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Dr Thomas Breeze

Senior Lecturer in Teacher Education and Professional Learning Music
Cardiff School of Education & Social Policy

Overview

Following a BMus and MA at Cardiff University, studying with the world-renowned Bach scholar Professor Peter Williams, Tom completed his PGCE at Cardiff Met and then spent 10 years in the classroom teaching secondary music. He has also taught on the music programmes at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and Cardiff University, as well as working for the education programmes at the Open University.

Tom joined Cardiff Met part time in 2012 and full time in 2015, and now leads the PGCE Secondary Music programme. In 2023, he was awarded his doctorate for a thesis entitled A study of Key Stage 3 music teachers’ pedagogic beliefs in the context of a new curriculum for Wales. His other responsibilities in Initial Teacher Education include membership of the clinical practice requirements team, who are responsible for translating the Cardiff Partnership’s adopted model of research-informed clinical practice into a framework for student teachers’ school placements.

In 2018, Tom collaborated with Emma O’Dubhchair to create a podcast, Emma and Tom Talk Teaching, which has been downloaded nearly 100,000 times worldwide and has interviewed academics, policymakers, teachers and student teachers.

Tom is currently involved in a three-year project with Canterbury Christ Church University, funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, investigating how to create deeper, more meaningful dialogues between different subject specialists in secondary schools.

 

Research Publications

Holistic, aspirational professional standards as a boundary object between communities of practice for pre-service teachers

Breeze, T., O'Dubhchair, E. & Dafydd, S., 11 Mar 2025, In: Oxford Review of Education. p. 1-19 19 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Are we nearly there yet? 25 years of initial teacher education policy in Wales

Mutton, T. & Breeze, T., 3 Dec 2024, In: Wales Journal of Education. 26, 2, p. 104-123

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Musical identity, pedagogy, and creative dispositions: Exploring the experiences of popular musicians during their postgraduate teacher education in a changing Welsh education landscape

John, V., Beauchamp, G., Davies, D. & Breeze, T., 18 Apr 2024, In: Research Studies in Music Education. 46, 3, p. 516-528 13 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Pedagogy versus performance in primary classroom music teaching: Lessons from a “usable past” in Wales

Beauchamp, G. & Breeze, T., 16 Dec 2022, In: Wales Journal of Education. 24, 2, p. 97-122

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Secondary music teachers: a case study at a time of education reform in Wales

Breeze, T., Beauchamp, G., Bolton, N. & McInch, A., 1 Nov 2022, In: Music Education Research. 25, 1, p. 49-59 11 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Pioneer teachers: How far can individual teachers achieve agency within curriculum development?

Kneen, J., Breeze, T., Thayer, E., John, V. & Davies-Barnes, S., 4 Oct 2021, In: Journal of Educational Change. 24, 2, p. 243-264 22 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Barriers and enablers to undergraduate music students undertaking a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) secondary music programme

Breeze, T. & Beauchamp, G., 9 Aug 2021, In: British Journal of Music Education. 39, 2, p. 232-244 13 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Integreiddio’r cwricwlwm: yr heriau sy’n wynebu ysgolion cynradd ac uwchradd wrth ddatblygu cwricwlwm newydd yn y celfyddydau mynegiannol

Kneen, J., Breeze, T., Davies-Barnes, S., John, V. & Thayer, E., 11 May 2020, In: Curriculum Journal. 31, 2, p. e85-e103

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Perceptions of the New Role of the Research Champion in Developing a New ITE Partnership: Challenges and Opportunities for Schools and Universities

Breeze, T., Pugh, C., Thayer, E., Beauchamp, G., Kneen, J., Watkins, S. & Rowlands, B., 1 May 2020, In: Wales Journal of Education. 22, 1, p. 185-207

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Curriculum integration: the challenges for primary and secondary schools in developing a new curriculum in the expressive arts

Kneen, J., Breeze, T., Davies-Barnes, S., John, V. & Thayer, E., 14 Feb 2020, In: Curriculum Journal. 31, 2, p. 258-275 18 p.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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