David Cleaver

One school principal’s journey from the mainstream to the alternative

This paper presents the story of one school principal’s journey from mainstream to alternative schooling. Drawn from a larger project at the school where themes of commitment, community and culture and curriculum connectedness were apparent, this paper focuses on the philosophies and lived experiences of the principal via a narrative method drawing from narrative methodologies, feminist and poststructuralist perspectives. School leadership is a significant factor in school success. In this case, the principal plays a crucial role in the growing story of successful alternative schooling models, and as such, the philosophies and motivations of such leaders need to be more fully examined. Given the current neoliberal climate within many developed countries driving an agenda of high-stakes testing regimes and centralized curricula, it becomes more important than ever to highlight alternative ways of approaching school leadership.

Working within and against the grain of policy in an alternative school

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the ways that teachers in one alternative school blur the boundaries of the political, personal, and philosophical in their efforts to re-engage marginalised and disenfranchised young people. The labours of the school staff at Harmony High offer an intriguing narrative of working both within and against the grain of policy mandates, curriculum narrowing, and the pervasive effects of neoliberalism. Through the physical and social spatiality, critical pedagogical and affective engagement of learners, new schooling assemblages might be formed. The work being done by teachers in alternative schooling contexts such as that of Harmony High – while situated, meaningful and deeply contextualised – offers hope for reconstituting mainstream education in more socially just ways that serve the needs and interests of everybody.

Music as Engaging, Educational Matrix: Exploring the Case of Marginalised Students Attending an "Alternative" Music Industry School.

Harmony High is an alternative school where music functions as an educational magnet to attract marginalised students who have disengaged from the mainstream. Through an investigation of the student perspective, we discover that while acting as a magnet, music also becomes the educational matrix or “heart and soul” that helps to create a school culture with a positive spirit of connectedness and community working to motivate and inspire active learning. Thus Harmony High demonstrates a model highlighting the need for alternative education contexts that adapt to the needs, voice, interests and experiences of disaffected students. This becomes increasingly important in order to offer alternatives to current neoliberal agendas that focus on the standardisation of education in order to meet economic political and market ideals rather than the needs of students.

Teachers' views of constructivist theory: A qualitative study illuminating relationships between epistemological understanding and music teaching practice

While constructivist theory is widely promoted in pre-service music teacher education, there has been a lack of research conducted to reveal the ways in which the theory is individually personalized, then subsumed, translated and adopted into in-service classroom teaching practice. To address this shortfall, this article explores some of the ways that music teachers individually apply their understanding of the philosophically generated ideas and the cognitive concepts and principles that are broadly regarded as “constructivist.” In seeking to contribute to professional dialogue and debate surrounding this matter, this study seeks to illuminate how a small sample of music teachers engages both theoretically and practically with constructivist views of learning. Using a qualitative approach, the researchers incorporated staged, informal interviews with invited teacher participants. Preliminary analyses of interview data were returned to the participants for review and further commentary. This process was designed to contribute to both the trustworthiness of representation and to enhance the transactional process between participants and researchers. The commentaries are designed to problematize issues, raise points for discussion and the article concludes with implications for practice in schools and universities.

Storying the Musical Lifeworld: Illumination Through Narrative Case Study

In addition to the exploration of the general, music education will continue to benefit from the study of personal meaning from the perspective of the particular. This idea aligns with the field of psychology where a strong case has been made for idiographic perspectives to act not only as support for but also as antidote to the prevalence of nomothetic viewpoints.

Community, Culture and Connections in Alternative Schooling

This chapter takes a broader view of the school community and tracks the paths of previous students who are now ‘out in the world’, as well as connecting with parents, school staff, and other community members who have been closely integrated into the school’s wider community. Key vignettes illustrate the importance of connecting to community and the development of a rich school culture, which is an essential component of socially-just schooling.

Finding Myself at Music Industry College

This chapter focuses on the students at Music Industry College, providing insights into the experiences of students who had been marginalised and disenfranchised by mainstream schooling, and who were now getting back into learning, general life motivation and in some cases, personal transformation. Comments from graduates are also included. Illustrative vignettes and comments from students provide springboards for critical highlighting of educational matters.

Policies and Politics of Contemporary Schooling

This chapter expands on the philosophy of inclusive, democratic education that infuses the pedagogical landscape at Music Industry College. It also further develops the complex policy context of alternative schooling in an era of neoliberalism, performance metrics and teacher accountability and performativity. It connects to contemporary research on global education reform and educational philosophy, in order to make a compelling case for more socially just schooling.

On Social Justice and Schooling

This chapter draws together the perspectives presented in this book and revisits the themes of social justice established in Chap. 1, in order to provide some salient lessons for mainstream schooling that might be re-imagined for social justice in the interests of those most disadvantaged. It shares some final thoughts that illustrate the importance of inclusive and democratic schooling for all young people and considers how the policies, philosophies and practices of Music Industry College might be taken up and realised in other educational contexts.

A Day in the Life at an Alternative Music School

This chapter commences with a narrative account of a day in the life at Music Industry College, before outlining the key themes and main arguments being presented in this book. The contemporary schooling context in Australia is introduced, and an overview of Music Industry College is presented. Key concepts, such as social justice, marginalised youth, and contemporary education policy are introduced. This chapter also details the research methodology and provides an outline of the structure of this book.