ABSTRACT
Higher education institutions (HEIs) have been awash with buzzwords in the last decade or so, as teaching has become 'entrepreneurial', 'enquiry-based', 'reflective', 'collaborative' and 'creative'. New undergraduate module put students in touch with community groups in Sheffield and engaged them in commissioned pieces of research and planning around potential musical activities. Alongside building individual creativity, students worked to develop collaborative creativity in their groups, communal and intercultural creativity with their community partners, and empathetic creativity as they navigated the experiences and needs of the wider community. Working in groups brought particular challenges to the students, and people engaged with these through sessions dedicated to exploring theoretically how groups function and mapping individuals' roles within their specific group. Students in university music departments are expected to make the connections between their instrumental lessons and their academic learning and their degree studies and their wider identities as musicians and young adults.
