ABSTRACT
Music education has been one of the most piecemeal aspects of the curriculum for a very long time. This chapter addresses three imperatives facing music education in the 21st century: the imperative of developing an Australian theory of music education, the imperative of engaging in advocacy more strategically and the imperative of confronting the insidious aspects of technology whilst at the same time acknowledging that we are living in an increasingly technological age. There are countless children who have not had the opportunity to reject school music because it has not been offered to them on an ongoing sequential basis. As a consequence of increasingly experiencing the world through their computer screen, children are experiencing the arts face-to-face less and less. It is essential that music educators are in positions where they have the power to change the current trend whereby children are becoming de-voiced.
