SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Educational Psychology
A Horizon Scan of Music Therapy in Education
Provisionally accepted
Xiangyu Wang*
Yifei Lyu- Inner Mongolia University of Science and Technology, Baotou, China
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Music therapy has increasingly gained recognition for its significant benefits in educational settings, particularly supporting students with diverse learning needs and enhancing overall well-being. Despite its growing importance, existing reviews on music therapy in education reveal critical gaps, including fragmented research efforts, limited interdisciplinary and international collaboration, and practical barriers to effective implementation, such as funding constraints and a shortage of qualified music therapists. This study aims to address these gaps by systematically analyzing publication trends, key contributors, and thematic clusters, offering both quantitative insights and qualitative depth. The findings indicate a robust growth in publications and citations, predominantly driven by Western institutions, while highlighting significant challenges such as research fragmentation and underrepresentation of media-related studies. Recommendations derived from this study include fostering interdisciplinary and international research collaborations, expanding media-related investigations, developing standardised assessment tools, and increasing funding and professional development opportunities. This study provides a strategic roadmap for advancing music therapy in education, offering actionable insights for researchers, educators, and policymakers to enhance the integration and effectiveness of music therapy practices in diverse educational contexts.
Keywords: Music Therapy, music education, emotional well-being, Content Analysis, bibliometric anal ysis
Received: 26 May 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang and Lyu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiangyu Wang, wangxy226@imust.edu.cn
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