This paper discusses how ePortfolios, initially introduced to students in a Music Education degree program on a trial basis, are subsequently being integrated into subjects of this degree program. Discussion includes staff perspectives, and covers the varying ways ePortfolio components are utilised in a range of subject areas, issues staff…

In the twenty-first century, Australian musicians increasingly maintain "portfolio" careers, in which they combine diverse employment arrangements and activities. Often, these incorporate industry sectors outside of music. This career pattern is widespread but not well understood, largely because of the limitations of existing research. The lack…

The introduction of the influential Orff Schulwerk approach to music education in Australia is generally reported as occurring in the late 1960s. However, this was not the earliest encounters with the pedagogy in Australia. Patricia L. Holmes included Orff materials in teacher inservices in the late 1950s, before she travelled overseas to work…

The New Music Network established the Peggy Glanville-Hicks Address in 1999 in honour of one of Australia's great international composers. It is an annual forum for ideas relating to the creation and performance of Australian music. In the spirit of the great Australian composer Peggy Glanville-Hicks, an outstanding advocate of Australian music…

The concept of non-formal learning, which falls outside the categories of informal and formal learning, has not been as widely discussed, especially in the music education literature. In order to bridge this gap and to provide supplementary framework to the discussion of informal and formal learning, therefore, this paper will first summarize…

German Romantic Art Songs or German "Lieder" constitute a consistent part of every aspiring classical singer's repertoire around the world. This study investigates a contemporary Australian audiences' appreciation of the genre; it asks further what role the various Romantic characteristics play in German "Lieder" genre, gauges respondents'…

Australian society is increasingly multicultural, and this article provides some theoretical perspectives on multiculturalism, cultural diversity and the teaching and learning of African music. It identifies the need for teachers, practitioners and artists to jointly work together to create a community of practitioners where pedagogy meets…

This article arises from the authors' belief that there is a need to develop motivating ways for students across Australia to meaningfully encounter Australian indigenous music, the breadth and richness of which is beginning to be conveyed via a diverse range of mainstream media texts. Engaging with theoretical insights from the ethnomusicology of…

Although musical, rhythmical and aural training aspects are at the heart of the Dalcroze approach it was physical educators rather than music educators in Australia who showed more interest. Lillian Mills and Ella Gormley, inaugural supervisors of physical training in WA and NSW respectively, contributed to the awareness of its benefits.…

This article reviews and analyzes selected past and current research approaches in the study of music teacher effectiveness. Early "teacher characteristic studies" are discussed along with the role of these first-generation studies in attempting to identify personal qualities and characteristics of apparently effective or ineffective teachers.…

This paper focuses on the category of electronic musical instruments described as "gestural controllers"--motion sensor technology and specially adapted switches--which are widely used in special education. The therapeutic benefits of this technology in emancipating children from their cognitive or physical limitations are increasingly…