Educating professional musicians: lessons learned from school music

Abstract

Music in Canadian schools at one time focused on skills development. Building on talent, aptitude, prior learning and physical coordination, students would become better at singing or playing an instrument by studying it at school. Over time, new approaches to music teaching and learning opened the umbrella to a more comprehensive range of objectives. Human understanding, social relevance, the ability to work and play together, and many other outcomes are now typically expected of school music programmes. The present article sets this pedagogical model against the outcomes expected of university music programmes, especially in performance. While human understanding, social responsibility and the like may be acknowledged as desirable outcomes, most university performance programmes focus on developing human capital -on creating better musicians -who may or may not be better people for it. University performance programmes still intend a kind of learning that was long ago deemed limiting, restrictive and ultimately inappropriate for public school curricula. This investigation posits a new approach to music at the university level, with new pedagogical aims, that takes as its starting point innovative and challenging developments in school music education.

Attitudes of select music performance faculty toward students teaching private lessons after graduation: A USA pilot study

“…The curricula in other areas of music include comparatively little, if any, coursework or supervised practical experience related to teaching even though those students often see themselves teaching at some point in the future (Fredrickson, 2007a). Some have suggested that schools teaching primarily music performance skills could benefit by readjusting from a focus on the product to a focus on the process (Carruthers, 2008). In any case, raising awareness and examining ways to adjust current curricula without forcing wholesale change on the existing educational system warrants careful exploration.…”

Kemampuan Musikalitas Sebagai Sarana Pengembangan Keterampilan Sosial

“…Hasil penelitian Gardiner, dkk., (1996), menunjukkan bahwa aktivitas musik sejak dini memiliki pengaruh terhadap meningkatnya nilai tes membaca dan matematika pada anak-anak Taman Kanak Kanak. Menurut Carruthers (2008), pendidikan musik mendukung dan meningkatkan kemampuan belajar dibidang-bidang lain.…”

Making music or gaining grades? Assessment practices in tertiary music ensembles

“…(p. 2) As teachers of music tend to teach in the way they have been taught (Karlsson et al ., 2008) there is a danger that stagnation of learning, teaching and assessment practices can be generationally perpetuated. Curruthers (2008) proposes that university performance programmes still intend a kind of learning that has long been dismissed as limiting, restrictive and ultimately inappropriate for public school curricula. While universities have been slow to catch up with their school colleagues in this regard, Lebler (2007) suggests that a way forward is to consider that ‘teaching practices that have dominated in the past will need to be rethought, and alternatives considered that are likely to produce graduates with the abilities and attributes necessary to adapt readily to a rapidly changing environment’ (p. 206).…”