It is widely acknowledged that music can serve as a powerful educational tool to overcome social barriers. In this context, active learning models that promote student interaction have gained increasing importance (Niemi, 2002; Niemi & Nevgi, 2014). One such approach is peer-assisted learning (PAL), defined as “the acquisition of knowledge and skill through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions” (Topping, 2005, p. 631). While previous studies in music education have mainly examined PAL in performance contexts (Duran et al., 2020; Graham, 2024; Johnson, 2011; Johnson, 2017; Veniel-Martí & Botella-Nicolás, 2025), its application in content-rich and discursive areas such as music history remains underexplored.

This mixed-methods study investigated the effects of symmetrical and asymmetrical PAL structures on student engagement and achievement in third-year secondary school music classrooms. Sixty-two students participated across twelve sessions, distributed into three instructional conditions: direct instruction, symmetrical PAL (SPAL), and asymmetrical PAL (APAL). A quasi-experimental design assessed pretest–posttest achievement and teacher-rated engagement, complemented by qualitative insights from teacher interviews.

Quantitative analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in test score improvement across groups. However, engagement emerged as a strong predictor of posttest performance, irrespective of instructional condition. Qualitative findings highlighted increased motivation, autonomy, and cooperative initiative in SPAL pairings, where mutual responsibility was more evident. In contrast, APAL pairings occasionally led to passive participation from the tutee.

The results suggest that PAL can foster meaningful engagement and social interaction in music education, extending beyond performance-based learning into concept-rich domains such as music history. This study contributes to ongoing discussions on active and inclusive pedagogy by demonstrating how structured peer interaction may enhance both academic and socio-emotional outcomes in school-based music classrooms.

This paper explores how assessment in music education can serve as a democratic act of participation, belonging, and shared meaning making. Grounded in Reggio Emilia pedagogy, artography, and aesthetic criticism, the inquiry reimagines assessment not as a measurement of achievement but as a living process of co-constructing value and interpretation through artistic engagement. Drawing from classroom inquiries and teacher education contexts, the work illustrates how formative documentation, reflective dialogue, and aesthetic response can make musical learning visible, relational, and transformative.

Through practices such as learning stories, soundscape composition, and collaborative reflection, participants engaged in assessment as inquiry—observing, interpreting, and narrating learning in ways that honour creativity, emotion, and growth. Rather than asking what students know, teachers and learners co-created evidence of how they come to know through music. These processes invited students to represent understanding through story, sound, movement, and image, creating multiple pathways for participation and inclusion.

Findings suggest that democratic learning in music flourishes when assessment becomes participatory, reflective, and situated in authentic artistic processes. Students expressed heightened agency, empathy, and belonging, while teachers deepened their understanding of learners’ identities and musical ways of knowing. Approaching assessment as a form of living dialogue advances democratic ideals of participation and equity in arts-based education, affirming that how we assess is inseparable from how we teach, learn, and live together through music.