The role of music in higher education: cultural perpetuation in hidden curriculum

A study is being conducted by researchers at the University of Tasmania examining pedagogical practices and curriculum content of guitar programs in Contemporary Popular Music courses delivered by Australian universities. Data were collected via surveys, interviews and industry documents. A contemporary methodology blending aspects of Ethnography and Phenomenography was designed for the study employing Inductive Thematic Analysis as the primary tool. The analysis revealed manifest and latent roles of music education present in the existing paradigm. Themes of cultural perpetuation were found in the data corpus implying a hidden curriculum. The findings are discussed from perspectives of Ethno-Aesthetics, Globalization.