My response to the question ‘What can philosophy bring to music education?’ is to offer a case in point. Three important tasks that philosophers can fulfil – clarifying ideas, interrogating commonplaces, and suggesting applications to practice – are illustrated through an analysis of musicianship. Doing philosophy is inseparable from the content of philosophy, and how the idea of musicianship is clarified, interrogated, and applied is of central interest to music education, as is the task of music education philosophy itself. The article highlights the crucial importance of teachers as participants in this work.

This paper first outlines the focus of ethnomusicology as a discipline, pointing to its concentration on music examined as intersocial activity and identifying the methodological givens that follow from that assumption. It then looks at concerns shared with researchers in the field of music education, with references to the ethnomusicological literature. The concept of music and topics of musical transmission and ability are treated in depth, to show what ethnomusicological approaches offer to specialists in music education. A final section introduces the writing of ethnography, prior to the conclusion, which identifies further areas of mutual interest.

This paper is informed by one clear guiding principle: collaborative learning provides the platform on which independent learning is nurtured. The nature of collaborative learning in musicology as well as performance is considered. The focus is on learning rather than achievement, on process rather than presentation, on how students are encouraged to develop good learning habits. It will be argued that the assessment of a group endeavour needs to be integral to rather than detached from the learning. The centrality of the group endeavour in the learning environment does not diminish the role of the individual. The integrity of an individual's contribution to a group endeavour is validated by the group.

Recent literature suggests that traditional approaches in folk music education are not necessarily compatible with the pedagogical conventions of formal music education. Whilst several recent studies have tended to define these non-classical-music learning contexts as ‘informal’, the practice of folk music that was recently introduced into Chinese Higher Music Education appears to be much more complex and fluid, at least in its real world setting. This case study presents a detailed example of the teaching and learning of folk singing in contemporary society in Western China. In this particular context, both ‘informal learning’ and ‘formal’ music practices were observed and compared, based on research data collected from four music lessons and subsequent interviews with the participants. Drawing upon the analytical evidence, the research discusses a possible pedagogical model where two apparently contrasting approaches to learning (i.e. a conservatory model vs. traditional folk learning) could coalesce to ensure more effective learning outcomes of traditional folk music in higher education contexts.

The purpose of this critical ethnography was to investigate how music educators can approach the development of students’ music listening abilities democratically in order to deepen students’ musical understandings and, by teaching through music, create pathways for student–teacher transactions that are inclusive, educative, ethical and transformative. Critical ethnographies utilise qualitative data collection methods (e.g. observations, journaling, interviews, audiotapes) for sociopolitical and ethical purposes. That is, critical ethnographies are ‘critical’ in two senses: (a) they are framed and carried out with a social-ethical sense of responsibility to critique and, if necessary, change the status quo of specific contexts they investigate and (b) they are grounded in ‘a self-referential form of reflexivity that aims to criticise the ethnographer's own production of an account’ (Schwandt, 2007, p. 51). One finding of this critical ethnography of my urban music classroom is that students are most apt to learn music listening effectively and enjoyably when afforded democratic and creative opportunities to express their beliefs about the natures and values of the musics they decide to select, experience and discuss critically. Another finding is that although democratic teaching and learning inevitably involves conflicts, participants can and do learn to manage and transform these conflicts constructively. One important implication of these findings is that music classrooms can be powerful contexts and means for students’ social-ethical development.

Despite strong philosophical arguments supporting the inclusion of music in all students’ education, declining student participation rates in school music activities during the middle years of schooling remain an ongoing issue for music education researchers. This paper presents the findings of a case study examining the motivational factors influencing student enrolment behaviour in the elective classroom music curriculum within the social context of an independent secondary school in regional Australia. The analysis discussed in this paper focuses on the socio-cultural contexts of school culture, peer group, family values and student perceptions of teachers as factors shaping student academic motivational orientations.

Team teaching – two or more teachers sharing the training of a group of students – has only recently been implemented in the curricula of many higher music education institutions. This article reports on a survey of 142 music students and their tutors from three departments (the Schools of Strings, Vocal and Opera Studies, and Wind, Brass and Percussion) in a major British conservatoire. Team teaching had been in use for one year in the first department, five years in the second and 30 years in the third. The extent to which respondents valued team teaching was not, however, related to the length of time it had been in use. Key benefits of team teaching were seen as exposure to new ideas and additional feedback. Respondents suggested a variety of improvements to mitigate drawbacks such as perceived differences between tutors' approaches and limited time for individual tuition. Provided tutors and students communicate effectively with each other and negotiate where necessary, this method of teaching and learning is likely to be beneficial for all.

This study presents a qualitative investigation into the effects of enforced occupational change on a professional musical identity. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) is used to explore the meaning of redundancy for six professional opera choristers. The paper highlights aspects of career disruption that are unique to singers who make their living using a biologically embedded instrument. Findings show the ‘opera singer’ identity to be a professional identity which consists of several subjective sub-identities. Adaptation to change is dependent on the salience given to these subjective identities. It is suggested that if more attention is given to these subjective sub-identities during a professional career, musicians may be better prepared for unexpected disruption to an established career pattern.

Pupil voice research has been recognised in the last 15 years for its potential to re-shape the conditions of learning and help raise child engagement and standards of achievement. In music education, however, there still seems to exist a misalignment between the content of the curriculum and pupils’ learning expectations and interests. The aim of this study was to explore pupils’ views about school music during the transition to secondary school and identify which components of their music lessons contribute to them feeling happier about music at school. The analysis of interview and questionnaire data revealed some pupils’ disillusionment about music at the beginning of secondary school when their initial high expectations about opportunities for practical musical involvement were not met.

This article contributes to research on music masterclasses through examining learning through observation. It investigates how students are learning as observers in this context; whether and how they will transfer their masterclass learning to their own instrumental/vocal development, and whether they have discussed learning through observation. Data were gathered from higher education students observing two masterclasses. Their responses indicate observation of technical, musical, performative and pedagogic elements. However, they also suggest limited discussion of observation and of the processes involved in implementing observational learning within their own work. The findings suggest that there is scope for enhanced learning in the masterclass, including developing perception through facilitated engagement with systematic observation and consideration of processes of transferable learning. These may have positive implications for extending learning in other contexts.

This paper reports an action research study of teacher and pupil talk about composing. Data were collected through video and audio recordings of composition lessons in a secondary school. Qualitative analysis of the data led to the development of a ‘typology of pupil talk about composing’ which distinguishes between six main types: exploration, description, opinion, affective response, evaluation and problem solving. The results of the study suggest that as children engage and empathise affectively and acquire ownership of their work, they appear to be able to talk more confidently about it. As children make sense of their work, they may well be able to understand more than their talk reveals. The role of teachers in nurturing talk about composing work in the classroom is considered in relation to the findings. By designing appropriate composing tasks, they may be able to promote the development of more mature forms of evaluative talk in younger children, and of their critical listening and appraising skills. The development of more mature, ‘higher’ forms of evaluative talk in younger children might be promoted by teachers in designing composing tasks.

Music is supremely a manifestation of thought and perceptual judgement. Yet – and in spite of the good intentions of the National Curriculum - because the importance of these qualities is not generally acknowledged, musical education is in danger of being marginalized. Drawing on the work of W.E. Johnson and F.N. Sibley in logic and aesthetics, the author formulates a hierarchy of musical perception corresponding to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of basic human needs and suggests that the future status of musical education could depend upon the extent to which teaching can be focused at a level of perception where musk as thought is most evident.

This article reports analysis of interviews with 85 boys from England, Greece, Ireland and Spain about the voice change, school singing and choral music instruction. Consistent, former and self-described non-singers were included. Data suggest consistency with much of the existing narrative literature about the experience of voice change. Unique topics included a sense of identity loss during voice change. Issues related to gender and sexuality-based bullying were explored. Boys offered numerous recommendations for teachers, including that teachers focus on vocal technique specific to male changing voices. Boys’ comments suggested a pattern of identity development consistent with the Possible Selves construct. This suggests that teachers can support adolescent male singers by addressing specific issues at specific points in a boy's process of voice change and identity development.

This pilot study analysed the learning strategies of advanced students and professional electroacoustic composers engaged in creating new musical pieces through online collaboration. The participants were divided into three groups and interacted in a virtual setting using synchronous (chat and Skype) and asynchronous tools (forum, compositional software) to perform the compositional activities. A multiple case study design was used to describe and interpret the actions of the participants. Forum discussions, Skype dialogues and e-mail exchanges were examined to explore the participants’ interactions and understand their actions during the online activities. Individual semi-structured interviews focusing on the processes and working approaches were conducted. The following themes were considered for the analysis of the collaborative compositional activity: working approach, relational model, leadership, organisation and compositional process. The participants effectively completed the compositional activities on the online platform, and based on the results, the following phases emerged as: (a) context definition; (b) planning/organising; (c) experimenting/generating musical ideas; (d) constructing and (e) evaluating. The findings are discussed regarding the educational implications of developing didactic activities based on collaborative composition.

This article sets out to investigate the language used by pupils in the appraisal of their own compositions. One objective of the research was to reveal how children used the language of the musical elements as defined by the National Curriculum as pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo, timbre, texture and structure. The results suggest that the pupils' perspective gives a more differentiated understanding of progression both within and across the musical elements than that presented by Music National Curriculum documentation. The research confirms the view that listening, language and assessment are highly complex and takes issue with the proposals of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to provide level descriptions for music.

This article examines the variety of meanings attributed to the concept of authenticity, first in interviews about teaching world musics with high school music teachers, and second, in the music education literature. More recent theorising about authenticity in folklore and anthropology introduces several issues that may help music educators to understand the concept differently, including the dichotomous, constructed and popular conceptions of authenticity, and strategies for pursuing the study of it. This interdisciplinary approach to authenticity suggests that, rather than a deterrent to multicultural music education, the concept can become a useful tool in our teaching.

This study explores the musical content and human processes of improvisations of children and adults using the phenomenological lenses of time, space and responsivity. Paired improvisational performances of two late-career adult composers and two 7-year-old children were analysed considering a lifespan-related perspective involving the origins of spontaneous musical creativity associated with childhood dispositions and the musical expertise gained from practice, training and experience. Findings suggest that origins and expertise are operating in improvisational experiences of children and adults. Implications are drawn for musically meaningful research and evaluation of children's improvisations.

The binary opposition between ‘own music’ and ‘other's music’ is the ‘result of deep conditioning’ (Drummond, 2010, p. 118) and is almost impossible to overcome.

By exploring the underlying constructs that influence students’ and teachers’ perceptions of minority cultures and their musics, this paper explores the notion of ‘the other’ in Australian music education. In particular, how the many factors which play a role in cultural identity serve to both promote and prevent musical understanding and appreciation. An examination of Australian multicultural policy and music curriculum documents in the state of Queensland provides a foundation for the discussion of data obtained from interviews with teachers from state and private primary schools in the capital Brisbane. The results reveal that while music educators are generally inquisitive about incorporating musics of ‘other’ cultures into their lessons, they are less comfortable with crossing cultural boundaries, and do not wish to threaten the position of Australia's own musical culture – ultimately highlighting a disconnect between policy, rhetoric and practice in the area of culturally diverse music education in classrooms today.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an interim report on one aspect of a major project based in the Department of Music at the University of Ulster. The project, ‘Peer Learning in Music’, builds on the programme of peer assessment which was piloted in a module in performance studies on the BMus course during the academic year 1992–3 and has since become an established feature of the course. The project started in October 1996 and since then peer-learning techniques have been introduced in a range of modules throughout the course, impacting on the teaching and learning methods and the conduct of assessment. Dissemination of the nature of the work and the operation of the programmes is being actively pursued in universities, colleges and conservatories in England and Northern Ireland.

This article will explore how Professor Lucy  Green’s model of informal learning, as advocated by Musical Futures, is perceived by those lying close to the phenomenon. Qualitative research was conducted and data collection involved semi-structured interviews with three key figures relating to the phenomenon. Case studies were then conducted in four English secondary schools, involving teachers and students. Data were analysed thematically. Overall key findings of the study will be presented and discussed: the phenomenon as a problem solver; adaptations and misconceptions; revolution within music education; and tensions of freedom versus authority and marketisation.