Towards an improved model for senior-secondary music education: a multi-faceted perspective
Creators: name: Miles, William Edward
Publisher: name: Figshare
Year: 2017
Subjects: Uncategorized

description: This thesis is concerned with some of the major dilemmas in modern senior-secondary music
education: attracting enrolments, devising relevant and engaging curriculum that is rigorous and
capable of satisfying a range of future aspirations of music students, dealing with the disparity
of students’ prior learning and experience levels, issues affecting pedagogy in an increasingly
outcomes-driven environment, and so forth. The aims of this research are to improve the rigour
and relevance of centralised, state-administered senior secondary music programmes via a
multi-faceted approach that acknowledges the complexity and probable inter-relatedness of
these dilemmas. The proposed approach provides a framework for understanding the interplay
between curriculum design and content, assessment issues, pedagogy, and preparation for
further musical pursuits, especially post-secondary studies. Once these relationships are
understood, the underlying and most critical problems can be exposed and solutions proposed
that are cognisant of this complex interplay. While such a systems thinking perspective has been
applied widely in engineering, business and various social structures, the integration of such an
approach to consider the issues surrounding education as a system is indeed very novel.
A case study of the (1995-2000) Victorian (Australia) Certificate of Education (VCE) music and
music performance study designs is used to demonstrate the application of such a multi-faceted
approach towards improving senior-secondary music education models. Essential to the case
study is an identification of the various strengths and weaknesses of the VCE music study
designs, isolating problems and understanding their nature and scope. This is achieved via a
research design involving extensive use of surveys of five demographic groups (VCE music
students and teachers, tertiary students from VCE backgrounds, and tertiary lecturers and
faculty/department heads), interviews, and literature-informed analysis. Detailed statistical
analysis is presented, synthesised and cross-tabulated with demographic data to provide the
necessary insights into differing perspectives and perceptions. The advantage of undertaking
such a detailed case study is its capacity to illuminate a broad range of issues and allow the
nexus between the various facets under consideration to be explored thoroughly. Thus, the
primary aim of the case study is to enable an understanding of the complex interplay of factors
at both macroscopic and microscopic levels. A secondary aim of the case study is to
demonstrate that workable solutions to improve the rigour and relevance of the VCE music
subjects can be, and indeed should be, devised from within such a multi-faceted perspective.
Based on the insights obtained from the case study research, arguments for changes to the
curriculum and assessment practices for each of the subjects are presented. Further, improved
models of curricular content and assessment instruments are designed that consider their nexus
with each other as well as with pedagogical issues and preparation for further musical pursuits.
Implications for improvements to senior secondary music pedagogy, a consequence of
modifications to curriculum and assessment, are discussed. Many of the recommendations of
this research, as well as these proposed modifications, were adopted for the re-designed and reaccredited
VCE music studies of 2000-2005 and beyond.
This thesis thus makes significant contributions to policy-making, pedagogy, performance
assessment methodology, and music education in general. It features an eclectic approach,
drawing upon both quantitative and qualitative analysis, socio-historical research, and combined
with a systems thinking framework. It is a novel attempt to understand the complex interplay
affecting modern senior secondary music education in state-administered environments, and to
demonstrate how this multi-faceted perspective is critical to achieving genuine and far-reaching
improvements in music education.