Beyond Expectations in Music Performance Modules in Higher Education: Rethinking

Instrumental and Vocal Music Pedagogy for the 21 st Century.

In Press: Journal Music Education Research.

Lilian Lima Simones,

Queen’s University, Belfast

Author note:
Lilian Lima Simones, Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern
Ireland, United Kingdom.
This work was supported by a grant from the Higher Education Academy (HEA), Northern
Ireland Enhancement Fund (DCE 605).
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lilian Simones, Sonic Arts
Research Centre, Cloreen Park, Belfast BT9 5HN. Email: Lsimones01@qub.ac.uk
2

Beyond Expectations in Music Performance Modules in Higher Education: Rethinking

Instrumental and Vocal Music Pedagogy for the 21st Century.

Abstract

Music performance in the higher educational context is shaped by a reciprocal chain of interactions between

students, part-time tutors and full-time teaching staff, each with specific expectations about the teaching and

learning process. Such expectations can provide valuable insights not only for designing and implementing

meaningful educational strategies but also in defining HE institutions’ specific mission, inside and outside

departmental boundaries. Drawing on an empirical investigation about the dynamics of the expectations of the

above stakeholders regarding the integration of instrumental/vocal tuition into the HE learning environment, this

article discusses the need for developing teaching excellence in instrumental and vocal tuition across the UK,

arguing that HE environments have a crucial role to play in such process.

Keywords

Instrumental music teaching, vocal teaching, expectations, music higher education, instrumental and vocal

teacher professional accreditation

Introduction

Universities play multiple roles in society. They not only help preserve traditional cultural

values and legitimise existing society structures (see Bourdieu 1984), but also contribute to

continuous transformation by introducing or extending ‘modern’ ideas, encouraging and

promoting new cultural values, training skilled professionals for existing and emerging roles,

while testing and building knowledge (see Brennan et al. 2004). In order for adequate and

meaningful transformation to take place, a continuous understanding of all the social agents

that give ‘life’ to the university as a community of practice and their dynamic interactions is

essential. Although at the micro level (specific departments or schools within a university),

individuals (administration, full/part-time teaching staff, students) work together towards a

shared goal (Wenger 1998), the lessons learnt result not only from formal curriculum delivery
 3

but also from the attitudes/expectations communicated in the day-to-day interaction (formal

and/or informal).

The meaningfulness of the educational process is surrounded by controversy in terms

of definition, identification and provision of such experiences. In recent debates it has been

argued that for students, cooperative learning in authentic tasks, that are similar to situations

in which knowledge will actually be used, have an important positive impact on learning

(McCune 2009). However, the multiplicity of roles performed by music students and music

professionals in the current technologically driven world (Bennett 2009; Daniel and Daniel

2013) and the uncertainty about obtaining preferred job destinations contribute to difficulty in

defining and providing ‘meaningful and authentic learning experiences’. Such definition and

provision become more complex when adding a difficult balance between education and

budget, directly reflected in the type of provision offered at the universities (i.e. reduction of

one-to-one sessions in music performance versus increase of group lessons, reduction of the

amount of session). Obviously students, increasingly perceiving themselves as “customers”

of the educational system (since the introduction of tuition fees in 1998), legitimately aspire

to an education that fully ensures their preparation for the practical world. However, a shift

may be needed between previous learning methods and the ones presented at the university

when considering a wider range of possible professional destinations in a highly competitive

work market. Appropriately supporting this shift requires at the very least the following from

lectures and part-time teaching staff (tutors): awareness about the fact that teaching staff

implicitly serve as role models for students by the ways they carry out their teaching and how

they enact their rights and responsibilities (Johansen 2010), including in how they structure

the modules curriculum (Venn 2010); an evaluation of the level of synchrony between what

teaching staff and students consider appropriate in terms of teaching/learning agenda in

relation to the current professional demands; and inclusion of such aspects within the wider
4

university agenda, in order to obtain the essential and necessary budget for the foreseen

appropriate provision. How to address the fact that despite all teaching staff implicitly serving

as role models for students (as above described), the role of part-time tutoring, although

constituting an essential part of curriculum delivery, remains confined to administrative

contrasting views (context dependent) about whether there should or not be more engagement

of these individuals in the HE structure? In addition, in music, it is not unusual for music

students at an undergraduate level to be involved in teaching and/or aspire to teach; What are

the explicit and implicit delineations, for students and teachers alike, of the fact that

instrumental/vocal music teachers do not seem to enjoy a similar status as teachers of other

subjects regarding educational provision at university level and standards required for

developing their teaching profession?

Teaching in other subject areas has developed considerably during the 20 th century

due to the contribution of empirical research and university based education, targeted at the

specificities of knowledge areas (example: mathematics, English) and to insights into

teaching and learning processes provided from cognitive and educational psychology (e.g.

Piaget 1936; Vygostsky 1986). Given the pedagogical development in other subject areas,

why instrumental and vocal pedagogy remain still largely tied to 18 th and 19th century

teaching principles that mostly rely on subjective and vague perceptions of what works in the

personal experience of certain teachers and pedagogues, instead of an understanding of

principles that can contribute to optimised teaching and learning? Moreover, while the

embodiment paradigm provided a solid platform for helping to understand musical

performance processes (e.g. Le Guin 2006; Leman 2010), why the role of teachers in the

development of this embodied skill remains only scarcely acknowledged by research?

Several interrelated factors contribute to the present state of affairs. In fact, over the

last twenty years or so, there has been an increasing interest of the research community in the
 5

instrumental and vocal studio and such research has mostly focused on the following areas:

teachers’ conceptualisations of teaching (e.g. Dunkin 1990; for a review see Hallam 2006);

how individual differences influence teaching practices (Madsen 2004; Jorgensen 2002;

Kostka 2002); the role of context in shaping methods and curriculum practices (Gaunt 2008;

Burwell 2006; Lamont 2002); corrective feedback (Parkes 2011; Bergee 2003); dual roles of

teachers as teachers and performers (Parncutt 2007; Jorgensen 2000; Parkes 2009); and

teaching effectiveness, without considering direct learning outcomes (Hallam 2006), (for

reviews see Kennell 2002 and Parkes 2009). However, how much of the findings of the

above research has effectively reached instrumental/vocal teachers and if so, how much of

this can be effectively put into practice without carefully planned and developed

teaching/learning support?

Instrumental/vocal teachers have an important role in educating society and in

promoting individuals long-life engagement with music and long-life engagement with music

has been shown to contribute to mental health and wellbeing (see MacDonald et al. 2012) and

they certainly should be well equipped for doing so. Therefore, instrumental and vocal

pedagogy needs to be reconsidered and a transformation agenda needs to be devised and

implemented in a long term plan, which should include a vision for instrumental/vocal

teachers considering:, what they are, do in society and how they can achieve their mission?

What do they require to be well equipped for teaching in the 21 st century, obtain professional

enjoyment and recognition (a vital psychological need)? How do they see themselves

evolving as individuals and in relation to continuous professional development? Also, how do

others see them, what needs to be done and by whom in order to put forward a much needed

change? The answers to these questions require discussion among professionals, much more

research over time, and cannot be provided solely by this article. However, with the above in

mind, this article will consider the polyphony of discourses of students, full and part-time
6

teaching staff as a basis for rethinking instrumental/vocal music education. Throughout this

work, I will seek to answer the following questions: what experiences and constructs

influence students, part-time and full time teaching staff present views about instrumental and

vocal tuition and music performance in the HE arena; and, what can the role of HE contexts

be in promoting educational experiences that address stakeholders’ best interests while

promoting positive changes in the surrounding society and in synchrony with cutting-edge

academic research? The answers to these questions are drawn on evidence of a recent Higher

Education Academy (HEA) funded case study¹ (for a full report, see Simones, 2011).

Method

The project, led by staff in the Music department of the University of Ulster and supported by

colleagues at Queen’s University Belfast, addressed the integration of specialist practical

instrumental/vocal tuition into the modular structure of Music degree courses and the HE

learning environment. The study population consisted of music undergraduate students taking

performance modules, their instrumental/vocal tutors and departmental full-time lecturers

involved in the design, delivery, management and administration of performance modules.

The inquiry instruments were purpose-built for the study and consisted of questionnaires,

focusgroup interviews and semi-structured interviews. The study was based on a total of 91

responses (in one or other of the forms detailed above), that were analysed using a constant

comparative/descriptive methodology, with repeated readings and triangulation across data

sources.

Students: Past experiences informing present expectations

From the results of the case study in which this article is drawn from, it was clear that

students’ attitudes/expectations towards HE appeared to be strongly influenced by past

 7

experiences of learning: of student respondents, 67% had experience only of one-to-one

weekly instrumental/vocal sessions prior to university. These students emphasised their

‘continuous need’ of this type of tuition on a weekly basis. In fact, they showed satisfaction

with HE only when provided with the same type and amount of tuition, a satisfaction in turn

that was reflected in positive attitudes towards learning in HE in general (higher levels of

motivation for learning, self-esteem, self-efficacy and self-conception of talent). When the

type and frequency of tuition differed from what they were used to, students expressed

concern about their development. Students who had been exposed to both individual and

group tuition prior to university enrolment (17%) also showed a marked preference for one-

to-one sessions, but there was recognition of the benefit of group lessons:

Individual [tuition focuses] on my own faults, however group [tuition] allows you to learn from

others (Student 19).

Students who had prior experience only of group tuition (13%) and those who were

self-taught (4%) showed higher levels of flexibility in relation to the type of tuition offered at

their universities. This group had varied performance interests: classical, traditional/folk, jazz

and pop/rock. All participants in the focus groups, whichever type of tuition they were used

to and whichever musical genres they practiced, especially prized the development of

instrumental/vocal technical skill, similarly to findings reported by Ritterman 2000 and

Bennett, 2009. In addition, students’ were alienated by course requirements that emphasise

critical thought, there was little sense of the interconnectedness of instrumental music/vocal

with other areas of the curriculum, or of the value of these other areas in contributing to

higher levels of musicianship or better-prepared performances:

8

I assumed there would be a lot more tuition and a lot more opportunities to perform, instead of

so many know-it-all [...] lecturer sessions (Student 5).

A lot of unnecessary assignments and I am left with not enough time to play my violin (Student

34).

Overall these findings suggest that students’ prior teaching and learning experiences

did not contribute to strengthening self-motivation and active learning demands required for

accomplishing the university experience (in accordance to Venn 2010). Instead, such type of

educational experience promoted an outcome of the learning experience simply reflected by

the ability to demonstrate technical skill with the instrument in an exam situation.

In terms of professional aspirations, student respondents unanimously stated that they

sought from the university knowledge and professional recognition. Just over half (51%) saw

themselves working in future as both music teacher and performer, 29% only as teachers and

20% only as performers. Almost a third (31%) were already engaged in teaching, mostly

private instrumental tuition. Despite the teaching aspirations of the majority, the importance

of learning and acquiring relevant teaching skills remained mostly not acknowledged both, by

students and universities: only few students expressed concerns about developing relevant

teaching skills and universities’ main mission, of ‘preparing students for professional life’,

appeared to include little reference to it.

Instrumental/vocal teachers: history repeating itself

In the study which this article is based on, almost half the tutors (43%) were not graduates

and only 29% had a practical teaching qualification. The majority of tutors in study (86%)

agreed that teaching university students requires different skills from teaching school

children, but only 21% agreed that teaching university students is more rewarding than
 9

teaching school children; 57% neither agreed nor disagreed. This last figure seems to suggest

a certain lack of reflection about what constitutes personal/professional satisfaction, or

unwillingness to engage with the wider aspects of their role in what the HE environment

might imply. In either case, this finding generates in itself some questions: are students

unconsciously mimicking their tutors’ attitudes towards reflective practice or engagement

with the HE environments? Is history repeating itself? One needs to be aware that prior to the

university, students spend in general at least eight years being taught by tutors. A logical

assumption is that tutors have a considerable role for students’ musical development and

simultaneously in inculcating beliefs, attitudes and expectations towards personal

development that are reflected in what students seek and in how they engage with the HE

context, in line with the principles proposed by the social learning theory (See Bandura

1977). How can tutors promote critical thinking in their students as prescribed by the HE

whenever there isn’t a requirement of professional accreditation for tutoring privately or in

primary and secondary state schools implying that tutors don’t need to necessarily engage in

formal pedagogical education or the HE for tutoring?

Most tutor participants in this study (93%) teach in a variety of contexts: private

lessons, state and private secondary schools, local music schools and FE colleges as well as

HE. They teach a wide range of ages, from 6 upwards. The focus-group interviews revealed

that these settings are in most cases similar to their own experience as students. But learning

to teach simply by imitating the example of one’s own teacher may not adequately equip

individuals with the necessary communication and diagnostic skills required for teaching. In

addition, such an imitative approach limits individuals in relation to new knowledge, possibly

harnessing their critical thinking about teaching and learning processes. Especially as most

HE institutions now insist on specific HE teacher training for all new lecturers, it seems that

greater emphasis needs to be placed on tutors’ specific pedagogic educational background.

10

Tutors’ answers were divided about whether demands from other university subjects leave

the students with little time to practice, 23% agreeing and 23% disagreeing; 54% neither

agreed nor disagreed. This last figure may suggest that the majority of tutors have only

limited interest in the rest of the curriculum; certainly, 54% claimed to have little contact with

lecturers and 62% thought it is important that there be greater involvement from instrumental

teachers in curriculum development and assessment processes.

When asked about what they considered was the importance of instrumental/vocal

tuition, here is a resume of the most representative views:

‘Students seem to be inspired by inspiring musicians, people who are successful and

knowledgeable in their own musical areas and I certainly try my best to inspire my students’

(Tutor 3).

‘I feel instrumental tuition is important in creating higher level of musician and should be

recognised more’ (Tutor 10).

‘I have a feeling of being invisible and it’s not rewarding to feel invisible’ (Tutor 9).

The idea of the ‘higher level of musician’ would seem to imply a wider role for

instrumental tuition than is generally recognised by students. The sense of invisibility, on the

other hand, clearly shows the impact of not engaging tutors in the wider enterprise of the HE

Music department. Although some consider their role in terms of creating a ‘higher level of

musician’, more than half of the tutors did not manifest a personal opinion about issues such

as ‘is it personally more rewarding to teach school children or university students?’ and ‘do

other university subjects leave students with little time to practice their instrument?’ It would

seem apparent that the intention of creating a ‘higher level of musician’ would imply at the

very least a personal opinion about what influence external elements such as other university
 11

subjects can have for achieving such ends and in which contexts do they see themselves more

proficient in terms of developing such ‘higher level of musician’.

What then is the role of the tutor in HE? Should tutors in HE contexts challenge the

deeply engrained conception of focus on ‘technical skill development’?. If so, how can this

be achieved when these same tutors are frequently engaged in teaching in other educational

contexts and judging by students’ results, they were so far mostly unable to develop a more

holistic approach to learning in their students?

Full-time teaching staff: Dilemmas of planning and delivering performance modules

Beyond the published learning outcomes, one lecturer had this to say about the aims of

performance modules:

To develop musicianship and performance skills at an individual level, according to the year of

studies; to familiarise students with the ins and outs of making music, ensemble or solo; to

develop time management and organisational skills, ambition [and] self-confidence; to manage

their own expectations and organise their work within their [own] context (Lecturer 1).

Naturally, the individual-student-centered nature of these aims has

considerable financial implications:

Finance is the key of most concerns that I have (Lecturer 4).

We manage to give students a lot from very little (Lecturer 2).

We’ve seen our budgets cut progressively over the years (Lecturer 3).
12

In the current financial climate we are being squeezed more and more [...] I think [the students]

expect more and more and we are able to provide less and less (Lecturer 2).

At the same time, students paying several thousand pounds a year in tuition fees have

increasingly firm ideas about what they have the right to expect:

We bought a degree here (Student 9).

The way that this degree was sold to me was […] with a lot of workshops (Student 2).

But, as suggested above, these ideas may not necessarily be consonant with the aims

of the degree courses that students are purchasing at such large expense. Their demands, in

the case of Music both disproportionately focused on performance and disproportionately

informed by previous learning experiences, mean that it is becoming even more difficult than

before to strike a balance in the design and delivery of performance modules. A further

challenging aspect is the relatively recent inclusion of a wider variety of music (traditional,

pop/rock, etc.) in an environment traditionally dominated by Western Art Music. Catering for

different styles may also imply catering for different models of pedagogy or even engaging

with areas of musical knowledge in which it is normal for practitioners to be to some extent

self-taught (i.e. traditional music or rock). In addition, qualities such as technical ability,

interpretation and re-interpretation and the importance of supporting technology may be

valued quite differently and imply different teaching and assessment priorities, not to mention

tuition administration. For the present purposes, perhaps the most important differences may

be that to do with one’s identity as a musician. At this level, some tutors pointed out specific

concerns:
 13

There is not yet a specific curriculum for Irish Traditional Music Performance (Tutor 5). For

less typical genres, the guidelines are less clear in an effort to lump together all the non-

classical stuff (Tutor 7).

And to the extent that different musics imply different skills and knowledge and

therefore arguably different assessment criteria, students too have queries:

The different musical styles [...] on offer imply that there [are different] standards [...] required

from different students (Student 12).

But while this democratisation may be seen as a challenge in HE, it also has the

potential for acting as a seed-bed for the mutual development of varied skills from a point of

view of reflective and interactive learning.

Discussion

The findings are suggestive of the importance that past and current learning experiences

assume in shaping expectations and attitudes towards higher education for the different

stakeholders: students’ expectations appeared to be deeply aligned with those of instrumental

and vocal tutors; whereas full-time teaching staff engaged in the administration and delivery

of course modules appeared to be in a somewhat inner struggle between their own

conceptions of need to broadening students’ horizons (shaped by their exposure to HE

environment) versus an a priori perception of music performance students’ resistance to

change alongside a difficult budget to manage.

The level of alignment between students and tutors expectations for higher education,

was particularly evident in: the emphasis placed on instrumental/vocal skill development;

alienation in relation to course requirements that emphasise critical thought; not realising the
14

interconnectedness of instrumental/vocal development with other areas of the curriculum in

promoting higher levels of musicianship; not realising the importance of learning to teach,

just as the tutors whose majority did not seek a practical teaching qualification. As for tutors,

they are also the result of a cycle of dynamic expectations between themselves, their tutors

and their experience in dealing with the HE environment. This continuous cycle of dynamic

expectations, in which history appears to keep repeating itself, will continue its spiraling

movement, until other conceptions of self-identity start to be instilled and inculcated in tutors

and students as to include a broader conception of ‘musician’, ‘performer’ and

‘instrumental/vocal teacher’.

The significant amount of time that students typically spend with their instrumental/

vocal tutors prior to university enrolment at a time in which their whole person is being

defined could potentially bring the much desired openness of mind required for engaging in

the HE learning environment, potentially smoothing the usually difficult transitions of

becoming a university musician (for more on the challenges of becoming a university

musician see Burland and Pitts 2007; Pitts 2013). The relationship between students and

tutors has been demonstrated elsewhere as having a heavy weight for the acquisition and

development of skill and attitudes towards learning in general (Howe and Sloboda 1991;

Simones 2014, 2015). In fact, its impact goes much beyond pure skill development and is

directly reflected in individual self-concept, sense of self-competency, beliefs, attitudes and

expectations (McPherson and Davidson 2006). These resulting beliefs and expectations play

a pivotal role in the acquisition and interpretation of knowledge and subsequent learning

behavior (Chong et al. 2005) . As such the power that instrumental/vocal teachers have or can

have, should not be underestimated:

‘They provide access to culture in general and music for individuals of all ages and higher

music education institutions should have a keen interest in providing education for
 15

instrumental/vocal teachers at the highest level, as it will be these teachers that will prepare

future students in higher music education’ (Polifonia Working Group 2010: 7).

Without doubt, teaching is something that most instrumental/vocal music students do,

or will do, at some point in their lives and in doing so they have the power to change

behaviour, attitudes and beliefs. This process can be one of positive change, or one that can

result in hindering students potential, creating misconceptions about musical personal and

professional identity and even developing resistance towards learning. As seen in this study,

the present state of affairs is one in which resistance to change seems to come from all fronts:

despite aspiring to teach, the majority of students in this study do not consider the importance

of learning to teach (contrary to Mills 2006); less than a third of tutors in this study sought a

practical teaching qualification; and the majority of universities in the UK keep distancing

themselves from the teaching element implied in music performance degrees and from

integrating instrumental and vocal tutors as members of ‘faculty’ (contrary to other realities

such as the United States and European countries such as Finland and Germany).

The perception that PGCE (for school teaching) along with various diplomas and

licenciate courses of conservatoires and examination boards (specifically for

instrumental/vocal teaching) are the proper sources to gain those skills and knowledge,

perpetuates a contradiction in which excellence in tuition is and is not associated with HE,

both by students and tutors. But this is not the only result: 1) students and tutors not

acknowledging the importance of learning to teach (as seen in this study) might not engage in

these various courses and diplomas and an opportunity for education is lost if not presented at

the various music performance degrees currently on offer at HE; 2) Instrumental and vocal

tutors are left without a ‘protected space’, ‘to reflect and re-assess…an environment set apart

from the interests, orthodoxies and pressures’ (Brennan et al. 2004: 18) of institutions with

particular interests.
16

In 2005, 74% of instrumental music teachers in England working full-time for 149

local music services focused essentially on instrumental music teaching, had a qualified

teacher status (QTS) (Hallam et al. 2005). QTS is compulsory teaching preparation for

teachers of all subjects working in maintained schools in England. However, the focus of this

course on broader teaching and learning issues, from a generalist stance, leaves little scope

for attending to instrumental music teaching and learning specificities. The process of

teaching and learning to play a musical instrument is such that it entails simultaneously the

learning of abstract conceptual musical elements and the required motoric activity needed for

the embodiment of such abstract concepts at different levels: physically, mentally and

emotionally, through cognitive and perceptual-motor processes. For teaching such specialised

subject, quite different in nature from learning mathematics, English or geography,

specialised teaching preparation appears to be crucial. In fact, the vast number of students

giving up instrumental music lessons each year (Mills 2007) reveals a need for a teaching that

promotes long term connections with music while effectively supporting students in their

learning process and indicates that the present educational situation requires close attention.

So, what can the role of HE contexts be in promoting educational experiences that

address stakeholders’ best interests while promoting positive changes in the surrounding

society and culture and in synchrony with cutting-edge academic research? HE contexts,

across the UK, in particular (from where this report in which this article is based) have an

important role in breaking the cycle of ‘history repeating itself’ here discussed. The present

status given to instrumental/vocal teacher education in the UK HE context in general, is not

compatible with the importance that instrumental/vocal education assume for society or the

rapid change in the instrumental/vocal teacher profession across Europe and the

professionalisation of teaching in general. In addition to lack of vital teaching preparation, the

perpetuation of such situation leaves students enrolled in music performance degrees in the
 17

UK with less chances of mobility when competing with qualification requirements for

instrumental/vocal teaching across Europe (see Polifonia Working Group 2010). With this in

mind, ,consideration should be given to including an element of pedagogical/educational

studies within the curriculum for musicians. Clearly, this provision should be one that

includes an informed critical and practical examination of pedagogical issues. Teaching

should therefore be a vital component for all professional musicians as part of their portfolio

career, one in which they combine various professional tasks (Polifonia Working Group,

2010), even if their main interest is in musical performance. This way perhaps the historical

repeating cycle could step by step start to be broken and a new generation of teachers be born

catering for:

‘…developing creative approaches, (…) [developing] learners autonomy and in which learning is considered as

developing ways of musical thinking, rather than merely the acquisition of specific skills, (…) shifting from a

teacher-directed pedagogy, to student-centred approach, and which the teacher is considered as facilitator rather

than as instructor’ (Polifonia Working Group 2010: 37).Without doubt , universities have a vital role to

play in contributing to teaching practice that is informed by cutting-edge academic research

and with that role, comes a possibility (indeed, a responsibility) to shape tomorrow’s teachers

in ways that esteem the pursuit of knowledge and academic excellence. The democratisation

of musical styles in HE environments brings with it a pedagogical opportunity for application

of essential and basic pedagogical principals to diverse contexts and to use peer learning as a

relevant learning strategy. Combining different musical genres and musicians with different

goals and experiences in the same HE contextual experience, though challenging, has the

potential to develop awareness, empathy and from a broader perspective, elements of

citizenship all essential elements for acquiring the necessary teacher profile.

Conclusion
18

In this article, students, part-time and full-time teaching staff’s expectations regarding the

integration of instrumental/vocal tuition into the HE learning environment, provided general

insights for rethinking instrumental/vocal pedagogy in the UK. In a time in which students

seek knowledge and professional recognition from universities, the importance of providing

meaningful educational experiences, aligned with students best interests and their intended

impact on society, should not be undermined. If contexts affect both, what is taught and how

it is taught, shape explicit and implicit messages and values, then certainly the HE cannot

dismiss its responsibility in arming tomorrow’s instrumental/vocal music teachers with the

skills to enhance and inform their teaching practices. Moreover, such endeavour should be

considered a higher-educational and ethical imperative.

It is through an educational system that grants professional accreditation at a Higher

education level that the community of Instrumental/vocal teacher can realise and further

develop their potential, establish future agendas for continuous development and integration

in society. It is time for embracing and developing an eclectic instrumental and vocal

pedagogy caring for a variety of learning contexts, artistic genres, musical goals and

pedagogical approaches. The HE certainly has a role to play in terms of the effectiveness of

such approaches and in helping to develop a personally rewarding profession that is visible,

acknowledged and respected equally as other forms of teaching.

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant from the Higher Education (HEA) [Northern Ireland

Enhancement Fund DCE 605] administered by the University of Ulster. I am grateful to the

students, members of staff and tutors that took part in this study. Special thanks go to Dr

Cormac Newark who has supervised this work providing many invaluable insights and James

Hunter who very kindly proofread the latest version of this article.
 19

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