Lessons to be learned and benefits to be gained from a collaborative school university music teaching experience in an Australian undergraduate teacher education program

Lessons to be learned and benefits to be gained from a collaborative school university music teaching experience in an Australian undergraduate teacher education program

An enduring theme within initial teacher education is how to best combine theory with practice. In Australia, this theme is receiving renewed attention as the result of a recent comprehensive review of teacher education. While in the United Kingdom there is widespread use of school-based teacher education, and in the United States professional development schools have been formed, in Australia such partnerships between schools and universities are not as developed. There is substantial scope for real improvement in the construction of collaborative partnerships, in order to provide both greater opportunity to put theory into practice and to make the theory more relevant and meaningful. This paper describes a collaborative initiative in music education — an area that beginning generalist classroom primary teachers appear to receive minimal if any opportunity for practice within school-based professional experiences. It discusses both the lessons learned and benefits derived from the school/university collaboration for all partners.