Semantic Structure of Lifelong Music Education Researches in Korea

This article is to examine the semantic structure of previously published studies on lifelong music education in Korea. And Text mining analysis was conducted using abstracts of related papers as source data. The main analysis results are as follows. First, the most important topic was ‘music education for the elderly.’ Second, the main musical instrument was the piano, the genre was traditional music and classical music, and the form of education was more in group than individual. Third, the most important related institution was the university-affiliated lifelong education center, and most of the research focused on the tutees rather than the tutors. Fourth, mentions of the meaning and effects of lifelong music education occupy a certain proportion. Fifth, words related to research methodology also formed a certain group. Sixth, the network analysis confirmed the strong centrality of the elderly and music education. And CONCOR analysis showed that the main discourse topics discussed in this research subject largely converged into as follows. ‘Educational administration’, ‘research methodology and psychological effects’, ‘social meaning and prospects of the elderly music education’, and ‘tutees and educational materials’.