ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a collaborative learning project where primary education students undertook to learn a new instrument, with the voluntary assistance of university music students enrolled in a popular music degree. The Bachelor of Popular Music (BPM) students volunteered their time to engage novice education students in informal learning of their instrument of choice. The popular music students focused much more on how much they had learnt about the process of learning, and the process of collaboration. The National Review of School Music Education in Australia recommended that universities training future music teachers ensure that their graduates 'develop and demonstrate contemporary approaches to knowledge, understanding and skills relevant to the needs of specific groups of students'. Informal and collaborative learning practices can contribute to the development of musical outcomes and can also provide experiences that will be useful in future independent learning contexts, the 'lifelong learning' that is now a priority in many educational systems.
