We conducted two field studies to examine whether songwriting retreats held in a natural setting would increase nature connectedness, as well as improve emotional well-being and performance on a creative reasoning task. In the first study, high school students took part in songwriting instruction either in their school or at a national wildlife…

The purpose of this study was to examine the culture of an American middle school music technology classroom based in musical composition. Research questions explored students' perceptions of how they co-create the classroom culture with the teacher and how the classroom culture influences participation in musical composition activities, if at…

As the U.S. population has become significantly more culturally diverse, many music educators have acknowledged the necessity to implement culturally diverse musics in music curricula. One of the challenges in teaching culturally diverse musics is designing a balance between performing-based activities and other activities such as listening,…

In Western countries, music educators have made efforts to revitalise enthusiasm for music education by integrating more mainstream and culturally-relevant genres into their curriculum. Conversely, current research indicates that popular music pedagogy in mainland China is not encouraged and faces many obstacles, as school music education is used…

The purpose of this article is to contribute to existing literature about how activity theory might be used in music education research. It draws from the author's doctoral action research into the assessment of group composing for New Zealand's secondary school qualification, the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). It outlines…

Interest in creative music technologies is on the rise among secondary students. Still, some music teachers are unsure how to integrate creative music technologies into their instruction. This article explores one versatile and powerful technology for the music classroom: digital audio workstations (DAWs). First, I discuss the central role of…

Social cognitive theory was developed to explain how individuals learn, in part, by witnessing the behavior of others. Self-efficacy is a construct within social cognitive theory which indicates the beliefs that an individual can be successful at a task under specific situational demands. The sources of self-efficacy include self-evaluating past…

Persuasive arguments have been made for the existence of pedagogical discourses that invoke gender as a factor in the ascription of quality to musical compositions, and previous research has shown that some music teachers ascribe "maleness" to the characteristics that they regard as markers of high quality. Drawing upon Lucy Green's…

This article presents a field-tested approach for integrating music arranging into middle and high school music ensembles. This project-based unit of study builds on scholarship in informal music learning and social constructivism. Reflections from former high school students who participated in the project help illuminate these connections. The…

The research is aimed to evaluate the impact of fine arts high school music department program on the piano playing skills of students. In this context, it was determined to what degree fine arts high school students thought the school program contributed to their piano playing skills and differentiation of student opinions as per their gender and…

One STEAM (STEM + Arts) strategy is to supplement traditional STEM instruction with music. Using music could provide the dual benefits of (1) making STEM content more accessible and (2) enhancing students' engagement in the learning process. Here we explore the extent to which music-oriented high school students achieve these two benefits when…

The seminal conceptualisation of the varying forms of authorship associated with different creativities developed as social practices has deep implications for research into music education in secondary schools. One such type is 'participatory creativity', which is explored through a cross-cutting secondary school study. Aimed at the creation of a…

The objective of this presentation is to share an artistic representation that was composed to illuminate what it might be like for beginning teachers to live through the experience of shattered hopes. This presentation was composed based on the results of a research study in which beginning teachers were asked to narrate meaningful and memorable…

We are co-teachers at Rototuna Junior High School with expertise in music and digital technologies respectively. We share our experiences of using digital-game development as the context for our integrated learning module called Sound Bytes. We hope to inspire other teachers to develop their own innovative and integrated curriculum design and…

The authors examined how middle and high school students participating in a literacy-and-songwriting initiative in Detroit, Michigan, experienced moments of possibility that supported the youth in envisioning themselves as college bound. The authors explain how they drew from culturally relevant and sustaining educational approaches to design…