“Surf and Turf” in higher education: an Australian music education case study

Improving teaching and learning is at the heart of higher education in Australia. This case study forms a part of ongoing research on pre-service teachers’ attitudes and understandings of music education. It contributes to a growing body of research on how best to prepare today’s pre-service teachers in music education for tomorrow’s schools. The study is situated at a university in Melbourne, Australia, where the author draws on 2014 and 2015 interviews, questionnaires, anecdotal feedback, and observation notes. The findings show that face-to-face (surf) and online (turf) modes of delivery may be an effective way to provide pre-service primary teachers with requisite music knowledge, skills, and understandings to plan for and manage future learning programs. Follow up evidence-based research needs to be undertaken in relation to whether blended/flipped classrooms may impact student learning. The author invites international dialogue in relation to using “surf” and “turf” as an innovative pedagogy to help prepare generalist teachers for future classrooms. Though limitations of the study are acknowledged, generalizations cannot be made to other pre-service teacher courses and learning areas in Australia.