Innovation, inclusion and engagement in a university music course

ABSTRACT

Music education involves elements of inquiry, discovery, explicit instruction and self-driven designerly ways of thinking that can lead to mastery and expertise. COVID-19 forced lecturers and teachers within a Higher Education music conservatorium to creatively adapt delivery with students for much of 2020. This qualitative study examined responses from (N = 32) participants including (n = 25 students and n = 7 teachers). The authors utilised questionnaires and extended responses to investigate innovative pedagogies and delivery modes that evolved during the pandemic in Victoria, Australia. Graduate teaching programmes shifted to fully online delivery for 20 months, one of the longest periods of societal isolation mandated worldwide. Data identified how teachers reinterpreted curricula and repositioned methods of teaching and assessment, fostering new learning experiences, creativity, self-reflection and problem-solving skills. Recommendations point to adaptive delivery and student engagement innovations. The authors outline how teachers can approach personal, collective and socio-cultural pedagogic approaches that enculturate students towards adaptable, creative and interdisciplinary thinking.

KEYWORDS:

• Music education
• creative pedagogy
• music technology
• critical thinking
• creativity

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Leon de Bruin

Dr Leon de Bruin is Senior Lecturer at the Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, coordinating the Master of Music Performance Teaching (MPT) degree programme. He is a Past National President of the Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) and currently serves as a Commissioner of ISME’s IVMTC (Instrumental and Vocal Music Teaching Commission). A staunch advocate for quality instrumental music education, his research work spans music education, creativity, cognition, pedagogy and improvisation.

Bradley Merrick

Dr Brad Merrick is Senior Lecturer (Music and the Arts Education) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne. Brad completed his PhD in Music Education at the University of New South Wales. He is a Past National President of the Australian Society for Music Education (ASME), a Past Chair of ISME’s MISTEC (Music in Schools and Teacher Education) commission and currently is a member of the ISME Board. He is actively involved in curriculum reform and advocacy, having published widely and presented in many different settings, to both students and teachers.