Alberts - Music Education: Right from the Start initiative

Submitter information

Name

Alberts - Music Education: Right from the Start initiative

Where are you located?

New South Wales

What type of area do you live in?

Metropolitan

Are you an education professional?
(e.g. teacher, school leader, learning support assistant, teacher’s aide)

No

Elevating the profession

The actions proposed recognise the value teachers bring to students, communities and the economy.

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Improving teacher supply

The actions proposed will be effective in increasing the number of students entering ITE, number of students completing ITE and the number of teachers staying in and/or returning to the profession.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?

Strengthening Initial Teacher Education (ITE)

The actions proposed will ensure initial teacher education supports teacher supply and quality.

Neither agree nor disagree

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As a general observation: there is a risk that the pressures for short-term solution and the Action Plan’s concentration on STEM, particularly in the primary years, could further narrow the field with respect to attracting a broad range of teaching candidates, further reduce the collective range of skills and competencies of teachers and by extension limit the benefits to students. (We can elaborate.)

To illustrate: we have commissioned a survey of relevant tertiary education institutions to gain a better understanding of the provision of music education in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in primary school education degrees nationally.

The completed study’s findings to be published in 2023. The preliminary data on Victoria (58% response rate) is indicative. A selection demonstrates:
• The average number of hours allocated to music education in teacher training degrees delivered in VIC is 7.6 hours
• The lowest amount of time allocated to music education across an entire teacher education degree in VIC is 2 hours. This is learning delivered to pre-service teacher who are likely to have never played an instrument during their own education.
• If a pre-service teacher wishes to take a specialisation in music education they will receive 8.7 hours of additional instructions on average. This instruction will not include practical skills such as teaching a choir or exposure to recognised music education methodologies. This is due to lack of allocated time.
• In VIC, 58.33% of Arts subjects have the Music component delivered by a Music specialist.
• Generalist primary teachers are expected to deliver up to Grade 6 (Stage 3) learning. 57% of the participants believe that students graduating from their teacher education degrees will be unable to teach music education as outlined in the Australian Curriculum up to or beyond Grade 2 (Stage 1).
• 86% of the respondents reported that their students did not observe music education classes or learning during their practicums.
• 86% of participants believe their pre-service teachers will need further professional learning in music education in order to deliver the Australia Curriculum

Do please contact us for elaboration.

Maximising the time to teach

The actions proposed will improve retention and free up teachers to focus on teaching and collaboration.

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Better understanding future teacher workforce needs

How effective are the proposed actions in better understanding future teacher workforce needs, including the number of teachers required?

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Better career pathways to support and retain teachers in the profession

The proposed actions will improve career pathways, including through streamlining the process for Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) accreditation, and providing better professional support for teachers to retain them in the profession.

Would you like to provide feedback about these actions?