About Me

Dr Patricia Lee Bygrave, TC (Distinction)(NZ), BEd, MEd (UC), PhD (Macq), ATCL (London), MIMT (Australia).

Music in my life has a beginning. My earliest musical memories are of singing with my grandmother. These were spontaneous and fun-times. Piano lessons in primary school, singing lessons in secondary school, music as a university entrance subject, studying music at university followed in their educative progression. A learning of some knowledge and appreciation about music developed.

I have worked as a teacher with ordinary students and students who have learning difficulties in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Austria and in Sweden. In Canberra, Australia, I have provided Inservice Courses in Music Education for teachers. As a lecturer and a tutor for many years in the Faculty of Education, University of Canberra, Australia, I taught Education Psychology, Philosophy in Education, Music Education, Special Education, Curriculum Design, Development and Evaluation, Language and Learning. I have also supervised students in their Field Experience in local schools. Other positions held in the Faculty of Education, University of Canberra, have been as an Honorary Research Associate in the Centre for Research in Professional Education, as a Visiting Scholar, and I served on the Board of Directors of the Centre for Research in Learning & Teaching. Lectures on Music Education have been given to overseas teachers from Korea and other Asian countries. In Sweden I have lectured in Music Education to teachers and students and acted as a consultant.

My research interests centre around the role of music in the development of cognitive skills and learning in children, especially those with learning difficulties. I have been invited to present papers at international conferences in Music Education and in Music Research in Australia, the United Kingdom, Finland, Estonia, the United States of America and in South Africa. Invited presentations in Australia include papers in Music Education, Music Research, and in Special Education.

My professional activities have involved the Australian Association of Music Education, the International Society of Music Education, the Australian Association of Special Education, the Australian Music Therapy Association, and the Australian Association for Research in Music Education.