Forging genuine partnerships in the music studio context: Reviving the master-apprentice model for post-colonial times

Abstract

This chapter discusses the relationship between the music teacher and the music learner in the vocal and instrumental studio context. The discussion is specific to Aotearoa/New Zealand and is framed within a narrative that describes the creation and implementation of a postgraduate studio pedagogy course. Creating a culturally safe and psychologically safe studio context is increasingly complicated in this post-colonial context. The course was designed to support performance students planning to teach in the community by enhancing their knowledge of studio teaching practices with contemporary studio based research relevant to the South Pacific context. The aim of the course was to produce future teachers who think both as music instructors and as critical cultural workers and in this way mitigate the possibilities of mis-learning and resistance in future studio teaching and learning partnerships.