This paper considers the problem of music student's preparedness for university study. Since 2002 New Zealand senior secondary school students have experienced a national outcomes-based curriculum and assessment system which provides the flexibility for schools and teachers to create curricula suited to varied student interests and learning…

Throughout the time of my teaching career, the tide has exposed changes in the nature of music, students and music education. This paper discusses teaching and learning in contemporary music at seven critical stages of 21st century music education: i) diverse types of undergraduate learners; ii) teaching traditional classical repertoire and skills…

The three-month "Changing Places" project involved early childhood student teachers working with music students in developing children's music in centres in Auckland, New Zealand. The project set out to challenge the calculative aspect in music learning (Heidegger, 1993). The term calculative in this instance describes learning seen as…

In this paper we explore the adoption of a neoliberal turn in New Zealand's education system and its consequences, focusing particularly on secondary school music education. In the 1980s, New Zealand was one of the first states in the Western world to implement comprehensive neoliberal economic policies. Some 35 years later, education in New…

Background and Context: Computational Thinking (CT) has been recently integrated into new and revised Digital Technologies content (DTC) in the Technology learning area of the New Zealand School Curriculum. Objective: To aid this change, this research examined how CT supports learning outcomes in both music and programming with the Sonic Pi…

In Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia work is ongoing to upskill teachers in culturally responsive practice as a way of addressing inequalities for Maori and Aboriginal students (Macfarlane, 2004; Morrison et al., 2019). Through supplementary materials to the New Zealand Curriculum, such as Tataiako and The Hikairo Schema (New Zealand Ministry of…

Musical Futures (MF) is an internationally recognised approach to music teaching aimed at developing high levels of student engagement through practical music making. Set up in the UK in 2003 "Musical Futures" is typical of approaches to education aimed at increasing levels of student autonomy through a strong emphasis on student-led…

COVID-19 has had a profound effect on higher education institutions across the world. The rapid shift to blended teaching has meant changes to ways of teaching and learning. Author One (Australia) and Author Two (New Zealand) are tertiary academics in initial teacher education programmes. In this paper, they draw on narrative enquiry as a way to…

This article draws on a master's study into programme decisions and processes of a Pakeha primary music teacher who sought to include matauranga Maori (Maori knowledge), tikanga Maori (Maori practices) and te ao Maori (a Maori way of seeing the world) in their teaching practice. The study investigated how children are enabled to experience…

Many ideas from the discourse of 21st-century learning are already present in much secondary school music teaching in New Zealand and have been for some time. The adoption of these ideas has resulted in many positive changes in students' experiences of music at secondary school. On the other hand, there have been some unintended consequences which…

Initial teacher educators seek to manage curriculum coverage within the time constraints of initial teacher education (ITE) courses. As a result, considered choices need to be made regarding content and pedagogical approaches based on what ITE educators deem to be valuable, memorable and transferrable. Using narrative methodology, two tertiary…

In this paper the idea of social entitlement to conceptual knowledge is considered in relation to students' views of music at secondary school in New Zealand. The data was collected as a means of triangulating the key focus of a study concerning the beliefs and actions of teachers in relation to curriculum. In interpreting the student data I…

This article reports on some of the findings from case studies conducted with six secondary school music teachers in New Zealand. The purpose of the study was to investigate and explain the ways in which teachers manage the relationship between classical and popular music in their elective classroom programs, utilizing a theoretical framework…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of the Curriculum Design Coherence Model (CDC Model -- Rata, 2019) on the design practice of two music teachers in a middle school music class in New Zealand. The CDC Model proposes that deep learning first requires deep design coherence. This coherence is generated by three interrelated design…

Increased interest in music technology education in recent years has prompted music teachers, technology educators and theorists to reconsider both the human and technical processes rendered by creative work in digital sound media. Music technology learning environments range from more structured classroom learning to informal, autodidactic…