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Introduction
Australia admitted over 158,000 new immigrants in 2007–08 to a population of 21 million people. The 2006 Australian Census showed that over 22% of the Australian population was born overseas and almost 14% of the Australian population was born in a non-English speaking country. Within the Australian population, 16% speak a language other than English at home. These data provide some insight into the way that Australia's education system is shaped by the need for programmes to foster tolerance of and respect for difference. Australia has developed some unique responses to this increased diversity in the school population, including the opportunity for adolescent immigrants to attend intensive English schools and classes at the commencement of schooling. There is also a global education initiative designed to promote culturally inclusive, sustainable education based on universal principles designed to promote social and cultural harmony.
Australia's pattern of immigration and growing cultural diversity is now more prevalent in many other countries. Many societies, especially in Europe and the Americas, are challenged by the increased diversity and cultural and religious plurality in both the community and its schools. This diversity has returned in the 2009 European parliamentary elections as a critical issue, and continues to challenge current educational policies and practices. Australia has recently redefined its national goals for schooling to ensure that ‘schooling contributes to a socially cohesive society that respects and appreciates cultural, social and religious diversity’ (Melbourne Declaration, 2008, p. 8). In writing this article, we believe that the Australian experience of diversity is being increasingly shared by many countries. This belief has prompted us to explore how educational initiatives to promote culturally inclusive, sustainable education interact with current teacher preparation through the existing disciplinary knowledge that teachers, specifically music teachers, bring to the classroom. As Riel notes ‘The purpose of global education is to promote certain attitudes in students: an awareness of the world around them, a certain openness to alternative perspectives, a pride in self that isn't dependent on putting down others. . . Global education will have to address teacher education as well as student education before it will be an important component in classroom instruction’ (Riel, Reference RIEL and Harasim1993, pp. 233, 236).
In 2005 the Australian Government developed a global education professional learning programme to equip teachers to understand and incorporate global education concepts, such as sustainability and appreciation for, and respect of, difference, into their teaching content (http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/globaled/page1.html). Global education was defined in this programme as emphasising
the development of positive values and attitudes, based on a strong sense of identity and self-esteem, and encompassing caring for others, recognising responsibilities, a commitment to upholding the rights and dignity of all people and an appreciation of diversity and difference. It also encourages and empowers learners to translate their knowledge, skills and values into a preparedness to participate actively in community life. At the same time it is vital that students develop a realistic awareness of how effective such action and participation will be (Global Perspectives, 2002, p. 4).
Global education was implemented nationally into all curriculum and school subjects. Research (Horsley et al., Reference HORSLEY, NEWELL and STUBBS2005) was developed to explore how new global education content matter interacted with existing disciplinary schema knowledge. This is an important question as teachers’ prior knowledge has an impact on the concepts, topics and teaching methods that teachers utilise when implementing curriculum change (Lambert, Reference Cheng, Tsui, Chow and Mok2000).
Participants in the 2005 study (Horsley et al.) were primary and secondary pre-service teachers in the field of ‘Human Society and its Environment’, in Australia the key learning area that includes social sciences, geography and history. The research demonstrated that when new teachers tried to introduce global education into their teaching they called on their undergraduate disciplinary schemas in order to incorporate the knowledge, skills and attitudes of global education. Such global education attitudes include: tolerance and equity; counteracting stereotyping attitudes with positive classroom practice; understanding links between development, peace, cultural diversity, human rights and sustainability; and receptivity and empathy towards other cultures.
Despite the growth of global education as a focus of new curriculum development, there have been few studies that have explored pre-service teachers’ existing knowledge of global education. Kubow (Reference KUBOW, Cheng, Tsui, Chow and Mok2002) surveyed 147 pre-service secondary social studies teachers from Canada, USA and UK to ascertain their views on: global trends likely to significantly impact on peoples’ lives during the next 25 years; and education strategies recommended by policy makers and educators to address these trends and develop desired citizenship characteristics. Kubow's data suggested that pre-service teachers’ knowledge of global trends were organized into six thematic constructs: equity and fairness; peace and security; environmental concerns; education for development; information technology (IT) for cross-cultural interaction; and empowerment/disempowerment. However, this study did not address the socio-cultural bases of existing knowledge, skills and values of pre-service teachers relating to their disciplinary study.
Horsley et al. (Reference HORSLEY, NEWELL and STUBBS2005) showed that history teachers’ incorporation of global education into their knowledge base was dependent on their history specialisation. History teachers who majored in 20th century historical and national development tended to view global education as a sub-set of the growth of political rights development. Historians majoring in the development of the third world interpreted global education as an extension of aid in the third world and social justice internationally. Geography teachers saw global education as a component of geography dealing with globalisation. For these groups of teachers, global education was seen as an extension of the existing knowledge schema, albeit to different components. However, viewing and incorporating global education through these existing disciplinary lenses meant that the global citizenship ideas of the programme were neglected as they could not be incorporated into the existing disciplinary schemas.
Teachers’ disciplinary knowledge and perspectives dominate their curricula choices, the use they make of factual knowledge, and to some extent their pedagogy. All disciplines work with a framework of fundamental concepts and procedures that separate and distinguish a discipline from others. Global education can be extended from, or added to, these existing frameworks, be incorporated into aspects of them, or stand outside them.
Socio-cultural theories in education reflect the work of Vygotsky (Reference VYGOTSKY, Cole, John-Steiner, Scribner and Souberman1980). Socio-cultural theories emphasise the embeddedness of learning and thinking in social, cultural and historical contexts. A particularly relevant factor in understanding how global education knowledge is learned is the cultural practice approach (Rogoff, Reference ROGOFF, Damon, Kuhn and Siegler1998; Rogoff et al., Reference ROGOFF, MATUSOV, WHITE, Olson and Torrance1996). This approach has extended Vygotsky's initial ideas through understandings of the ways in which individuals become established members of a community of practice. The term ‘community of practice’ refers to a socio-cultural group that collaborates to achieve shared goals through particular practices and activities. The community provides the context in which the more established members assist the less established in their mastery of community practices through joint involvement and collaboration (Lave & Wenger, Reference LAVE and WENGER1991). Subjects such as music develop disciplinary communities of practice. The shared practices and understanding of the discipline of music by experts (the community of disciplinary practice) has significant implications for how other knowledge such as global education is interpreted and incorporated into the discipline
As individuals are enculturated into the practices of a community, their identity undergoes change (Rogoff, Reference ROGOFF, Damon, Kuhn and Siegler1998) and, as they move from the periphery to the core of the community of practice, they negotiate new situations and activities, enriching what they already know (Brown et al., Reference BROWN, COLLINS and DUGUID1989). In these communities of practice students are enculturated into academic practices in general, as well as practices of specific academic disciplines. Thus, for example, a musician's knowledge base is shaped by prior experience and knowledge of the study of music as a discipline.
Connecting to musical learning
The diversity of emphasis in music education in universities across Australia produces different disciplinary communities of practice (Australian Music Centre, 2004). Long-established conservatoriums such as the Sydney Conservatorium in Sydney, the Melba Conservatorium in Melbourne and the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide focus on performance, whether in vocal, instrumental, accompanying or repetiteuring roles. Specialisations occur in fields such as baroque style or jazz. These institutions also offer degree qualifications in composition and musicology. While they offer experiences in musics of other cultures, they are subsumed as major studies within music education degrees.
Long-established universities such as the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne offer units in musicology and ethnomusicology. Composition faculties are headed by eminent Australian composers. It is in both newer and established universities that an emphasis has been placed on electronic arts and music technology, such as in the Queensland University of Technology and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Some universities have developed specialisations in popular and contemporary musics such as the University of New South Wales, the University of Western Sydney and Southern Cross University in Lismore, northern New South Wales. In different ways, these undergraduate degrees emphasise Western classical and contemporary music practices. From all these undergraduate degrees, students can apply for admission to teacher pre-service education. Consequently, the background knowledge of new music teachers is most likely to be dominated by Western music practices.
In this respect, socio-cultural theories align with concerns about contextualising of musicological learning (Leong, Reference LEONG2003; McCarthy, Reference MCCARTHY2004; Perlman, Reference PERLMAN2004) and the importance for communication of respecting and taking account of authentic performance practice for the musician (Fairley, Reference FAIRLEY, Frith, Straw and Street2001). It is not only in the music itself, but in the ways music is taught and learned that globalisation makes its impact: and, as such it reshapes music education and influences definitions of music as an object of study (Dunbar-Hall, Reference DUNBAR-HALL, Campbell and Schuipers2005).
For the musician preparing to teach in NSW high schools, global knowledge is strongly included in NSW mandated and elective curriculum. In high school and university, this includes specific study of music of other cultures. Different views about the outcomes of such study have been reviewed by Omolo-Ongati (Reference OMOLO-ONGATI, Campbell and Schuipers2005). She questions the merits of teaching music to a non-indigenous audience without reference to the social context and counter arguments about creating a fresh awareness of the diversity and diffusion of cultures.
Within NSW curriculum guidelines and Australian curriculum generally, studying the music of another culture engages with performance, composition, musicology and aural analysis. Within composition, it is an expectation that students would consciously create hybrid forms, engaging with the musical materials of different cultures – rhythms, melodic features, tone colours and textures. As Jowers states, ‘those from one musical tradition incorporate elements from other traditions without lapsing into mere eclecticism’ (Reference JOWERS and Miller1993, 69). Such study is also framed by an approach to the topic that places importance on the context (location, time, culture and belief system) of the music in which the music conceptual information is explored. Along with other institutions, the University of Western Sydney (UWS) places emphasis on contemporary repertoire and the exploration of musics of different cultures through practical experience.
Research method
Early in 2008, the cohort of 330 teacher education students at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) responded to a survey on global education. The students were given the definition of global education provided above and the survey was administered prior to commencement of a unit of study on Diversity in Education. Among the pre-service high school teachers at UWS, the music cohort (n = 17) provided subject specific data of prior learning about global education.
Three survey questions overviewed pre-service music students’ understandings of global education:
(i) What are the major understandings and concepts of global education?
(ii) Which skills are important?
(iii) What attitudes and values are fundamental to developing a global perspective?
Additionally, with regard to their undergraduate degree, the pre-service music teachers were asked about:
(iv) observation of global education; and
(v) incorporation of global education values and attitudes tolerance and equity counteracting stereotyping attitudes with positive classroom practice understanding links between development, peace, cultural diversity, human rights and sustainability receptivity towards and empathy towards other cultures.
(vi) experience in university curriculum of content about globalisation and interdependence identity and cultural diversity dimensions of change social justice and human rights peace building and conflict sustainable futures.
The 17 music pre-service teachers represented diversity in their own cultural backgrounds, including heritage from Chile, China, Germany and Pacific Islands, while all acknowledging themselves as Australians. Their musical formation was also somewhat diverse. The majority (14/17) had completed their first degree at the University of Western Sydney where the focus is on contemporary art and popular musics, offering electives in cultural experiences such as the musics of Africa, Indonesia and Pacific Islands. These students were performers in voice, guitar, percussion, brass and piano. The remaining students (3/17) had completed their first degree at the University of Sydney, with a strong focus on the traditions of Western art music in piano and orchestral repertoire. The survey responses of these 17 pre-service teachers were subjected to content analysis, based on the application of codes that had been identified and described from literature on global education. The data were analysed by the two authors independently and individual summaries of the key responses and ideas were made. These responses were then compared to the key global education concept codes in the global education survey instrument.
Results
The responses of the pre-service teachers in music represented one discrete global education cluster based around the key concepts of diversity and difference. In particular, the responses focused on developing abilities towards working together in a global environment (15/17 responses). This view presents the perspective of the interconnectedness of people and countries. It is a perspective reflecting musical understandings where styles, instruments and innovations cross borders. This ‘global environment’ response was further explained as being able to understand and respect an individual learner's background (8/17 responses). Responses of this group added the dimensions of social justice and equity. Further, the ‘global environment’ response was also aligned with adaptability to different world views and perspectives (6/17 responses). This group of responses was concerned with attitudes of tolerance and acceptance. Global education was seen to be connected with the development in students of values, skills and attitudes to perceive the world and the individual's identity and interaction with society (5/17 responses). These responses demonstrated a sense of agency, both from the pre-service teachers and with the intention of inculcating this sense in students in the future.
Skills which these pre-service teachers identified as important were observing, communicating, critical thinking, adapting, mediating, being flexible, being open to other cultures, embodying a sense of understanding and acceptance, being reflective, being a lateral thinker and being creative. This collection includes skills which these pre-service teachers deemed necessary to inculcate in future students as well as those they needed to live themselves and model in their pedagogy. They are not music specific although all the skills can be activated with a musical disciplinary lens. The thinking that generates such a list reveals philosophical approaches developed at the end of undergraduate studies of the projected way in which music teaching can contribute to these skills. The nominated skills present ‘big picture’ ideas, connected with the intercultural nature and practice of undergraduate music studies for the majority of students responding to the survey.
In relation to global education attitudes and values, pre-service music teachers were focused on respect and acceptance in their views. One student (whose degree was shaped by intersections with music of different cultures) wrote that: ‘My first degree was a broad one which focused not only on performance and music history, but also on ethnomusicology with an emphasis on Aboriginal and African music, placing performance practices respectfully within historical contexts’. Another (whose degree was deeply focused on performance of Western art music) stated: ‘Within music, I believe that giving the students the opportunity to become aurally aware of different musical styles, genres and world music is a means to avoid biased views’. Still another (whose degree was shaped by understandings of contemporary popular music and culture) explained: ‘I grew up and went to school in the Bankstown area.Footnote 1 I believe global education would have made a difference for people such as myself. I remember that race was an important issue in high school and there were a lot of conflicts because of a lack of understanding and acceptance’. This was echoed in responses about empathy and openness. Other attitudes that were nominated in the responses were those of flexibility and adaptability to change.
The survey also provided respondents with the opportunity to nominate how their undergraduate degrees contributed to global education knowledge skills and attitudes. Some pre-service music teachers responded in a confused way to the term ‘global education’. Having analysed responses to the first three open-ended questions, it became clear that some students did not connect the term ‘global education’ with skills and knowledge they had acquired in their first degrees. Consequently, some students (3/17) responded that they had not directly observed global education in their undergraduate degrees. Nevertheless, from their previous answers, it was clear that they understood key concepts of global education and had, at least partly, gained these understandings from their undergraduate degree.
Another group (3/17) responded that they had no experience at all of global education in their undergraduate degree. For those students who believed they had not encountered global education concepts, it is most likely the case that explicit connections were not made in their undergraduate disciplinary study. Consequently, as pre-service teachers, they tended to see global knowledge, skills and values as additive instead of an integral and powerful component of the role they can play as music teachers, facilitating the critical and creative musical responses of students to their social worlds.
The remaining students (11/17) responded that they had observed global education in their undergraduate degrees. Significantly, these students identified composition and collaborative projects in the community (combining elements of performance and musicology) as having an extensive impact on their understanding of global concepts. These pre-service teachers identified that undergraduate music had incorporated values of tolerance and equity through their study of composition, musicology and performance. In their view, their study significantly emphasised identity and cultural diversity, and drew attention to change experienced by people and communities. However, their university undergraduate study provided little specific understanding of sustainability, peace building or conflict mediation.
The responses of pre-service music teachers to the global education survey have similarities with those of the history and geography pre-service teachers (Horsley et al., Reference HORSLEY, NEWELL and STUBBS2005). In music, global education is also seen as additive to the disciplinary schema, and global education knowledge, skills and attitudes are seen to result from study of music from other cultures in the ways of transmission of those other cultures. Consequently, one of the main points of contact with the skills, attitudes and knowledge related to global education is through an awareness of other cultures and an understanding of the value of diversity in teaching and learning music. However, it is not the only point of contact with global education principles. The music pre-service teachers highlighted the ability to work together in their first survey response and identified collaborative performance practices as key ways in which they learned global education concepts. In other words, specific instances of ensemble playing had an extensive impact on their understanding of global concepts.
The responses of music pre-service teachers contrast significantly with pre-service teachers from visual arts, and personal health, development and physical education (PDHPE) who also responded to the same survey. Visual arts and PDHPE pre-service teachers wrote minimally in the survey forms, were more likely to leave sections incomplete and identified fewer degree units having any inclusion in the content areas of global education than any other KLA groups in the survey. Pre-service teachers enter the visual arts teaching programme from bachelors degrees in visual arts and arts degrees with fine arts and media components. Some of the content of art theory features cosmopolitan and global perspectives. However, compared with pre-service music teachers, the survey reveals little evidence of connection between disciplinary schemas in visual arts and global education. The individual emphasis at the core schema of producing art produces a focus on tolerance and acceptance of personal views but does not interact with the social emphasis at the core of global education. Pre-service teachers enter the PDHPE teaching programme from bachelors degrees in human movement and physical education and one would have expected that study of health perspectives could have provided some connection to global education. However, as in visual arts, there is an individual emphasis at the core of PDHPE study. By contrast, the music pre-service teachers displayed an emphasis on interaction with society and a respect for and appreciation of difference.
Conclusion
In the preparation of music graduates, much effort is expended in the selection and design of course content. While the students whose voices are heard in this research came from differently focused degrees, they experienced music as social expression that reflects the community. While their own diversity has been acknowledged, it is possible to generalise about this group as they are all being prepared for the complex social word they will encounter in their teaching practice.
Consequently it was significant to find that they have limited experience of the key global education values and attitudes of sustainability, peace building and conflict mediation. On the other hand, their understanding of diversity and difference and their interaction with the social emphasis at the core of global education significantly exceeded other pre-service teachers whose undergraduate study came from other disciplinary schemas. Pre-service teachers’ knowledge of global education originates in their subject discipline area and that of the musicians has been shaped by the music learning practices they have experienced. This research has demonstrated that global education is additive to the pre-service music teachers’ current disciplinary shared understandings. Both teacher education and professional development for music teachers in global education will need to explicitly develop links and connections between the knowledge, skills and attitudes of global education and the way that music education can promote global education.
Limited conclusions can be drawn from a music education cohort of this size. However, this research has revealed that teacher education programmes need to consider the prior knowledge of pre-service teachers in order to deepen the experience that prepares them as educators for the future. In this context the curriculum developers in pre-service music education can apply this research to develop school programme units of work and music teacher professional learning modules that explicitly link global education to the teaching and education. Innovations, such as the inclusion of undergraduate units of study on ‘education for sustainability’, will assist in the formation of future teachers.
The next stage in this research is to track the changes in global education learning of music graduates entering the master of teaching programme after such innovation. Becoming better global citizens is part of this generation's need: ‘Society needs people trained in sustainability to begin taking leadership positions in all of the sectors of society’ (Lovins, Reference LOVINS2006). This involves music teachers’ recognition of how interdependent we all have become and bringing those understandings through music to the students in their care.
