Music in Me
About Us
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Music in Me (formerly the National Music Teacher Mentoring Program)
exists to create opportunities for every child to access quality music education in the classroom across remote, regional, and metropolitan Australia. It is a foundational music education program that upskills classroom teachers through a scalable and sustainable approach to mentoring.
Every child should have the opportunity to learn and create music.
The late Richard Gill AO
Founder of the National Music Teacher Mentoring Program
Purpose
To improve access to high quality music teaching and learning through teacher mentoring.
Vision
To enable access to high quality music education for every primary school student in Australia.
We achieve this by facilitating teacher mentoring in music education across Australia, delivering music education professional development events, and creating accessible resources for primary teachers.
Principles
Working directly with education jurisdictions to tailor delivery, we will:
- improve confidence and competence in the teaching of music.
- improve student engagement, music outcomes and wellbeing through music learning;
- promote the value, place and purpose of music education in primary school education and the potency of teacher mentoring to improve the quality of music education in Australian primary schools;
Our impact
Since establishment in 2015, tens of thousands of students nationally have received a foundational music education through the upskilling of over 800 classroom teachers. The program operates in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.
570 Schools have participated
1078 Teachers have been mentored
Tens of thousands of students have been directly impacted by their teacher’s participation in the program
Evidence based practice
Music in Me (formerly the NMTMP) has been found to have a positive impact on teacher confidence and competence in teaching music as well as student engagement with music. This was revealed in 2022 by Professor Margaret Barrett and Dr Katie Zhukov from Monash University, who conducted an evaluation of 286 national surveys of teachers, mentors, and principals from 2017-2020.
This in-depth evaluation of the cumulative impact of the program revealed positive effects on students’ emotional, psychological, behavioural, and learning outcomes, both in music and other subjects. The mentors shared their knowledge and expertise with generalist teachers who gained confidence and competence in teaching music.
Our Participating Teachers say…
My mentor had vast knowledge of the curriculum and how to deliver it.
Setting realistic expectations. Valuing the time to consolidate skills and concepts for the students.
My mentor’s instruction, feedback and additional information on HOW to teach music helped to build my understanding in successful music programming and improving my teaching for maximum outcomes for students.
My mentor taught me how to get rich engagement and understanding through simple songs and teaching techniques.
Having an experienced mentor teacher guide me along the way of teaching singing, moving and playing musical instrument experiences. Accessing a wealth of resources from a range of reputable sources.
Children are now singing, dancing and rhyming throughout the day spontaneously.
Teacher surveys show teacher confidence to teach music after the mentoring grew from an average starting point of 3.5% to 76.5%
The improvement in student engagement after the mentoring program rose from an average of 13.5% to 97%
The program consistently met teachers’ expectations and was highly likely to be recommended to their colleagues (average 95.5%)
School leaders say…
The program is addressing local needs, generating a cascading effect of music implementation across schools, and building a community of music practice.
The mentoring gave teachers far more confidence to plan for and deliver music education. They are no longer daunted by the thought of tackling unknown content.
The teachers were really engaged and enjoyed sharing with all staff.
We were delighted with the increased interest and skill level of the students in the music program. They are highly engaged and eager to play a variety of instruments and create their own musical pieces.
90% principal satisfaction with the program’s outcomes and professional learnings
96% of principals responded likely to recommend the program to other principals
Mentors say…
It is exciting to be able to create a lasting teaching legacy that reaches beyond your own students. I learned skills from my mentee and it was great to analyze and hone my own ideas to pass on to another.
You become SO AWARE of your own practice. The reflection on your own practice makes it such a powerful learning tool about yourself.
You build a wonderful network with fellow mentors who are there to share the successes and challenges you encounter.
Increased professional satisfaction as a result of contributing to the growth and improvement of music education beyond my own classroom.
The opportunity to develop leadership capacity in myself, opportunity to join a supportive professional group, focus on your practice and analyse it further through the process of mentoring.
Mentors find their participation a valuable profession learning experience, and 81% report they are likely to continue.
On average, 93% of mentors encourage their colleagues to become mentors.