ABSTRACT
This chapter sets the scene for the book by sharing my personal story and motivation for conducting research. My music life history is an example of influences that continue to shape and support my own musical identity. My family valued music skills, and I was surrounded by performance and listening models at home. The impact of school music education on my personal identity is profound. My earliest memories of school are of class music at a Queensland state primary school. At an inner-city boys’ school, I remember our senior music class filled with music-making, rigour, camaraderie, and joy. Music teaching was not presented to me as a conceivable pathway, and I eventually transitioned to studying music education at university. When I began teaching at Queensland Boys’ School, I redesigned the class music program from Prep to Year 12. Senior music was transformed and attracted an increasing number and calibre of students. In an environment where students were encouraged to pursue their own musical interests and become the musicians they wished to be, I saw my challenge as supporting multiple musical identities. To become a better teacher for my students, I decided I also needed to become a researcher.
