In this issue, we witness different ways in which to illuminate the complexities of music teachers and music teaching processes and the conditions through which students learn and teachers embody different and contested images of professional ideals, ideologies and practices. In studies drawn from as far afield as New Zealand, Australia, Republic of Ireland and the UK, authors locate current debates about practice and offer careful analysis, insights and compelling ideas for change that range from teacher professionalism and accountability to community engagement and government policy. There are a range of theoretical frameworks incorporated (including cognitive psychology, constructivism, interpretative phenomenology, and sociocultural theories of situated learning, zone of proximal learning, and concept formation) and the authors' work relates to a range of contested areas. The articles move between teacher thinking and classroom practice to key factors in students’ learning and achievement and music learning in the ‘third age’. All are concerned with the ways in which beliefs, values and identities, structural and curriculum reforms, informal and formal learning sites, and pre-service and continuing professional development, shape and affirm the importance in building understandings of students and teachers' musical lives and how particular practices get embodied in particular contexts. The sites of practice include secondary school music, conservatoire research, university programmes, music communities and local government sectors. The articles draw on diverse data generated via in-depth interview methods, questionnaires, document analysis, observation and accounts of musical experiences.

The music industry in the 21st century uses digital technology in a wide range of applications including performance, composition and in recording and publishing. Much of this digital technology is freely available via downloads from the internet, as part of software included with computers when they are purchased and via applications that are available for some mobile phones. Such technology is transforming music and the way people approach many traditional music activities. This paper is about transformative practices that are underway in some secondary school music classrooms. Practices are being shaped by the culture of the schools and the students that they recruit. We describe the perceptions and practices of nine music teachers in four New Zealand secondary schools with regard to digital technology and how they are changing their work in their classroom. Data collection techniques include interviews, observation and a questionnaire. The data were subjected to two stages of thematic analysis. Grounded analysis was used to allow the teachers' voices emerge. This was then followed by the application of five themes identified in the literature on pedagogic change prompted by teachers' adoption of digital technologies.

This paper explores secondary school music teachers' current practice with regard to the organisation and assessment of composing at Key Stage 4. It draws on research undertaken on a nation-wide basis in England, via the use of two online surveys and face-to-face interviews. In terms of the organisation of classroom composition, the study found that the place of staff notation is currently under-theorised in terms of a developmental musical thinking tool, as opposed to what might be termed a ‘storage system’. The research also found that ICT has brought composing to a wider range of participants. Considerably more time is spent on composing than other musical processes within a typical Key Stage 4 music classroom. The study found that music teachers are, in general, satisfied with the sorts of assessments which are being done at Key Stage 4. Examination Board criteria for assessing composing are universally utilised but there is a feeling that whilst these criteria are fit for purpose, they do not always reflect the effort that students have put into their work. Some styles which are ‘set’ by examination boards are seen as being inappropriate for some students to access.

The power of one-to-one tuition in Higher Music Education is evidenced by its continuing place at the heart of conservatoire education. The need to examine this student–teacher relationship more closely has been emphasised in the last decades by increasing understanding of processes of student learning in Higher Education as a whole, and in particular the impact which student–teacher relations have on learning. Literature on PhD supervision, for example, has highlighted the depth of applied craft skills made possible in one-to-one interaction, and has also drawn attention to a range of potential difficulties encountered in the supervisory relationship. This paper draws on findings from a study at a conservatoire in the UK, which explored student and teacher perceptions of one-to-one tuition. It analyses student and teacher perspectives on the relationship and considers the match between their perceptions within student–teacher pairs. Findings demonstrate diverse characterisation of the relationship, and varied approaches to extending a social relationship beyond the confines of the lesson. Comparison of student–teacher pairs indicates that the students tended to mirror their teachers' opinions about appropriate social interaction. This was one example of the dynamics of power operating within the one-to-one relationship, although these were rarely discussed explicitly. Such dynamics of power made it difficult in some instances for students to articulate difficulties with learning and to change teacher. There was also evidence of a possible connection between dynamics of power in the relationship and students' reluctance to develop artistic and professional self-direction. The implications of these findings are considered in terms of conceptualising one-to-one tuition, and the need to review the professional framework of its delivery in Higher Music Education.

This article presents part of a five-year Australian study, the purpose of which was to look at learning singing in a pedagogical environment designed using sociocultural theory. The classroom environment was transformed over 5 years in consultation with other staff members and used the reflective journals that students wrote during that time as a way of refining and changing the design. Themes emerging from the journals were analysed to inform changes to the design. One of the main themes to emerge was student reflections about the scientific concepts they were taught and the ways the concepts were introduced. These reflections became the basis for the discussion in this paper. The study demonstrated that the students' acquisition of scientific concepts of singing affected both their singing performance and their ability to learn in a positive way. The study suggests that scientific concepts of singing could become part of the students' toolbox that helps develop their singing by making meaning of what they are experiencing kinaesthetically and aurally while they sing.

‘Rivers of Musical Experience’ were used as a research tool to explore the wide range of musical experiences and concomitant identity construction that six amateur keyboard players over the age of 55 brought to their learning as mature adults. It appears that significant changes in their lives acted as triggers for them to engage in musical activity which had meaning for them, often further prompted by the interest and actions of family, friends and acquaintances. Lifelong engagement with music was not only a source of pleasure and social enrichment but also pain, disappointment, liberation and empowerment.

Recent years have revealed local government to be a fundamental stakeholder in the development of arts and music communities. This article provides a context for an exploration and study of the issues, themes and dilemmas that surround local government and music communities. In particular the article provides this examination from an Irish perspective and focuses on recent research to provide insights from local government music practice. Key themes, questions and issues are raised concerning the impact of local government on the development of music communities, how arts agendas are integrated into local government, the tensions between artistic aims and political remits, as well as the ways local government is enhancing musical participation and development amongst communities.