ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the role of creativity in higher education through perceptions of pre-service music educators. In a Canadian university elementary methods class, pre-service music educators develop strategies and skills for teaching music to children. The chapter examines the attitudes of nascent music educators after two semesters immersed in creative endeavours in an elementary methods course in which 15 students engaged in a variety of musical activities, created portfolios of their work for discussion and reflected on their development. Cultural assumptions about the nature and value of creativity are naturally embedded within educational systems. It sought to engage pre-service teachers with activities and readings to promote met cognitive thinking as well as collaborative music explorations and to learn whether their perceptions reflected their evolving facility and comfort level. The chapter focuses on pre-service teachers participating in the course, examining their perceptions of creative opportunities and their evolving abilities to create these opportunities.
