The catalyst for this paper is the ongoing debate concerning formal and informal approaches to pedagogy within the music education literature. I utilise a chapter by Philpott (2010) as a means to continue discussion about the apparent dialectic between formal and informal approaches to music learning and the case Philpott raises for radical change…

Informal learning has become a prominent theme in music education literature in recent times. Many writers have called for a new emphasis on informal knowledge and pedagogy as the way forward for music education. The position taken in this paper is that a central issue for music education is the accommodation of a tension between types of…

This paper discusses recent developments in the senior music curriculum in New Zealand. I suggest that school music is in transition from its clearly defined origins to its "regionalisation" by new content and knowledge. The concepts of knowledge differentiation and verticality are considered in relation to the subject's now diverse…