Greater than the sum of its parts: promoting systemness in music and arts teacher professional development

Abstract

In this article, we apply the concept of systemness to music and arts teacher professional development (PD), arguing that to address perennial issues of access and scale, PD policy should be understood as a systems issue. Using systems theory as a lens and the robust and integrated PD system in Singapore as an exemplar, we address the following questions: What policies might ensure all music and arts teachers are provided high-quality PD opportunities? How might PD efforts be coordinated for comprehensive changes in music and arts teachers, for students, and for the profession writ large? We close by setting forth systems-minded PD policy recommendations for nations whose PD structures fail to meet the needs of all music and arts teachers.

Keywords:

• Systemness
• systems theory
• music education
• arts education
• professional development

Notes

1 A general overview of PD in Singapore can be found in Bautista, Wong, and Gopinathan (2015).

2 National Institute of Education (NIE): https://www.nie.edu.sg/

3 Academy of Singapore Teachers (AST): https://www.academyofsingaporeteachers.moe.gov.sg/

4 See Bray (2013) for a detailed treatment of centralization and decentralization in the field of comparative international education.

5 Texas Education Agency: https://tea.texas.gov/Texas_Educators/Preparation_and_Continuing_Education/Continuing_Professional_Education_(CPE)/Continuing_Professional_Education_Information/

6 https://innovation.ed.gov/what-we-do/arts/arts-in-education-professional-development-for-arts-educators/

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported in part by grant DRG2018-19/004 funded by the Department of Early Childhood Education at The Education University of Hong Kong. The views expressed in this paper are the authors' and do not necessarily represent the views of their respective institutions.