Musical Engagement: A Conceptual Model of Contextual Influences

The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model of contextual influences on musical engagement in a person's life. I developed this domain-specific conceptual model based on Bronfenbrenner's (2001) bioecological theory of human development. The model accounts for multiple, interacting contexts that may influence an adolescent's musical development. In this model, I consider one's musical life as an acknowledgment of the multitude of ways that music is a part of their daily life. A musical life encompasses more than a formal music education, and as Abeles (2010) posits, "Music education does not exist isolated in the music classroom. It is influenced by trends in general education, society, culture, and politics" (p.1). In this proposed contextual model, a person's musical life can be seen as being influenced by three systems with dynamic interactions. While extant music education research seems to suggest certain factors are associated with the likelihood of a particular student enrolling in school music programs, such as race and socioeconomic status, many other contexts are interacting upon those decisions (Elpus, 2022). Thus, when we look at students who are enrolled in school music programs, it can be easy to focus on a singular aspect, such as race, socioeconomic status, or prior experience. However, to fully understand who is in the music classroom, it is important to consider an array of factors holistically.