Abstract:
The rapid development of digital technology in the past two decades has resulted in an exponential increase in the availability, range and contexts within which music listening and musical participation are readily available. The challenge to the teacher in the twenty-first-century classroom in relation to ‘leading with music’ is not merely how to integrate musical skills and knowledge into a classroom programme, but how to engage students in musical experiences that are meaningfully connected to the world—both musical and non-musical—that they inhabit now and in the future. This chapter offers the opportunity to think about what music is, what music can be and the role that music can play in school-based learning experiences. Loosely framing this chapter are the questions: how can we lead learning with music? What does it mean to learn through music, to learn about music and to learn in music? It is intended that through reading and reflecting on this chapter, and by following through the suggested activities suggest, you will become more deeply engaged with music as a mode of meaning-making and more motivated to lead your students to an enjoyable and relevant engagement with music in their lives.