Studio music teachers have always been constant in Australian society, rarely recognised beyond their immediate surrounds. Building a 'connection' of students required advertising, primarily by word-of-mouth or via local press announcements. Few teachers placed individual advertisements in local papers. This changed in 1911 with the establishment…

This study documents the enduring impacts of a workplace music mentoring programme for generalist classroom teachers in early childhood school settings in Australia. The study draws on follow-up interviews with mentors, teachers and principals from five of 11 participating schools one year after the programme. This study identifies participant…

Toward the end of the nineteenth century a number of external music examining systems were introduced to New Zealand. Two of them, Trinity College, London, and the Associated Board, gained a strong following and became de facto standards in the absence of a national music conservatorium. This article briefly outlines the beginning of external…

Studio music teachers are the backbone of musical communities but their efforts are often overlooked and unsung. We explore one facet of the life of studio music teachers in Australia 1890-1920, graded music examinations conducted by two well-reputed British music education organizations: Trinity College of Music and the Associated Board of the…

This article explores the relationship between Melbourne's live music scene and how it contributes to being an informed educator with value to bring to the classroom. Through a personal response, a snapshot of the present conditions is described and the importance of the live music experience is detailed.

Musical giftedness can manifest in many ways, and music teachers should be able to identify high musical potential beyond the demonstration of instrumental skill or musical knowledge. It is important to have a multi-faceted approach to the education of musically gifted students, particularly in the senior secondary years when students are…

Empathy enables successful communication and connection between teachers and their students, yet few studies have investigated its specific use in teaching singing. Addressing this gap, we interviewed voice teachers to discover how they articulate their pedagogy in terms of empathic practices and observed one-to-one lessons for evidence of the…

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…

The inclusion of jazz ensembles within extra-curricular instrumental music programs in secondary schools in Australia has grown exponentially in the past two decades. Despite this growth, there is a deficiency of specialist teacher training in jazz education and pedagogy in Australian tertiary institution instrumental music courses. This lack of…

Music teachers are pivotal to the future of music education and the value of the arts in society. Centrally important is the professional identity of music teachers, expressed through enacted pedagogical and curricular content. This inquiry investigated professional identity development in ten early career music teachers through an exploration of…

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…

The study investigates Australian music teachers' approaches to teaching the post-tonal piano music of Béla Bartók, composed between 1908 and 1920 and included in the syllabi of four international music examining bodies in Australia. Despite the inclusion of Bartók's piano music in Australian instrumental music education syllabi, it is often…

Self-efficacy is a key factor in performance success, yet little is known about how music educators nurture students' self-belief within studio and class music lessons. This study explored teachers' perceptions of pedagogical priorities in the development of self-efficacy. The goal was to understand how teachers intuitively nurture students'…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced music teachers to modify their practice as delivery moved online in education settings around the globe. This article forms part of our wider study, "Re-imaging the future: Music teaching and learning, and ICT in blended environments in Australia," that commenced in March 2021. In this article, the authors…

This paper presents findings from ethnographic case study research that investigated teacher practices and student engagement in classroom music. The data collection was undertaken in a primary (elementary) and a secondary school in Australia and focussed on the classroom practice of two teachers and four classes of students aged 10 to 16 years.…