Music education and mentoring as intervention for at-risk urban adolescents: Their self-perceptions, opinions, and attitudes

This study describes the role and importance of music education as interven tion for at-risk urban adolescents through participation in performance gro ups while receiving mentoring. Students' self-perceptions over six domains, including musical competency, were measured by scales administered pretest and posttest. Opinions and attitudes of students were gathered in structur ed interviews and coded for themes. Results showed a significant increase i n the students' self-perception of musical competence. A change from a mode rate positive relationship to a low positive relationship between perceived musical competency and global self-worth indicated that musical participat ion in students' lives was domain-specific, related to global self-worth, b ut not synonymous with it. Students ranking music as important in their liv es increased from 76% to 82% over the course of the study. Interviews resul ting in 101 themes provided evidence of the importance and role of music, m usic education, and the music teacher as mentor in the students lives.