This paper deals with an empirical study undertaken at the University of Bologna about the social representations of music held by university students studying to become teachers in nursery, kindergarten and primary education. An open questionnaire was submitted to the university students at the beginning and end of the music education teaching…

The objective of this study was to evaluate how parent-infant music classes would benefit young mothers frequenting a support group for young mothers at a community centre in comparison to a group of older mothers. When the courses had terminated the mothers were interviewed in their homes and their singing confidence was assessed, as well as…

One of the forms of first musical conduct is the exploration of sound sources. When young children produce sounds with any object, these sounds may surprise them and so they make the sounds again--not exactly the same, but introducing some variation. A process of repetition with slight changes is set in motion which can be analysed, as did Piaget,…

This article looks at how children between three and six years of age use recorded music in their everyday lives. In Norway, where the project is situated, most children in this age group probably have access to CDs and/or Mp3 files, both in their family homes and pedagogical day-care facilities. Thus recorded music and the way it is used by…

This study examines the role that adolescents' competence beliefs and subjective task values for music have in relation to their aspirations and expectations for becoming like their musician role models. A total of 381 adolescents (aged 13-14) completed a questionnaire about their competence beliefs and values for music, the musicians they admired…

In this keynote, the author discusses dichotomies having to do with: (1) technology/digital proponents versus non-technology/analogue proponents; (2) a formal/formalist position versus an informal/informalist position; and (3) educator/teacher views versus artist/musician views. The author often wonders what the essence of these dichotomies are,…

Research in higher education has established a relationship between student approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment. This study aims to make a contribution to music education literature by investigating undergraduate music students' perceptions of the learning context and their attitudes towards learning and…

Previous research in education has investigated the relationship between gender and perceptions of musicality, suggesting that teachers' assessments of boys' and girls' achievements in music are different and unequal. This empirical study attempts to explore that relationship in more detail, building on research from the late 1990s, by asking…

Although many amateur performers enjoy participating in master classes, we know little about what it means to them. The aim of this paper is to investigate learning in a master class with amateur pianists from an emic perspective in order to increase knowledge and understanding about older music learners engaging with instrumental tuition. The…

Despite the obvious importance of deciding which career to pursue, little is known about the influence of personality on career choice. Here we investigated the relation between sensation seeking, a supposedly innate personality trait, and career choice in classical and "rhythmic" students at the academies of music in Denmark. We compared data…

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a statutory component of the Key Stages 2 and 3 National Curricula in the UK. This research presents findings from a national survey of the availability and usage of ICT in music classrooms within English secondary schools. It also examined a range of issues related to the training and…

This study demonstrates how action research can provide a means for teachers to undertake research for themselves to inform and enhance their work. The focus of the research was the self-critique of pedagogical practice in one-to-one classical instrumental music teaching within the context of the author's private studio. A series of lessons were…

This paper reports a study investigating trainee teachers' beliefs about music abilities and learning. The study employed two questionnaires: the "Music abilities beliefs questionnaire" (MABQ) and the "Music learning beliefs questionnaire" (MLBQ) which were specially designed to reveal the beliefs of trainee teachers of primary and secondary…

This paper explores the interrelationship between performance teachers' professional identity and the various forms of professional knowledge they bring to their work. The data derive from an ethnographic case study conducted across a period of 12 weeks in each of two distinct music training institutions in Greece--a University Music Department…

When she was invited to present a keynote address at the Exeter Conference, the author was asked to offer "a particular perspective on a field of research within music education or a related domain". Given her interest in the related disciplines of sociology and ethnomusicology, and acknowledging the centrality of children's music making in the…