Responding to the challenge - giving pre-service classroom teachers a musical language and understanding

Oct 15, 2026

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Pre-service teacher degree programs increasingly pack many subjects required for effective teaching, making it difficult for teacher educators to ensure both musical knowledge and a usable musical language for classroom instruction. This article analyzes the challenge of embedding a coherent music learning sequence that builds genuine understanding of music. It describes how Charles Sturt University’s Albury-Wodonga campus implemented music education over five years, and reviews the obstacles to retaining successful learning after cross-campus degree changes, including resource and facilities constraints.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background

Program design and reviews

Challenges of cross-campus delivery

Evaluation and future planning

Responding to the challenge: giving pre-service classroom teachers a musical language and understanding Jenni Munday andWyverne Smith Charles Sturt University, Albury Abstract Pre-service teacher degree programs are increasingly crowded with subjects covering the wide gamut of knowledge a teacher requires. Ensuring musical knowledge and language for classroom teaching poses a difficult problem for teacher educators. This article examines the challenges of including in the pre-service classroom teaching program a music sequence of learning that successfully imbues an understanding of music. It demonstrates how music education has been carried out at Charles Sturt University on the Albury-Wodonga campus over the last five years. It also discusses the difficulties of retaining successful music learning in the new cross-campus degree, due to external limitations and cross-campus facilities. Keywords: teacher education, creative arts, music education. Australian Journal of Music Education 2010:1, 71-77 Introduction Pre-service teaching degree programs respond to many outside influences such as political change, professional requirements, and academic integrity. Higher education reforms have a heavy impact, usually requiring a limiting of resources for delivery of academic programs. Internal influences also affect program design including values and expertise of designers. This paper reflects on changes that have influenced the varied stages of inclusion of music education within a pre-service teacher degree program. A sequence of music subjects at CSU Albury was developed inside a teacher education degree in 1995 because of academic staff’s realisation that teachers need first to understand the language of music before teaching music to children. Staff believed that students need to learn by doing and that all personal skills learned needed to be applied immediately to practical teaching skills. All students at the Albury-Wodonga campus learned first to play keyboard and then how to use this knowledge and skill to teach young children. Staff designed a program that would have desirable outcomes for a well-rounded, professional classroom teacher or early childhood professional. Since the first program design there have been three reviews, and continuing to include the music component has been a challenge. In the newest revision of the program, this effective stream of learning will no longer be maintained. Those responsible for the provision of musical learning and understanding face the most difficult challenge thus far and innovative measures are sought to overcome the problems. This paper also evaluates the original sequence of music subjects and discusses ways the academics are planning to continue providing students with a basic music understanding that enables future classroom teachers to confidently pass this understanding on to children. Background In 1995 a new Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood) was created on the Albury-Wodonga campus of Charles Sturt University (CSU) . It was built from the most positive aspects of earlier Bachelor of Teaching programs delivered on the Wagga Wagga campus. One of the features of the earlier degrees had been the ability to deliver sequential practical music classes over a period of four or five semesters because Creative and Expressive Arts subjects were smaller and more frequent. Four or five semesters of smaller subjects in music enabled the lecturers to assist students to gain a credible competence in music practice, equivalent to about two years of individual music tuition, and sometimes encouraged students to continue their personal development in music beyond University. The next two major reviews to the program made apparent the external pressure to provide compressed learning in all subject areas. Course designers devised changes to be attractive to the student as a prospective client or consumer, as well as ensuring high credibility within the

FAQs

Why was a music subject sequence developed in CSU Albury’s education degree?

Because staff believed teachers must first understand the language of music before teaching it, and that students should learn by doing while applying skills immediately to practical teaching.

What commitment guided the sustained inclusion of music study in the program?

Staff aimed to address perceived gaps in teachers’ musical understanding, support basic music literacy, and connect keyboard-class learning and skills to future classroom work with children.

What difficulties emerged in retaining effective music learning after program changes?

External limitations and cross-campus facilities made it hard to continue the successful learning stream when the degree structure changed across campuses.

Oct 15, 2026

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