Arts immersion for music teachers: How to widen the path without losing the plot

Abstract

Music educators, in private studio and school contexts, are often trained exclusively in that arts discipline. Two decades ago, concerns were expressed that integrated arts programs represented generic learning and a failure to acknowledge discipline-specific understandings and skills for each arts discipline. Some of these concerns linger today, despite the introduction of a national curriculum for the Arts which formalizes the knowledge, skills and processes inherent in each arts discipline, and the development of high quality integrated arts approaches. However, music, as one of the arts disciplines, is in danger of being marginalized in the curriculum due to the predominance of high-stakes testing programs which define legitimate knowledge in the curriculum, related funding cuts to arts education in school and tertiary sectors which reduce pre-service arts education for teachers, and consequent diminished teacher capacity in delivering high quality integrated arts programs. This paper presents the benefits to music education through collaborations with other arts disciplines, and other disciplines across the curriculum. The concept of Arts Immersion is discussed in terms of a strategy in which the Arts become the home language of the class room, through a team teaching approach involving a generalist teacher and a specialist arts teacher.