In my experience, the best instrumental teachers I’ve worked with have taught much more than the instrument – they taught music; the instrument was the vehicle. The development of technique was central to what they did, but it was approached in musical ways. Conveying a musical idea was paramount and their approaches were robust. Pieces…
Tag: pedagogy
Some Brief Thoughts on Characterising Effective Pedagogies in Music Education
For some time now I have been wrestling with some considerations that I feel need to underpin our educative interactions as music teachers. My thoughts have been continually prompted by classroom action and reflection, and I will now think these considerations ‘out loud’ and position them as pedagogical (educative) conditions that I feel need to…
Encouraging ‘deeper listening’ and own thinking about and of music
In Year 11 and 12 Music in Queensland, Australia, students work from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) Music: Senior Syllabus[i]. From the learning experiences devised from this document, students are assessed across three dimensions of musical study – Composition, Musicology, and Performance. In my experience, the dimensions of Performance and Composition often draw…
Dr Cade Bonar 