Teachers’ Perceptions of Elementary Music Education in Ontario

It could be argued that one of the most significant constraints within which music leaders in school work is that of curriculum. In the past 18 years, the Ontario Ministry of Education has released three Arts curricula for the elementary grades. In 1995, the New Democrat Party under the leadership of Bob Rae produced The Common Curriculum: Policies and Outcomes, Grades 1-9, followed closely by a new document in 1998 under the Harris “Common Sense Revolution” government. The expectations for music in this curriculum were considered by music education advocacy groups in Ontario to be too difficult to be taught by non-music specialists. Most recently in 2009, the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training under yet another new leadership of the Liberal government and Dalton McGinty, released the latest elementary music curriculum. This study will investigate the perceived challenges and opportunities that music teachers, both specialists and generalists, have met when teaching the 2009 Ontario elementary music curriculum. Contributing to this research will be a curriculum writer/consultant, a representative from a music education advocacy group in Ontario, and two music educators to preservice teachers. Data will be collected through interviews and voluntarily contributed documents and artifacts