In this paper we propose a new and innovative approach to supporting preservice music teachers (PSMTs) to simultaneously develop course design skills, assessment literacy and teacher/assessment identities. This experiential and immersive approach required educators in higher education to practice what they preach and expose themselves to student scrutiny; allowing students to challenge established biases through critical reflection and analysis. Alignment of course design and assessment rubrics in initial teacher education (ITE) programs were critically reviewed using the Critical Principles of Assessment Model (CPAM) (Plastow in press). The aim was to use this model to scaffold critical reflection skills of PSMTs in Australian and Indian cohorts to frame critical analysis skills for their own course design. An initial Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) (Smith, et al., 2009) was conducted on CPAM to frame a survey used by PSMTs to respond to the design of ITE programs. Data were also collected from PSMTs through focus group interviews before their analyses, aimed to gauge their understanding of course alignment, purpose and value. PSMTs then created their own courses using a backwards design approach (Wiggins & McTighe, 2007), articulating learning outcomes and mapping them to various aspects of assessment literacy (Looney et al. 2017; Xu & Brown, 2016). Further data were collected to reflect attitudes of PSMTs concerning the effectiveness of the survey to guide their ability to support their course creation experience. Lastly, the resultant course plans constructed by PSMTs were analysed as evidence of their learning. The data collected was triangulated and analysed using IPA for themes related to unconscious bias, assessment literacy and identity formation.Students reported that they found the opportunity to respond to the design of ITE courses to be a highly beneficial experience, and reported increased confidence in their capacity to critically analyse, create and reflect upon course design. The process further assisted PSMTs to develop their assessment identities through becoming cognisant of their own biases in relation to music education and its assessment. Lastly, the feedback provided by the PSMTs provided data useful for updating the ITE courses and their assessment, with parallels and divergencies drawn across Australian and Indian contexts.