Policy and practice: Acknowledging diverse communities

This paper focuses on the delicate balance between developing practical teacher support materials that also acknowledge and align with current thinking as well as the ever changing and diverse policies in the music education field. Changing governments in Australia, both Commonwealth and State, frequently make wholesale changes to education policies and this has an impact on the longevity of teacher support materials. While teachers are perfectly capable of adapting materials to meet new policy developments, many are discarded because of the lack of obvious connections with the new curriculum requirements. The challenge for the writers of national teacher support materials is not only being faced with accommodating various state requirements, but creating longevity for quality resources. While these trials exist in accommodating policy, writers must also acknowledge the diverse communities who have a vested interest in the production of quality music resources. These include the practitioners and audience (teachers and students), music and music education academics, and organizations representing the interests of teachers and those of the music profession. A partnership between the Australian Society for Music Education, the Australian UNESCO arts Education Observatory at the University of Melbourne, and the Australian Music Centre has endeavored to create a teaching resource based on a work by the composer, Peter Sculthorpe, that accommodates various policies across the nation, as well as acknowledging the diverse communities likely to use and/or promote such a resource.