Music in Me: Shaping Landscapes of Australian Music Teacher Professional Learning and Development

A considerable body of research has reported the positive outcomes of music education and engagement in the early years yet provision of music education in Australian public schooling is poor. Previous research by project team members has demonstrated that whilst early childhood educators hold high values for music education their confidence and competence to incorporate music into their classroom practice is low.

The Music in Me project, supported by the Australian Youth Orchestra and currently implemented in Victoria, NSW, SA and WA, seeks to address this problem through a unique program of long-term in situ music mentoring in which specialist music teachers mentor generalist early childhood teachers in music education practices.

The project builds a range of evaluation tools for the generalist and specialist music education workforce to assess the program’s effectiveness, its role in career sustainability for educators, and the
life and learning outcomes for teacher participants. Anticipated outcomes include new knowledge concerning those factors that contribute to career sustainability for teachers, the impacts of music education in classroom practice, and the effectiveness of the model of music professional learning and development. Increased capacity to incorporate music education in the classroom will improve Australian children’s access to sustained and developmental music early learning.