The need for effective continuing professional development (CPD) in music education is outlined and literature on CPD for generalist teachers and teaching assistants is reviewed. A small qualitative study is then presented that took advantage of a music-making project led by folk musicians in six special schools in England. This study focused on the generalist teaching staff who actively supported their pupils to participate. The staff reported that their own confidence in working musically had increased, as had their awareness of the importance of music for children. It is suggested that these outcomes were achieved through incidental CPD, potentially paving the way for further, deliberate CPD.

El Sistema and Sistema-inspired programmes have become increasingly popular community music education and social welfare initiatives that aim to benefit socially and economically disadvantaged youth. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic significantly disrupted many of these programmes. The purpose of this research was to investigate how eight Canadian El Sistema and Sistema-inspired programmes adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. We interviewed eight teachers and eight administrators and found that their programming was impacted in relation to four themes: (a) an increased emphasis on social curricula, (b) pedagogical shifts, (c) inclusion of diverse musical voices and (d) adopting anti-racism perspectives. The COVID-19 pandemic response served as a significant catalyst for change for Canadian El Sistema and Sistema-inspired programmes, utilising the disruption to rethink and address participant needs.

This article examines how classical music students understand early twentieth-century recordings in higher music education. A qualitative research method was chosen to investigate the beliefs and self-reported practices of 16 students enrolled in a European conservatoire, whose attitudes were considered through the administration of a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview. Their responses identified seven main themes: (1) beliefs, (2) sources, (3) self-reported practices, (4) repertoires/performers, (5) educational implications, (6) limits and (7) benefits.

Results show how much students value early twentieth-century recordings – especially when it comes to analysing the performance practices of the past and developing new interpretations – and how articulate their responses can be with regard to specific stylistic and technical issues. However, possibly due to informal learning strategies and the lack of curricular teaching activities focusing on listening to and analysing recorded interpretations, some responses highlighted a misrepresentation of our recent musical past and the need for a more structured curricular activity. This last should benefit from a vast body of scholarly literature whose relevance is still underestimated among music practitioners.

Informal music learning, pioneered by Green (2002, 2006, 2017), presents an alternative approach that integrates students’ interests in popular music, bridging the informal and traditional styles of Western music education in schools. We conducted a scoping review adhering to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to investigate informal music learning. Our scoping review encompasses 28 empirical, peer-reviewed articles published from 2006 to 2023. First, we analyse the diverse contexts, methodologies and geographic locations in which informal music learning has been investigated. Second, we explore how different stakeholders perceive and engage with informal music learning in various educational settings. Lastly, we summarise the implications derived from the analysed studies on informal music learning. Our findings reveal that across various educational contexts, informal music learning has consistently demonstrated its positive impact in motivating students. We also find that researchers have extended their investigations from programme reform to exploring pupil and teacher’s musical identities. Recommendations for future research include exploring informal music learning in ensembles and elementary music classrooms and employing quantitative or mixed methods to assess its effectiveness and impact.

Teaching is a highly complex act, and learning to teach in an educational era that combines both teacher-centred and student-centred approaches presents additional challenges. Conducting demonstration lessons (DL) is one of the methods aimed at enhancing teachers’ instructional skills. This study examines the features and functions of this unique type of lesson from the perspective of music demonstration teachers in Guangdong, China. Through observation and interviews, the findings not only reveal the prevalence of DLs as performance-based lessons in Chinese teachers’ professional lives but also explore their distinctions from regular school teaching and their potential for improving teachers’ pedagogical abilities. Concerns and issues related to this type of lesson, along with possible solutions, are also discussed to provide recommendations for incorporating DLs into teacher training programmes in higher education institutions.

This study was of adolescent males about their musical self-perceptions and experiences in one Austrian school’s choral music programme. Participants who sang continuously in the school choir reported experiences consistent with flow theory. In contrast, participants who withdrew said that their school choral experiences lacked challenge levels commensurate with their interests and skills and that they wished for greater opportunities for autonomy and control. Participants who never sang in school choir lacked older male singing role models, an element consistent with the theory of possible selves. The study findings reflect those of previous research at The London Oratory. The article closes with implications for research and pedagogy.

Widespread research over four decades has shown that musicians suffer physical and psychological injuries that can begin during childhood and early adulthood. A survey of 268 Australian tertiary music students revealed their perceptions of the importance of health education as part of their education. While students rated health knowledge as highly important, they considered its inclusion in their education to be less significant. Thirty-six percent reported current physical pain or injury, and 41% reported current psychological health issues. Significant correlations emerged between students’ reported injury history and prioritisation of health education and particular health topics. This has implications for tertiary music education providers regarding policies for the integration of health education into the curriculum.

The period 1974–1999 were transition years for government school systems in Australia and New South Wales (NSW), where government agencies issued numerous policies and documents to influence and manage education and resultant classroom pedagogy. During those years, many music syllabi were produced for enactment in NSW, placing multiple demands on teacher accountability. This paper forms part of a larger study involving three generations of music teachers representing different career stages and experiences and presents the voices of the group of experienced music teachers (EMTs), exploring the impact of syllabus change, teacher identity, pedagogical skills, and eventual flourishing as confident teachers.

COVID-19 presented many challenges while the shift to online learning also provided unexpected opportunities for music teachers. During the pandemic, two researchers who are teacher educators undertook a composing project with music teacher education students in Scotland and Australia in response to the theme: My Life in Isolation: A World Apart or Same Difference? Turino’s (2008) theory of participatory music making will be drawn upon to analyse this collaborative online music and video creation project. What participation means as a music-maker will be discussed. The paper argues for greater attention to the affordances of digital collaborative music technology tools to build the confidence of pre-service teachers to facilitate real-world composing projects to promote participation, collaboration and social interaction.