Music Preferences and Engagement of Grade 6 Students - Australian Journal of Music Education 2010

Oct 15, 2026

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This article examines the current music preferences of grade 6 children (12–13-year-olds) in an Australian primary school and the ways these children engage with music. Data were collected in three phases: a written questionnaire for all 86 students, focus group interviews with 12 students, and observation of engagement at school over five weeks. The study highlights contemporary popular music preference, the role of digital media, and multiple functions of music in students’ lives, including the value of choice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The dilemma of upper primary school music

Music preference

What we want: the music preferences of upper primary school students and the ways they engage with music Peter De Vries Monash University Abstract This article examines the current music preferences of grade 6 children (12-13-year-olds) in an Australian primary school and the way these children engage with music. Data were collected in three phases, comprising a written questionnaire administered to all 86 students, focus group interviews with 12 of these children, and observation of students’ engagement at school, both in class and out of class, over a five week period. This article focuses on the latter two phases. Results revealed students prefer contemporary popular music to other styles of music; new media technology such as digital music players play a significant role in their engagement with music; music plays multiple roles in the students’ lives; they are aware of the diverse ways music is present in the world, both in and out of school; the students valued choice, particularly in terms of repertoire, in music activities at school; school can stifle potential engagement with music; and students involved in extracurricular music groups at school valued the experience. Keywords: music preferences, engagement Australian Journal of Music Education 2010:1, 3-16 Introduction “The grade 6s are my least favourite year level to teach. They’re so hard to engage soyou end up spending most of the lesson trying to keep them under control – and even that doesn’t always happen.” Primary school music teacher, Happy Valley Primary School. “Music sucks. Not music that I listen to, but music at school, the music lesson we go to each week. We never get to do our music, the music we like.” Grade 6 student, Happy Valley Primary School. These two quotes emerged in interviews with the primary school music teacher and a group of year 6 students at Happy Valley Primary School (pseudonym) during the first week of a research project focusing on the current music preferences of upper primary school students and the ways they engage with music. The project stemmed from the classroom music teacher’s invitation to conduct this research because of the frustration she had been feeling for a number of years with upper primary school student disengagement in her general classroom music lessons. The music teacher taught the year 6 students, and all other classes in the school, music for one hour each week (split over two half hour lessons) . The focus of the research was negotiated with the teacher. That is, she wanted to find out what music these children enjoy and the way these children engage with this music. The teacher believed she needed to better understand what music her students’ preferred and the way they engaged with this music in order to rethink the way she taught music to upper primary school students. It should be noted that the research reported in this article does not focus on the teacher’s pedagogy and the changes she made in her pedagogy as a result of learning of the students’ music preferences and preferred ways of engaging with music. The dilemma of upper primary school music Literature indicates that children become increasingly negative towards school music as they move through the primary school years (Ruismaki & Tereska, 2008; Bowles, 1998), with music being nominated as one of the least favourite school subjects (Stavrou, 2006). The reasons for this negative attitude to school music are many and varied, including the absence of a learner-centred and process-oriented music curriculum (Stavrou, 2006), the absence of connection between the cultural contexts of school, home and community when it comes to music learning and engagement (Temmerman, 2005), and music teaching pedagogy being aligned with the Western classical music tradition, as opposed to the more informal practices of popular music learning (Green, 2002) . It is not a case of upper primary school children not liking music. Studies of

FAQs

What age group and school context does the study focus on?

The study focuses on grade 6 children (12–13-year-olds) in an Australian primary school. It considers their music preferences and engagement both in and out of class.

How were data collected in the research?

Data were collected in three phases: a questionnaire administered to all 86 students, focus group interviews with 12 students, and observation of students’ engagement over five weeks.

What does the study report about students’ music preferences and engagement?

Students prefer contemporary popular music to other styles. Digital music players and other new media technology play a significant role, and students recognize that music appears in diverse ways both in and out of school.

Oct 15, 2026

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