Teaching music in Malta today : the music syllabus within the national curriculum, content relevancy and application significance

Abstract

This research aims to explore the music teaching practice in contemporary Malta. It will analyse the music syllabus within the national curriculum, that is, content relevancy and application significance. Upper primary years and lower secondary years practice will be evaluated. The researcher will provide an outline of the local educational system supported by related research in music in education (a term coined by Dr. Jes Grixti). One can notice that from the academic year 2022-2023 the Ministry of Education (MEYR) will be introducing Learning Outcomes (LOs). Learning outcomes are best defined as what a learner knows, understands and can accomplish after the learning process is complete (Spady, 1994). The researcher conferred with the LOs as presented in the music syllabus. Research suggests that the policy implementation of LOs may lead to policy enactment. In doing so, the researcher will look at the national curriculum with comparison to overseas music curriculum. This will be supported by relevant literature in the field of curriculum development alongside a commentary detailing the observations. This includes the standards of 21st century music education, such as the implementation of lateral thinking and problem solving. As current research suggests, the education system lacks a relevant curriculum and implementation of an adequate pedagogy (Buttigieg, 2016 pg 324-325 and Cucciardi, 2020). Empirical data will be gathered through a short Google Forms anonymous questionnaire which in-service and student music teachers will participate in. This will help the researcher evaluate the resources and current practice. As for content relevancy, the study will outline the general perception of music by the students and by the stakeholder. The researcher is inclined to think that music in education is generally perceived as irrelevant or inefficient by the stakeholder and even in-service personnel. This general observation is related to student/parent interests, a socio-economic oriented education culture and elitism: aspects which directly affect the position of music in Maltese education. The researcher observes that the national music curriculum is undergoing a period of development to fit the needs of contemporary Maltese multicultural society. Research is being conducted to enhance and adapt the content relevancy and application significance. This study aims to analyse, reflect and recommend on the aforementioned points. It is hypothesised that such issues can be corrected by awareness, training and effective use of educational software and other technological resources in the field of music (Müezzinoğlu and Gorgoretti, 2010). To further support this, Johnson (2017) states that teachers need to adapt themselves to our current realities and thus the pedagogy itself needs to be revisited in order to achieve a diverse and relevant music syllabus.