Hi Everyone,
These words were spoken by Gary Ansdell, a music therapist, trainer and researcher, and Director of Education for Nordoff Robbins (http://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/) at a recent conference entitled Music and Communication: Music Therapy and Music Psychology held on 20th September 2013.
The focus of the conference was to bring together researchers from the fields of Music Therapy and Music Psychology to discuss the concept of Music and Communication. These are two fields, which have traditionally researched music from different theoretical positions, using different methodologies but often were probing similar research questions.
During the conference researchers from both fields collaborated to consider "what should we know about music and communication?". The notion of a conference being a "platform for disagreement" was a phrase that made me sit-up, listen and consider the importance of conferences for researchers.
The word "disagreement" can be associated with negativity which for some individuals may be associated with challenging others or being challenged. However, it was clear that the conference stimulated conversations which were positive and beneficial to those attending.
Mutual respect, the sharing of ideas/approaches/research focuses were promoted, thereby illustrating that communicating and being open-minded would broaden our knowledge about music and communication, and both fields too. It was clear that the conference provided a "platform for discussion", which is, in my opinion slightly different to "platform for disagreement", and those discussions took various forms, but central to them was the notion that the majority of researchers are concerned with investigating music and people.
For me, it was refreshing for a conference to actively promote discussion about an area of research with individuals who share common goals and I am sure that it will promote future research collaborations.
For more information about the conference have a look at: http://www.nordoff-robbins.org.uk/content/what-we-do/research-and-resources/nordoff-robbins-plus-conference-series.
Stephanie.
