Expanding Professionalism In Music And Higher Music Education

This book addresses the need to rethink the concept and enactment of professionalism in music, and how such concepts underpin professional higher music education. There is an urgent imperative to enable the potential of professional musicians in our contemporary societies to be more fully realised, recognising both intense challenges that are currently threatening some traditional music practices, and significant scope for new practices to be imagined in response to deep veins of societal need. Professionalism encompasses the conduct, aims, values, responsibilities and ongoing development of a practising professional in the field. Professional higher music education engages both with providing future professionals with relevant education in particular craft skills, and with nurturing their visions for their work as artists in future societies. The major focus of the book is on performance traditions that have dominated professional higher education, notably western classical music.

Leadership and Musician Development in Higher Music Education informs, challenges and evaluates the central practices, policies and theories that underpin the preparation of future music leaders and the leadership of music in higher education. In higher education, it is often presumed that preparing for professional work is the responsibility of the individual rather than the institution. This anthology draws on the expertise of music practitioners to present the complexities surrounding this topic, exploring approaches to leadership development while addressing prevalent leadership issues from multiple standpoints. Leadership is an inherent part of being a musician: from the creative act through to collaborative engagement, it is fundamental to creating and sustaining a career in music. To expect musicians to develop these necessary skills "on the job", however, is unreasonable and impractical. What support might be given to those looking to negotiate a career as a musician? In fourteen essays, contributors from around the globe explore this question and more, questions such as: How might leadership be modelled for aspiring musicians? How might students learn to recognise, appraise and extend their leadership development? How might institutional leaders challenge curricular and pedagogical norms? Effective leadership development for musicians is vital to the longevity of the profession – Leadership and Musician Development in Higher Music Education is a likewise vital resource for students, educators and future music leaders alike.

This book challenges the dominant expertise professionalism rationale for music education by responding to the call to develop ‘ecological awareness’ at a time when all professions have a moral obligation to place sustainable and interdependent life at the center. The book aims to expand music education’s professional horizons to acknowledge the responsibility of the music field to contribute to the demands of complex questions of sustainability and identify the ways in which sustainable music education may be strengthened through an activist relational ecological stance. It suggests a radical moral turn by asking: What if music education is recognised as part of the problem of sustaining unsustainability? and What if music teacher education was developed in and through dialogue with a futures perspective? These questions are interrogated through a critical analysis of the historical positioning of music in education and an interdisciplinary application of theories of ecology and professionalism.

To reach the highest standards of instrumental performance, several years of sustained and focused learning are required. This requires perseverance, commitment and opportunities to learn and practise, often in a collective musical environment. This book brings together a wide range of enlightening current psychological and educational research to offer deeper insights into the mosaic of factors and related experiences that combine to nurture (and sometimes hinder) advanced musical performance. Each of the book's four sections focus on one aspect of music performance and learning: musics in higher education and beyond; musical journeys and educational reflections; performance learning; and developing expertise and professionalism. Although each chapter within its home section offers a particular focus, there is an underlying conception across all the book’s contents of the achievability of advanced musical performance and of the important nurturing role that higher education can play, particularly if policy and practice are evidence-based and draw on the latest international research findings. The narrative offers an insight into the world of advanced musicians, detailing their learning journeys and the processes involved in their quest for the development of expertise and professionalism. It is the first book of its kind to consider performance learning in higher education across a variety of musical genres, including classical, jazz, popular and folk musics. The editors have invited an international community of leading scholars and performance practitioners to contribute to this publication, which draws on meticulous research and critical practice. This collection is an essential resource for all musicians, educators, researchers and policy makers who share our interest in promoting the development of advanced performance skills and professionalism.

Music Schools in Changing Societies addresses the need to understand instrumental and vocal pedagogy beyond the individual sphere of teacher–student interactions and psychological phenomena, focusing instead on the wider sociocultural, spatial, and institutional contexts of music education. Viewing music education through the perspective of collaboration, the book focuses on the context of European music schools, which have developed a central role in publicly funded educational and cultural systems. The authors demonstrate that multilevel collaboration is a vital part of how music educators and the schools where they work can respond to wider societal concerns in ways that improve educational quality. Presenting examples of innovative practices and collaborative settings from twelve European countries, this book offers new and inspiring perspectives on how music schools can support the transformation towards collaborative professionalism in instrumental and vocal music education. With contributions from a wide range of researchers and professional educators, the book shows how a collaborative approach to music education can address major policy issues such as inclusion, democracy, and sustainability. Addressing current institutional and curricular challenges, Music Schools in Changing Societies presents a unique outlook on how music schools in contemporary societies can survive and thrive in times of change.

The notion of care is at times misunderstood in the context of music education--equated simply with kindness or associated with lowered expectations--and is often dismissed without consideration of its full value to music learning. When viewed through a student "deficit" perspective, concepts of care might evoke unnecessary pity or a sense of rescue, thereby positioning teachers and learners in a superior/inferior relationship that may be unhealthy and unhelpful to either person. Furthermore, many well-meaning approaches to care emphasize a unidirectional relationship from teacher to student, discounting the ways in which a teacher also continues to learn and develop. A more empowering conceptualization of care in music education involves sharing--sharing experience, sharing passion, sharing excitement, sharing goals, and sharing humanness. The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education addresses ways in which music teachers and students interact as co-learners and forge authentic relationships with one another through shared music-making. Concepts of care addressed in the handbook stem from philosophies of relationship, feminist ethics, musical meaningfulness, and compassionate music teaching. These essays highlight the essence of authentic relationships and shared experiences between teachers and learners, extending previous conceptions of care to meet the needs of contemporary music learners and the teachers who care for, about, and with them.

Higher Music Performance Education, as taught and learned in universities and conservatoires in Europe, is undergoing transformation. Since the nineteenth century, the master-apprentice pedagogical model has dominated, creating a learning environment that emphasises the development of technical skills rather than critical and creative faculties. This book contributes to the renewal of this field by being the first to address the potential of artistic research in developing student-centred approaches and greater student autonomy. This potential is demonstrated in chapters illustrating artistic research projects that are embedded within higher music education courses across Europe, with examples ranging from instrumental tuition and ensemble work to the development of professional employability skills and inclusive practices. Bringing together diverse and experienced voices working within Higher Music Education but often also as professional performers, this edited collection pairs critical reflection with artistic insight to present new approaches to curricula for teaching interpretation and performance. It calls for greater collaboration between Higher Education and professional music institutions to create closer bonds with music industries and, thereby, improve students’ career opportunities. Teaching Music Performance in Higher Education will appeal to scholars, performers, teachers, but also students whose interests centre on innovative practices in conservatoires and music departments.