ACTIVATION OF STRESS-OVERCOMING STRATEGIES OF FUTURE PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS WITH THE HELP OF MUSIC

Abstract

The article examines the use of music in the process of students’ implementation of stress-relieving strategies during the period of martial law. A theoretical analysis of musical means (imaginative music-making, therapeutic song-writing, active music-making, joint music-making, joint improvisation, music listening, integrative music therapy techniques, in particular using the Orff approach) as factors in the activation of stress-overcoming strategies was carried out. An empirical study of the structure of personal stress coping strategies of future teachers in war conditions was conducted with the help of a survey and the Coping Strategy Indicator (CSI) method by James H. Amirkhan. The optimal musical techniques for the activation of the mentioned strategies have been found out.
According to the empirical study, it was found that the vast majority of students choose musical techniques in view of their positive effect on communication processes, activation of mechanisms of social and psychological adaptation, psychophysiology. Moreover, students choose musical techniques taking in consideration the influence on the processes of excitation and inhibition, self-awareness and self-regulation, and regulation of psycho-emotional and cognitive activity. The analysis of students’ stress-coping strategies indicates a significant advantage of the stress-coping tendency of ‘problem solving’ and ‘seeking social support’, which are considered to be more effective strategies in a stressful situation compared to the ‘avoidance’ strategy, which is not often used by students.
Using Spielberger – Hanin State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) the dynamics of changes of anxiety levels as a result of the musical intervention were analyzed. Based on the results obtained, a positive relationship between musical techniques and the level of situational and personal anxiety was revealed. The tendency to decrease the level of situational anxiety is more pronounced compared to personal anxiety, which corresponds to the norms of response to stressful factors in the conditions of a war situation.
According to the research results, a conclusion was made about the expediency of using certain musical techniques during the performance of stress-relieving strategies, in order to do certain tasks that ensure efficiency of their introduction.