Music
Education
Guide

Planning your program

High quality, sustainable school music education programs include:

opportunities for students to sing, play, create and preform music
opportunities for students to develop an appreciation and understanding of music, through active involvement as creators and performers of, and listeners to, music from a diverse range of styles, traditions, and cultures
contemporary pedagogy, including links to other learning opportunities, such as a resilience-building program, to provide breadth, depth and balance, including:

a clear sense of progression
student voice by placing music-making within the wider context of students’ lives and by acknowledging students’ existing musical identity

musical genres to which students can relate as a starting point
a highly interactive and practical-based approach with a strong emphasis on aural development
opportunities for students (and teachers) to develop new skills and perform
a clear allocation of class time within the whole-school teaching and learning plan and that this time allocation focuses on explicit teaching of music (noting that time allocation is a school-based decision)
a diversity of music repertoire and musical styles
extra-curricular activities that extend students’ musical experiences across a range of styles to meet their diverse needs and cater for their interests
an understanding of the diverse pathways students can take to continue studying music after the compulsory years
opportunities for school groups to perform in the wider community and with community music groups
classroom and instrumental learning activities that integrate listening, performing and composing.

These programs are:

aligned with the whole-school teaching and learning plan
developed using the Victorian Curriculum F–10: Music
delivered in learning environments that foster student engagement
documented at all levels – school, learning area, year level cohort and unit sequence of lessons
structured around the core activities of listening, composing and performing
reviewed and refined on a regular basis
known and celebrated by the school community
reflective of the interests and cultures of the school community.

In planning your program you will need to ensure that the plan:

demonstrates sequenced learning across all levels
provides open-ended guided tasks for students of different abilities to engage in and develop
delivers mandated curriculum as well as co-curricular activities
identifies connections between music learning programs and other learning areas and capabilities such as the Personal and Social Capability, Digital Technologies, other Arts disciplines, and English (particularly the Literacy strand)
offers post-compulsory pathways
uses digital tools, instruments and methods to create, perform, store, publish and/or distribute music. Technologies may also be used for planning, research, assessment, reporting, communicating and program administration
draws on high-quality, contemporary research.