What happens when undergraduate music education students create a musical for preschoolers?

In the second-year curriculum for music education students at a South African university, students create, stage, and perform a 45-minute musical for a pre-school audience. For this study, data were collected from forty-five students over seven years from field notes, meeting minutes, and reflective journaling to explore the learning experiences of music education students creating the show. The skills for creating a musical can reinforce several areas within music teacher preparation, such as interaction, preparation, skills development, stagecraft, performance, and enjoyment.

The study focused on three teaching and learning approaches: authentic arts-based pedagogy, project-based learning, and community of practice. These educational competencies provided the participant music education students with practical teaching skills as well as give tools to enhance their creativity.

Hands-on training for music education students can fulfill the need for a more authentic praxis, integrating theory and “real-world” implications. Projects like the one explored in this study can help develop the design and execution of creative activities.

For music education majors, this kind of arts-based creation can reinforce the learning outcomes they gear toward their own students in the future. Being part of the creation of a musical production creates a community focused on a common goal. Engagement with the arts promotes inquiry and connectedness. Students are encouraged to think critically and approach their work with an engagement to their imagination.