Webs of Musical Significance

A teacher s approach to the teaching of music is §greatly coloured by his/her own experience§with music. When student-teachers embark on the §journey of becoming educators, they§already have a variety of previous individual §experiences with music, and through§participation in their society and culture, they §hold assumptions based on social§representations of music, musicality and music §education within their society.§A person s relationship with music is often multi-§faceted, based not only on previous§educational experiences, but also on experiences §with music within the family, school and§wider community. In addition, the status and §function of different types of music within these§settings can powerfully affect an individual s §perspective on music.§§The findings in the study reveal how student-§teachers approaches to music and music§education are formed in the interplay between their §personal, educational and societal§experiences with music and music education. These §three components jointly shape the§complex web which illustrates the musical §socialisation of student-teachers.