This paper investigates one experienced classroom music teacher's journey in navigating syllabus changes in New South Wales (NSW) secondary schools in the period between 1968 and 1978. A significant dearth of research on teacher education in general, and in particular, in the area of secondary music teaching exists in NSW. This research will add…

Many students learn to play the piano but some lack the motivation to continue learning. Many students learn for extrinsic reasons. This research will explore understandings about student motivation held by expert piano teachers who have developed strategies to improve their students' intrinsic motivation to begin and continue learning. This small…

Service learning in tertiary education is about partnerships between higher education institutions and communities, as co-generators of knowledge. Arts programs in service learning engage what Rendon (2009) calls "sentipensante" (sensing/thinking) pedagogy, in which critical examinations of ways of thinking and doing sit alongside…

This study documents and analyses the environment where music education happens in a regional Conservatorium in New South Wales, Australia. The study aimed to gain insight into the structure, nature and professional practice of a regional conservatorium, and identify innovative pedagogical possibilities. An ethnographic case study was undertaken…

This paper presents a story constellation about a beginning teacher (who is also the principal) located in a one-teacher school in an isolated community in Queensland, Australia. The constellation documents the teacher's self-efficacy for teaching the arts (music, dance, drama, visual arts and media). Tabitha, the participant, shares insights…

It has long been known that generalist primary and early childhood teachers struggle with teaching music, due to a lack confidence and skills. This paper discusses some early findings of a phenomenological study which follows a twelve-month collaboration between a music specialist (the researcher) and a small group of early childhood educators in…

Musical Futures is a music learning program that was established in the United Kingdom in 2003. It aims to make secondary classroom music more relevant to young people through engaging them in the informal learning practices of real world musicians, recognising that the way in which popular musicians learn is quite different from the pedagogy of…