Abstract:
In this paper the idea of social entitlement to conceptual knowledge is considered in relation to some data collected from students in a recent doctoral study centred on secondary school music teachers’ beliefs and actions in relation to curriculum conception. The data from students was collected as a means of triangulating the key focus of the study, the beliefs and actions of teachers; however, the student focus groups provide a rich source of information about students’ views of music at secondary school in New Zealand. In interpreting the student data I utilise thematic categories developed in the study but also Bernstein’s concepts of pedagogic rights and identities to consider whether students’ experience of the curriculum empowered them to look beyond what they already know to consider alternatives (Bernstein, 2000). Most students were able to recognise themselves and their aspirations within their school music departments while also recognising the potential importance of the theoretical knowledge of the discipline. The interplay between enabling pedagogy and curriculum content appears to be pivotal in developing these rights for students.