Gone Gibb What’s next for Music Education in England?

Dr Liz Stafford considers how the departure of a key minister from the Department for Education may affect music education.

I feel sorry for Nick Gibb MP, I genuinely do. I too have once suffered the ignominy of being sacked for no good reason by someone who was manifestly less successful at his own job than I was at mine. It is not a great feeling, especially when you have poured your heart, soul, and commitment into a job that has become a passion project, as Gibb’s clearly had.

I also, however, feel a bit relieved for all of us in music education. No-one could fault Nick Gibb’s commitment to the betterment of education. But unfortunately his ideas on what would make music education better seem to have left a lot to be desired. Often quoted in the press extolling the virtues of listening to, reading and writing music, Gibb’s views were a world away from what we know to be effective and engaging practice in primary music.

Under Gibb’s stewardship we saw the introduction of initiatives such as The Music Commission, Classical 100, the Model Music Curriculum, and the beginning of the ‘refreshing’ process for the National Plan for Music Education. To say this is a mixed bag in terms of success is an understatement! The underpinning current under all of these however was a march towards the classicalisation of music at primary school, with familiarity with the western classical musical communication system (staff notation) and the European classical canon seeming to be the main aims.

Of course we as music teachers know that what children need is a diverse musical curriculum with plenty of practical music-making opportunities across a wide range of styles, genres and traditions. We also know that this approach is enshrined in our national curriculum, which after all is the only statutory advice that we have ever been obliged to follow.

With the departure of Nick Gibb, will we see the DfE distance themselves from the narrow and much-maligned Model Music Curriculum? Will we see the National Plan for Music Education once again become an holistic vision for music education rather than - as it seemed to be being set up to be - a promotional tool for the Model Music Curriculum? Will we see music fall off the DfE’s radar altogether - and would this necessarily be a bad thing? Only time will tell…