Knowledge transfer in a self-financed associate degree music programme: Limited resources, good practices, and the beyond

Most people think that a self-financed associate degree programme is not a healthy programme with respect to its limited resources due to the self-financed nature. They think the curriculum may not be well-planned for students’ thorough learning in a particular subject. However, an energetic team of teaching staff with visions demonstrate rather unbelievable opportunities for students to prepare themselves for articulating related undergraduate programmes as further studies. Based on the case study of the Associate Degree Programme in Music at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, this paper illustrates the limited resources that the programme inherited, especially since the substantial changes for the new 3-3-4-education system in 2012. Nevertheless, the programme leader has a rather different view and believes that whenever there is a risk, there is an opportunity. The majority of the paper demonstrates good practices and the beyond how a self-financed programme explores the possibilities from the faculty based on the successful grant awarded by the faculty on the project “Emerging Music Scholars: The (Re)Search and Understanding of Sound,” which contains four activities for students and the general public, namely: (1) Composition Study—through regular meetings with the instructor, selected students learn research skills in sound formation, and hence, to have inspirations for their own compositions through guidance from the instructor; (2) Music Analysis Study—through regular meeting with the instructor, the student learn both research and analytical skills in theory. Such arrangement is a research-study for the potential student to develop his/her musical interest on top of his/her undergraduate studies; (3) Annual Concert—provides a practical learning experience for students in both performance and organizing aspects. Not only the outstanding compositions from (1) will be presented as world premiere, but this is also the programme’s community service for the public; (4) Music Symposium (open to public)—provides a formal academic platform for knowledge exchange. Through all these academic and performance opportunities, students are equipped for the further studies and engage the public with the good practices they achieved as the community service, hence, to improve the public a better image of the programme and the Institute.