ABSTRACT
This chapter starts by exploring the place of audio education within the higher education landscape in the UK leading to discussion of the often-contradictory perspectives involved in defining its purpose and function within HE in the UK and the Creative Industries. Perspectives on the purpose and place of audio education were collected through a mixture of literature and document analysis, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and email correspondence. Formal HE audio education programs in the UK began with the University of Surrey’s Tonmeister program and have become more established and prevalent through the 1990s and now has a strong presence within various other educational disciplines. The Creative Industries too have undergone significant change since audio education’s introduction in the 1990s. Generally, audio education was viewed by all the industry professionals involved in the study as useful in developing critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. The chapter concludes by framing the challenges for audio education in light of perspectives.
