Educational Change and the Secondary School Music Curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand

Educational Change and the Secondary School Music Curriculum in Aotearoa New Zealand provides a fascinating case study in educational change. The music curriculum has been greatly affected by deep cultural and economic forces such as the growth of popular music's importance in young people's lives, by demands for inclusive and multicultural education, and not least by advances in technology that promise to invigorate all aspects of teaching and learning. This book brings together the work of a number of leading music education scholars and teachers from Aotearoa/New Zealand to both explore these issues and to share case studies of practice: both the positive changes and the unintended consequences. Each chapter focuses on a current issue in music education and the final chapter contains responses from a number of practitioners to the issues raised by the authors, drawing together the practical and theoretical dimensions of the book.

Graham McPhail is a senior music lecturer in the School of Curriculum and Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. Graham taught secondary school music for 21 years and subsequently worked for the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) as the national moderator for secondary school music. His current research is focused on ‘the knowledge problem’ in curriculum and pedagogy design. He leads New Zealand’s original instrument orchestra NZ Barok and recently completed his Level 1 drumming certificate.

Vicki Thorpe is a lecturer in music education and initial teacher education at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. She has presented at numerous international conferences and has published in Music Education Research. Her current research interests include assessment, composing, pedagogy, computational thinking and its relationship to musical creativity, activity theory and action research.

Stuart Wise is Deputy Head of School for the School of Teacher Education, part of the College of Education, Health and Human Development (Te Rangai Ako me te Hauora) at the University of Canterbury. He studied music at the University of Otago and initially pursued a teaching career in secondary schools in Auckland, Nelson, the UK and Christchurch, before joining the Christchurch College of Education (now the College of Education, Health and Human Development at the University of Canterbury) in 1997. Stuart was appointed as Head of Centre for the National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art (NASDA) in 2000 before returning to teacher education in 2003 where he currently teaches a range of initial teacher education and music education courses at undergraduate and post-graduate level.