Children's participation in music : connecting the cultural contexts - an Australian perspective

The cultural contexts of home, school and community all have important parts to play in the music education of children, but at present in Australia, these three entities are insufficiently connected on a number of fronts, not the least being an understanding about the purpose(s) of young people's engagement with music. This paper puts forward two specific proposals for action aimed to help build linkages among the three cultural contexts and ensure young people's on-going engagement with music. These proposals, which call on the education sector to assume leadership for action, have implications for policy makers, school personnel, as well as parents, individual artists and community arts organisations.

Enhancing students' experience in music composition through music notation software

A project was undertaken in a Hong Kong primary school to investigate the role of music notation software in leaching music composition. The project was divided into three stages. During the first stage, appropriate hardware equipment and software applications were installed in the school music room, and four teaching plans were developed on the models and strategies derived from findings in the local and international literature. During the second stage, these teaching plans were implemented in Grade One, Grade Three, Grade Five and Grade Six classes of the school. During the third stage, the effectiveness of these teaching activities was evaluated by comparing the experiences from the second stage to the corresponding findings from similar projects undertaken in other Hong Kong primary schools, as well as to findings from the international literature. The results demonstrated that tile visual and audio stimulation created by computer"based technology can motivate students to successfully engage in music composition. Moreover, computer"based technology provides an opportunity for students to compose music in an atonal idiom. However, a large number of students were unable to demonstrate the concept of structural design in their musical products, and one of the findings from this investigation was that teachers need to be more purposeful in their teaching by directing students to employ the technique of repetition of interesting musical fragments or phrases in order to achieve a sense of unity in their pieces.

Perceptions of multiculturalism in music education: what matters and why

Pre-service teacher education students from two Australian universities were interviewed about their understandings of cultural diversity in music education. These initial findings revealed varied but generally consistent enthusiasm about including music from different cultures in teaching. However comments revealed an almost haphazard exposure to other musics. These were generally informal rather than learned in their formal education. Interviewees recognised the training that they had received in their tertiary studies in other cultures (both Western and non-Western) and expressed the intention to pursue professional development in their future careers. Engaging with the music of other cultures allows teachers and students to develop understanding and empathy with others. This is in line with current governmental initiatives on values that states that values education is intended to 'inspire and educate the next generation to see their world through the eyes of others. We want children to become adults who are caring, tolerant, fair and compassionate' (Department of Education, Science and Training, n.d., p. 2). Comments from the interviewees illustrate just such attitudes and understandings. It behoves us as educators to prepare students for teaching in multicultural classrooms that reflect the wider Australian society.

Integration and multiculturalism in music in Australian schools: has/can/should the leopard change its spots?

The 1960s saw a broadening of the offerings of music from other cultures in the materials and programs of the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC). This is a useful indicator for our changing perceptions. Since then, increasingly ‘authentic’ music materials have been available to primary classroom teachers, but how far have we really come? Blacking (1973) identified the difficulty of truly acquiring an understanding, skill and authenticity in the music of another culture. Blacking stressed the importance of music and musical acquisition occurring in a cultural context. In many cultures there is a clear link between the acquisition of musical and social skills. By removing music from one culture and presenting it in the symbolic gestures of another we may strip much of its meaning. It is very difficult for a member of one culture to comprehend the music and culture of another without understanding its social milieu. This is particularly true for musics from cultures removed from the Western music paradigm. It could be argued that the further we move from our cultural norm, the harder it is to produce authentic experiences for students and future experienced teachers. By considering the resources offered to teachers and teacher education students we can explore the attempts we have made, and continue to make, in our attempts to move from integration to multiculturalism. As a ‘work in progress’, this paper will consider the inclusion of African music in the nationally distributed ABC school singing books as a means of illustrating and marking change.

School based partnerships : an Orff approach experiencing, exploring and engaging in music education

This article considers the role school-based partnerships can offer pre-service music education students. It is a reflection on what my students and I experienced, explored and engaged in music teaching and learning at a local primary school in Melbourne where the teacher is an Orff practitioner. As Wiggins says, 'Excellent teacher education programs provide students with experiences from which they can construct their own understandings of music, education, and music education' (Wiggins, 2007, p.36). Although both students and I kept reflective journals over our fiveweek visit during the first semester of 2008, this article selectively reports on some of my observation notes regarding music teaching and learning using the Orff approach. Such interaction paves the way for ongoing professional growth for all concerned (preservice students, music teacher and lecturer). It may be argued that school based partnerships offer students 'hands on' opportunities to 'develop an initial repertoire of teaching competencies, comprehend the various dimensions of music experience and understand student learning' (Campbell & Brummett, 2007. p.52). Although this article draws on the principal of linking theory to practice where the emphasis is on school and university partnerships (Henry, 2001) it makes pertinent links to the Orff approach to music teaching and learning.

Value perception in music information systems

When referring to the value that IS adds to business and provides to consumers, we often (implicitly or explicitly) pertain to monetary value. However, perspectives exist regarding the notion of value which go beyond the monetary significance and maintain a direct influence on businesses and their performance. This paper explores the concept of value, its importance in IS, and the importance of understanding of how IS stakeholders perceive value. The paper focuses on the challenge of studying value in IS -although value manifests in properties of an information system, it can only be experienced and perceived subjectively through sense perception, experience and judgement of the system stakeholders. To address this challenge, the paper suggests the existence of a clearly shifting trend in the perception of IS technology and comments on the social impacts of end-users (consumers) being absorbed into the value-creation process for an information system in the music industry.

Using the Victorian Curriculum and Standards Framework in music education

This research examined the usefulness of the Victorian Curriculum and Standards Framework as the basis for school music education in Victoria. Interviews with experienced primary and secondary teachers sought to determine the extent to which the Curriculum and Standards Framework had impacted upon their classroom teaching practice and contributed to an understanding of learning in music education.

Transforming value perception in music information systems

Information systems are changing the way artists and consumers create, use and interact with music. Music experience has become richer and more sophisticated than simply buying and listening to music. New links between IS and music are forging unprecedented levels of creative e-collaboration, innovative music technology development, new music commerce and marketing methods, alongside with the emergence of e-music communities nurturing up-and-coming artists careers. Distinct from non-creative industries, the music industry is at the forefront of technological innovation where the ubiquitous adoption of music downloading, widespread use of personal music systems, and value chain disintermediation has shifted the focus of value delivery towards consumer control. This paper provides new insights into the effect of recent technological change on stakeholders within the music industry value chain, and of music information systems upon creative music products. The paper further explores the stakeholder perceptions of the value added or depleted from music by the technology, and examines the future expectations of information systems amidst the volatility and uncertainty of the music industry.

Early childhood teachers' professional development in music : a cross-cultural study

This paper deals with professional teacher development. It specifically focuses on a research study of early childhood teachers' views and involvement in teaching music to young children. It presents findings from a comparative study of 38 teachers in three childcare centres in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and 24 teachers in four childcare centres in South Australia. Two research questions are discussed and answered: (1) What are early childhood teachers' levels of involvement in professional development in music? (2) Are there any significant relationships, that is differences and commonalities, in the findings between teachers' levels of involvement in these two cultural contexts? A unique research tool entitled Teachers' Music Development Scale was devised to collect data and measure teachers' involvement in music development. Specific findings and their implications are presented in the paper.

Opportunities and challenges : preparing generalist teacher education students in music education in Australia

The Australian Curriculum ‘the Arts’ will be implemented across Australia from 2014. This curriculum is expected to replace existing State and Territory curricula where educators are given the opportunity to review, renew, and refresh their practice. Music tertiary educators are faced with opportunities and challenges to effectively prepare and engage pre-service teachers (PSTs) as generalist classroom teachers. This paper focuses on PSTs within the Bachelor of Primary Education course at Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia). Within this course PSTs undertake two Arts units as generalist teachers, in Trimester one where they are introduced to music elements and creative music making. In Trimester two they focus on pedagogical issues and classroom implementation. In 2013, I gained ethical permission to undertake a research project titled “Pre-service teacher attitudes and understandings of Music Education”. This case study draws on semi-structured interview data with music lecturers who taught in Trimester two at Deakin University in 2013 (10 x 3 hour workshops). Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis I analyzed and codified the interview data and report on two themes: ways of teaching and creative music making. This paper also highlights the challenges and opportunities sessional staff face when preparing PSTs in music education as generalist teachers.