Margaret S. Barrett

Margaret S. Barrett is a Professor and Head of the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance at Monash University, where she also earned her PhD in Music Education. She is a leading scholar in music education, creativity, and arts-based research methodologies.

• PhD in Music Education, Monash University (1996)

Her research focuses on the role of music and the arts in human cognition, identity development, and social-cultural growth, particularly in early childhood. Key areas include aesthetic decision-making, young children's musical thinking, identity work through music, and pedagogies of creativity, collaboration, expertise, and enterprise. She has developed innovative arts-based inquiry methods, emphasizing narrative and qualitative research.

Recent publications analyze gender equity in Australian jazz, the impacts of pandemic lockdowns on freelance musicians, and creative-relational health, reflecting a strong interdisciplinary trend across music, education, psychology, and social wellbeing.

Her scientific awards include:

• Fulbright Senior Research Fellowship (2018)
• Beaufort Visiting Research Fellow, St John’s College, Cambridge (2019)
• IRCAM Research Residency (2019)
• Albi Rosenthal Fellowship, Bodleian Library
• Fellowship, Australian Society for Music Education (2011)
• Honorary Life Membership, International Society for Music Education (2022)

Professor Barrett has led nine ARC-funded projects, seven as lead Chief Investigator, and currently directs the Pedagogies of Creativity, Collaboration, Expertise and Enterprise (PoCCEE) research focus. She mentors PhD students and leads multiple active research projects, including studies on gender equity in jazz and teacher professional development. Her external leadership roles include Director of the Australian Music Centre, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, and Queensland Music Festival. She has advised national and international educational bodies such as the Australia Council for the Arts and the UK Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

She is Founding Director of the PoCCEE research initiative, which fosters interdisciplinary collaboration on creativity and enterprise in music education and performance.