MUED3603: Composition in Music Education

Arrangement (30%), digital content for student composition (20%), final composition project (50%).

None

I knew I would come out of MUED3603 having mixed feelings; on one hand, I think it's a fantastic unit that tackles a key issue in how music is taught in schools today but on the other, it really had to grow on me. This is a compulsory subject for music education students and is usually taken in third year but I had to take it as part of my first to make room for my principal study later on in my degree. Between this and MUED1007, this was definitely more of a challenge for me and lacking two years of experience really put me at a disadvantage.

I found that the assessments themselves were well-designed for the unit, similar to how I felt about MUED1010 and MUED1005. I did so much supplementary reading for this unit to get myself into the credit range because I knew without critical analysis and literature reviews, my performance was going to be greatly affected. I personally found the first task the most fun and due to the intensity of the other two, I had to really force myself to work productively for the time I allocated in my study schedule to get quality work churned out. I like how it was periodically assessed (we had to submit drafts and attend check-in meetings with James) because it kept me on track but beyond the theoretical ingenious of the assessments, I had many moments where I just dreaded doing anything.

If there's one thing the unit did do successfully, it's that it converted my views on composition. I didn't particularly enjoy it in high school and if anything, would make a hundred excuses to avoid doing it as often as I could. As a result, I was also really afraid of the prospect of having to teach it in the future since I myself am not the greatest composer. After doing MUED3603, I was equipped with plenty of useful skills and resources from studying this unit and although my results weren't as great as I would've liked, I definitely gained a lot of insight from this subject. James is awesome and continues to prove to me why music education at the Con is the best thing that's happened to me and how honoured I am to be studying under a total genius. Overall, I hope the skills I gained from this unit will be transferrable into my future classrooms and I'm excited to see what 2020 has in stall for me!

1x 2 hour seminar

4/5

Yes; they are usually uploaded a day or two after the seminar.

James Humberstone

None

3/5

None; we hardly worked from a textbook. There were further readings you could complete if you wanted to support your studies if you wished.

2019 Semester 2

71 CR