Faculty of Education - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableApplying empirical learning progressions for a holistic approach to evidence-based education: SWANS/ABLES(Australian Council for Educational Research, 2021-08)Learning progressions have become an increasing topic of interest for researchers, educational organisations and schools as they can describe the expected pathway of learning within a content area to allow for targeted teaching and learning at all levels of ability. However, there is substantial variation in how learning progressions are developed and to what extent teachers can use them to inform their practices. The ABLES/SWANS tools (Students with Additional Needs/Abilities Based Learning and Education Support) are an example of how an empirical learning progression can be applied to support teachers’ ability to not only target teaching to a student’s zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978), but also to plan, assess, and report on learning. Across Australia, these tools are used to help of thousands of teachers of students with disability to make evidence-based teaching and learning decisions and demonstrate the impact of their work with students. This approach, which scaffolds student achievement towards goals informed by an empirical learning progression, combined with reflective teaching practices, can help teachers to develop their capacity as professionals and provide the most effective teaching and learning for every student, regardless of the presence of disability or additional learning need.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableTeaching Music with ICT in Australia during COVID and beyond: A preliminary investigation(Australian Society for Music Education (ASME), 2021)While the pandemic COVID-19 has impacted our daily lives, it has also impacted education settings across the globe. Since March 2020, workplaces and classrooms in Australia have undergone significant changes due to ongoing lockdowns, and government restrictions regarding returning to sites of teaching and learning. In this paper we report on some initial findings from our ethically approved study Re-imagining the future: Music teaching and learning, and ICT in blended environments in Australia. The study investigates the move to remote (online) learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this research we explore the types of pedagogies music teachers used in blended teaching and learning environments, and the shift towards ICT during 2020 and in 2021. By employing a mixed method approach an anonymous Qualtrics online survey was employed in which teachers were asked to reflect on their experiences and indicate the various technologies, environments, and strategies for teaching and developing wellbeing that were used during this time. Purposive sampling was used to collect data from music educators in Australia. Key Australian professional music associations were approached to participate in the study who consented for their membership to participate. As part of an ongoing study, we only present preliminary data gathered between March–June 2021. Using thematic analysis, we discuss emerging trends and themes in relation to the many and varied ways that music teachers employed ICT through blended modes. We report on initial findings that unpack some of the music teaching described across learning environments and contexts. Teachers’ use of various software, tools, and innovative pedagogies necessitated by the pandemic add to the body of knowledge, highlighting how the pandemic impacted ‘music(k)ing and the need to use blended teaching. The study also revealed some of the experiences that have altered and reshaped approaches to music teaching. Implications for further research and considerations for teacher training will be discussed. As the pandemic continues, further research will play a significant role in influencing shifts in teaching practice across Australia during COVID-19 and beyond.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAn investigation of creative music pedagogies used in a Graduate Music Teaching program during COVID-19.(APSMER, 2021-09-18)This presentation is based on a research project that employed a qualitative methodology to examine students’ responses via an online survey. It looks to consider the benefits and challenges of enacting creative pedagogical approaches in the tertiary context and examine emerging educational practices with regard to twenty-first century learning and technology. Underpinning this research was the intention of exploring how creativity practices were employed to realise twenty-first century capacities, incorporating technology that looked to provide deeper and more profound learning experiences, while developing self-reflection reflection, growth and sustainability. The project will examine which type of teaching methods, content delivery, and online learning found addressed their needs in a creative (unique) way as they used Canvas and Zoom for their lessons across many subjects. This report explores the delivery of a tertiary degree in Music Teaching, specifically addressing the following areas: • Curriculum design, delivery and assessment, • Entrepreneurial approaches to learning through student centred activity, • Online learning, student access, self-regulation and self-assessment, • Learning environments (including online and technology-based practice) that mirror global change, capacities and expectations. Using a qualitative methodology, students were invited to complete a series of items that consisted of open-ended questions. These asked participants to indicate the teaching and learning activities and delivery modes they had found to be the most suitable for them as part of their study in Music Teaching degree program. Data were analysed thematically to derive an understanding of the learning experiences that they found most useful. This presentation will provide an overview of the emerging findings related to the key areas of the study, along with small examples of activities that were used in classes and were found to be valuable for the students during this time. It will highlight the need to be both responsive and adaptive with the use of technologies when teaching in an online environment, considering the ongoing needs students, organisation of resources, as well as purposeful teaching and learning experiences. Although much of the data is specific to the COVID-19 scenario, the recommendations provided are applicable more broadly to teaching in various contexts and will assist all teachers. Importantly, these can be considered more broadly for application in music education across the different learning experiences, i.e., performance, composition, musicology and aural.
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ItemTracking creativity in Arts and Music: A document analysis of national educational goals and curriculum in Victoria(International Society of Music Education (ISME), 2020)An analysis of national educational goals and curriculum documents played an important role in my doctoral study in Victoria, Australia. The study was a mixed methods investigation into teaching for creativity and creative processes for music educators in primary schools. The analysis aimed to explore the place of creativity from an educational goal and curriculum perspective. Documents from a forty-year period were investigated qualitatively to seek the portrayal and contextual meanings of the word “creativity”. The paper is presented in two parts: the influence of three national declarations of educational goals on the changing place of creativity in contemporaneous curriculum, and creativity as communicated to teachers in curriculum documents in Arts and Music. The purpose of the document analysis was to gain a detailed view of creativity within the two specifically selected document types. In doing so, it informed the development of the survey instrument of the study and was distilled to form an adjunct to the literature review. The document analysis showed variation and similarity between historic and recent contexts of creativity in Arts and Music curriculum. The place of creativity in the Music curriculum in Victoria shows a sense of continuity through different iterations of curriculum. Yet, despite this, there are clear shifts in the language that describes or implies creativity in Arts and Music curriculum. Ultimately, the document analysis presented a glocalised and historic perspective of educational goals and curriculum in Victoria and has the capacity to inform future research and teacher practice in creativity and education.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA ukulele for every preservice teacher: Innovation in online music teaching during the pandemic(Australian and New Zealand Association for Research in Music Education (ANZARME), 2022)
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ItemTo B or B sharp: Introducing a new method for learning ukulele(International Society for Music Education (ISME), 2022-07-20)In this article I introduce an innovative method for learning the ukulele. The method, known as the C major system, is a constructivist approach to instrumental teaching focusing on a single tonality and improvisation. It was devised between 2019 and 2020 by a professional bass musician during the peak of a profoundly serious illness in which he was incapacitated with highly restricted movement. He turned to the ukulele as a light-weight instrument to focus his creative musicianship and the outcome was the development of the system. The system is specifically for ukulele and focuses on C major tonality, song writing and learning the note names across the fretboard. Inspired by the musician’s determination and creativity, and by the philosophy of the system, which raised questions about my own music improvisation and teaching practices, I began lessons in early 2021 and kept a detailed practise journal. I adopt the methodology of practitioner research and take an inquiry stance to interrogate my practice in improvisation and ukulele playing. The research occurs in the wake of my PhD completed in 2020 about creative processes for music educators. Through reflection I seek to construct an outline of the system and to connect with literature around creative process and pedagogy. The article introduces the system with respect to improvisation particularly. The system may have potential professional learning capacity for classroom music teachers working with the ukulele for personal or teaching-related ukulele practice. It also has relevance for music therapists for music in hospital settings and for other purposes of rehabilitation with practising or beginning musicians.
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ItemCreative processes in music education: Supporting children to “find their voice, find their way”(International Society of Music Education, 2022-10-31)Creative processes matter in music education. The experience of creating, such as in composition, develops the ‘visible voice’ of an individual. Creative process was a key focus of my recently completed doctoral research about teaching for creativity in Victorian State primary schools, Australia. The aim of this article is twofold: first, to share the findings of my research to contribute to theory and practice in music teaching and second, to offer commentary about the findings with relevance to the climate of the current teaching environment. The research adopted pragmatic and social constructivist worldviews. It was a mixed methods study involving surveys and interviews of participants who were drawn from schools that promoted creativity as a desired attribute of children’s learning. The data culminated into two research outcomes incorporating five teaching strategies to support creative process practice in the classroom. The five strategies are nurture children’s creative processes, inspire imagination and experience, facilitate creative processes in the classroom, maximise the outcomes of creative processes and foster self-directed learning. The findings are specifically relevant for music teachers in primary classrooms yet may be adapted to support creative work – in and out of music – in other learning settings for children and young people. The research supports music teachers in any setting to effectively facilitate creative work such as composition tasks. The findings further support teachers to differentiate children’s learning through creative work and to actively support children to achieve a sense of self through the development of individual ‘voice’ in composition. As such, the article has strong implications for music teaching during and following the pandemic.
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ItemPerceptions of the role of primary mathematics leaders(The Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA, 2022)Primary mathematics leadership has become a focus for improving the teaching of mathematics within Australian primary schools. Much of the training and support for those in the role have concentrated on content knowledge, rather than leadership training. There are currently no guidelines or standards in place to support the complex and multi-faceted roles and responsibilities of primary mathematics leaders. This paper reports on the initial stage of a research project examining how primary mathematics leadership is conceptualised and experienced. It reports on survey findings regarding teachers and leaders’ understanding of primary mathematics leadership.
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ItemUsing interviews with non-examples to assess reasoning in F-2 classrooms(Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA), 2021)The development of mathematical reasoning is a key proficiency for mathematics within the Australian Curriculum. However, reasoning can be difficult for teachers to assess, particularly with pen and paper tests. In this study, interview tasks were designed across three curriculum areas at three different levels to assess student reasoning through the use of examples and non-examples. Non-examples can be used to assist in building boundaries and deepening conceptual understanding. Through the interview, teacher and student dialogue can help students to demonstrate reasoning and clarify concepts through explanation and justification.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableWellbeing and the NQF - what do we convey and understand?(Early Childhood Australia, 2022)