Welcome to the APME Memphis 2025 conference. Here, you’ll be able to register for the conference and update your Sched profile. The conference schedule will be available in late spring 2025. At that time, you can view the schedule and select the presentations you’d like to attend. If you have any questions, please visit our conference website or contact us at conference@popularmusiceducation.org We look forward to coming together as a community June 4–7, 2025.
Vasil (2015) notes that access to conducive physical spaces is a vital consideration for teachers choosing to employ methods associated with PME. In her discussion of ‘utopian’ music education Wright (2019) highlights that the ideal music building for teachers employing PME methods may include access to quality equipment, additional break-out spaces, and soundproofing. However, not all schools are able to provide ideal music spaces, and teachers must negotiate their pedagogical aims within the physical limitations of their environment. This research explores the ways in which physical space informs the teaching practices of seven educators employing PME methods in Victoria, Australia. These educators took part in semi-structured interviews, and were asked to engage with arts based methods during an activity in which they drew their “ideal” music building. These interview transcripts and artworks are analyzed to explore the ways in which the pedagogical aims of educators are aided and/or mediated by the spaces in which they work. Additionally Schmidt’s (2020) concept of policy knowhow is utilized to explore the ways in which these educators have facilitated changes and alterations to physical spaces to aid in their implementation of PME methods. PME is linked to higher levels of engagement (Wilson, 2018) retention ( Jeanneret, 2010) and student cohorts more inclusive of marginalized populations (Byo, 2018; Claus, Beard & Chadwick, 2017). Consequently, exploring ways in which physical spaces may aid or inhibit the implementation of these practices is increasingly necessary as PME advocacy continues to influence the practices of music educators.
