Investigating The Music Education Curriculum In Higher Education In Wuhan

Optimized curriculum for undergraduate and graduate studies has always been the lifeblood of higher education. Curriculum for discipline development is one of the most important and fundamental steps for colleges and universities to achieve high quality of teaching and cultivate talents meeting needs of the nation and society.Chinese colleges and universities have always been responsible for training skilled personnel for the socialism development of our country and the economic construction of local regions. Especially, colleges and universities with educational study programme have been responsible for preparing qualified and excellent teachers for local regions and the country. Meanwhile, preparation of music teachers is an important and indispensable part in the training of teachers. Therefore, colleges and universities with music education programme are very serious and careful in the curriculum for music education studies. In particular, such curriculum depends on a variety of factors, such as development of specific education programme at different periods, needs of the society, characteristics of students, as well as the training requirement and objective. It needs to be consistent with national standards but also be flexible in accordance with the particular development of education programme in local regions. Consequently, curriculum for music educational studies is of great importance in universities and colleges with music education programme.Based on the belief that a well-established education programme is an important prerequisite for promoting the development of music education studies in colleges and universities, the author carries out a comprehensive investigation to elucidate the curriculum for music education studies and its development in two major music colleges in Central China. In particular, with the two major music colleges in Wuhan as target cases, the investigation covers the content of music education courses, characteristics of students, as well as requirements and objectives of music education programme. Multiple methods are employed, including website exploration, literature review, theoretical analysis, comparison analysis, and data analysis, etc. Experiences on the curriculum of music education programme fromexcellent foreign universities are also used for comparison. Based on the findings, the author further proposes her understanding and suggestions on the curriculum of music education studies in China.