This article discusses how learning and teaching in music are shaped by processes outside the individual, not least because of the influences of group membership (allied to age and gender), performance expectations and practices, and professional and institutional cultures. The process of individual induction into the characteristics of a particular musical culture by teachers and institutions influences the formation of identities in music, for better or for worse, at least in terms of dominant models within the culture. Indeed, the development of music teachers themselves can be seen within...

This article discusses how learning and teaching in music are shaped by processes outside the individual, not least because of the influences of group membership (allied to age and gender), performance expectations and practices, and professional and institutional cultures. The process of individual induction into the characteristics of a particular musical culture by teachers and institutions influences the formation of identities in music, for better or for worse, at least in terms of dominant models within the culture. Indeed, the development of music teachers themselves can be seen within an activity system, i.e. the teacher's understanding of their role is developed both by informal personal reflection of the experience of performance and their own learning, and, more systematically, through their own induction process by attendance at a specialist, pedagogically focused institution.