Primary school music

Primary teaching and music qualifications - a rare combination, not only in New Zealand today but in primary schools the world over for more than a decade. Helen Stowasser (1993) writes of 'insecure music teachers' and questions the adequacy of teacher education courses. The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum states: 'The arts develop the artistic and<br />aesthetic dimensions of human experience. They contribute to our intellectual ability and to our social, cultural and spiritual understandings. They are an essential element of daily living and of lifelong learning' [the italics are mine]. If our Ministry of Education truly believes this and wants<br />to ensure that the music discipline is adequately taught, then there are some issues to be addressed, such as recruitment of musically capable teachers; acceptable standards of professional expertise in music; content, length and timing of pre-service programmes; and making provision for teachers' ongoing development.<br />