Tessa Sawyer

Tessa's research interest include:

-youth voice

-community music

-childhood and youth studies

-co-production and community research

-ethnography and qualitative research

Tessa's research is in collaboration with Sheffield Music School and uses a participatory, researcher-in-residence model. The research aim is to better understand disadvantaged young people's attitudes towards, and expectations of, music learning. Tessa will work with young people and music practitioners to design the research and refine the research questions. Data collection methods will reflect Sheffield Music School's aim to deliver projects in ways which are meaningful to young people, such as lyric writing, music rehearsals and performances, music videos, or focus groups reflecting on song writing processes. This research will contribute to the music education literature which challenges an agenda of measuring socially desirable outcomes and instead strives to understand the attitudes and expectations of young people choosing to engage with music education.