Category: Education

  • Keynote Student Conference

    It was an enjoyable day yesterday joining of a team of experienced musicians and teachers to talk about the performing, composing and analysing/listening components of the A Level Music courses. The audience of over 250 students and teachers were appreciative and got involved with enthusiasm and humour with the various activities. What made the day…

  • A right way to teach composing?

    With composition a compulsory part of the school music curriculum (at all levels) I continually reflect on my approach to teaching composing. The range of activities vary from whole class, small groups to individuals and emcompass a breadth of styles and genres. There can never be one method but a series of strategies that can…

  • Music or Music History?

    Remember – pupils should be increasing their knowledge of music through engagement with musical sound, supported by acquiring further verbal knowledge about music. I completely agree with this statement from the recent OFSTED professional development materials for music education. The music should come first. What fascinates me is when the history and theory, this ‘further…

  • Music in Schools: Promoting Good Practice

    I was pleased to see guidance from HMI on observing musical teaching and learning. Perhaps this was something unwelcome by some, but as the document states it is ‘intended to promote dialogue and understanding about the features of good teaching that results in good musical learning’ (1). I like the format of guidance followed by…

  • Dispelling or furthering myths?

    ‘Myths are of great significance to those in the music business and music education. Our thinking is guided by: the relationships and dynamics between artists, writers, and producers; those who market, deliver, and distribute music, such as the record companies and publishers; the consumers and fans of music, who ultimately pay for it all; and…

  • Challenging conceptions

    On to the first chapter of Burnard’s book (2012). ‘For most of us, ‘musicla creativity’ refers to a particular type of practice, perhaps that of the Great Composers’, rather than to multiple possibilities’ (7) strikes me as odd as I have never considered that to be the case, and wonder where such a claim comes…

  • Why shy away from dots and lines?

    I, like probably every other classroom music educator, find myself regularly contemplating the importance of Western musical notation. Why bother teaching it? Is it of any use? Yes, I think it is. And yes, I should bother to teach it. Seeing posts about how pupils ‘forget’ the teaching they have received on notation and it…

  • Why differentiate?

    I heard an excellent speaker at an INSET organised at my previous school. I remember vividly his response to a colleague’s question about differentiation: “F**k differentiation. Teach everyone the same.” Hmm. I ponder this a great deal. What it boils down to for me is differentiation is not about differentiating what you teach, but the…

  • What makes an outstanding lesson?

    Any opportunity to critically reflect on my practice as a teacher is always welcome, and today I was fortunate enough to attend a seminar reflecting on what outstanding teaching looks like, led by the music teacher who taught me as a teenager. My own music teachers were pivotal in shaping my career choice and fostering…

  • Can we teach composition?

    After another batch of coursework is complete for GCSE and A-level music I like to look back and reflect on the year. I firmly believe in composition being an integral part of these examinations as it is the natural culmination of the study of musical rhetoric, in terms if its theoretical and stylistic constructs, and…