellbeing, understanding of musical and group processes and clinical work over time.
The presenters will share their learnings and reflections about the process of planning and facilitating the focus groups. Informed by the use of imagery in music therapy practice and drawing from the researchers’ experiences in conducting action research, creative activities were incorporated to support participants to revisit complex, embodied and relational learning experiences that had taken place years earlier during training. These activities were designed to stimulate memory, reflection, and collective meaning-making (Colucci, 2007; Kara, 2020).
The presentation will consider how these activities shaped the focus-group process: the kinds of discussion and interaction they prompted, their impact on group dynamics, the depth and forms of data generated, and the implications of the resulting material for analysis. It will also reflect on differences between groups, the impact of group size, participant-led conversation, and how these methodological choices influenced the process of data analysis. The presentation will include an exploration of the benefits and limitations of this creative approach, including recommendations for other researchers looking to use creative methods for data generation.