9 minute read
What is ‘high-quality’ music education?
Dr Liz Stafford investigates a ubiquitous phrase.
If there’s one phrase that is pretty ubiquitous in England’s music education policy documents it’s ‘high-quality.’ The Model Music Curriculum and the National Plan for Music Education are peppered with frequent references to ‘high-quality’ and even ‘highest quality’ but these documents struggle to define the term.
This is not really that surprising, as a broad sweep scan of academic research in the area of quality basically just reinforces the finding that everyone thinks that ‘quality’ is a good thing, but no-one can tell you what it is. How can something that we think of as being so important, be so difficult to define?
Take my local butchers for example, who have a sign proudly advertising ‘high-quality meats.’ Firstly, is this really a selling point? I doubt anyone is actively advertising ‘low-quality meats’ as an alternative, as surely all customers are looking for ‘high-quality’. If customers are looking for anything to be ‘low’ in this scenario, it will be price, not quality! But does low price automatically equal low quality? There is no attempt to further define what is ‘high-quality’ about the meat; perhaps one can assume it might be ‘organic’ or ‘farm-reared’ or ‘free-range’ but is that really an indicator of quality, or just of care for the environment and a moral obligation towards the animals? Presumably as a foodstuff we would be looking primarily at taste and texture as an indicator of quality, but this is highly subjective, and will vary personto-person, and indeed meal-to-meal. I love a bit of lean steak mince in a bolognese, but if it’s a beef burger then for me steak mince is way too fancy to give me the flavour profile that I’m after!
The National Plan for Music Education has a stab at identifying ‘key features of high-quality school music provision ’ These are listed as:
Timetabled curriculum music of at least one hour each week of the school year for key stages 1-3
Access to lessons across a range of instruments, and voice
A school choir and/or vocal ensemble.
A school ensemble/band/group
Space for rehearsals and individual practice.
A termly school performance
Opportunity to enjoy live performance at least once a year
The main problem with this list is it that it would be possible to do all of these things incredibly badly, and just ticking the items off the list will not in any way ensure ‘high-quality’ provision. This is just a list of activities and resources, not a definition of what high-quality provision looks like in practice. Clearly this is not overly helpful in a document which carries so much political weight (albeit non-statutory, and introduced by a government who may not be in power when it comes fully to pass); how can we aim for something that we can’t define?
Being a solutions-focused kind of woman, I decided to make this my problem to solve! But clearly one person cannot be responsible for telling everyone else what quality is, especially given the problems researchers, the government and even butchers have in defining it. It was time to put my network to the test with a call-out on social media asking the question ‘what constitutes high-quality music education?’ And boy, did people have opinions about this!
Many commentators centred their view of quality around inclusive practice, including having realistic expectations and flexibility of approach. On LinkedIn, Josephine McNally commented: “High quality music education is simple…. Take your students from where they ‘are’… not where they ‘should be’… and help to make them better What works for one group may not work for all…..” This was echoed in comments from Clair Gregory, “High quality music education is an approach that is accessible to all. That allows learners of all abilities to engage and participate, at a level appropriate to them, whilst being exposed to a wide and contrasting repertoire.” Vincent James added: “For me, high quality music education includes an interactive component and is individualized to the needs and wants of the student.”
I don't think many people would argue that you can't have high-quality provision across the board without taking an inclusive approach. However because of the structures that we work within in music education - such as graded exams - we are perhaps conditioned to believe that provision is 'better' the more a student achieves. In essence, there is perhaps a belief that if someone has reached Grade 8 level they must have experienced high-quality provision to help them get there. However, as @sometimes_we_sing pointed out on Threads: "I think there is a balance between excellence and enjoyment. Are we looking for all children to reach the level of a concert pianist or is lifelong meaningful music making and enjoyment sufficient? Of course some children will excel and we should identify and support this. However, if all the children I teach sing in the shower, blast out a favourite tune in the car, strum some chords with their friends or sing lullabies to their childrent hen I think I will have done a good job." Also on Threads, @musicaltheresa commented: "While I don't love the term high-quality, I believe music education needs to be meaningful and relevant to the students it serves, and that's going to be different in every situation. Students should be involved in all parts of the artistic process, and gain skills to be independent, lifelong musicians in whatever capacity is appropriate for them." Clearly an approach which takes into consideration and provides for pupils' own ambitions could be argued as a key component of ‘high quality’ provision As Dr Paul Abbott commented on LinkedIn: “It starts with people who are good musicians using techniques which help others to learn… and all the technical bits, of course, but in my view it is of quality when it provides the space for a student, at whatever level, to explore without pressure or prejudice. It allows room to filter - accept, enjoy, reject and dislike.”
Other commentators were clear that the teacher’s own level of skill and experience has a significant part to play. On Threads @amgrgu commented: “One thing that sticks out to me is having teachers who have a wide breadth of experience in music – meaning teachers who have music experience outside of strictly teaching. When music educators can call on a wide variety of experiences in life for their lessons like performances, masterclasses, collaborations even music they’ve worked on professionally, students learn and grow from it and are better for it.” On X, Dan Francis suggested that a high quality music education is: “Delivered by professionals who understand the different functions that music serves and how their students can build on the skills and understanding they already have to confidently identify as musicians existing within, or across, these different functions.” And on LinkedIn Cathy Phillips Brady added: “Immersion in real life music with qualified professionals, wherever it is possible to access them. When I say qualified, I mean actually expert, not people who can get you through grades on an instrument as their third tutor role, I mean people who are truly immersed in that instrument or culture as their specialism and can show you the real sparkle and speciality of the music.”
Whilst I do agree that specialist provision from ‘real musicians’ can be extremely beneficial, I am also aware that we rely on generalist teachers to deliver the majority of primary music in the UK and there is a danger that if we identify ‘specialism’ as a mark of quality, this will suggest that generalists cannot create a high-quality experience just because they are not themselves professional-standard musicians. As Alan Cameron noted on LinkedIn, it is possible for in-service training to have a part to play in the quality of provision: “Primary teachers should have regular opportunities for professional development in delivery of music programmes.”
It was interesting that there was not much discussion of the content of curriculums, or pedagogical approaches as markers of quality. Perhaps this is because these elements are heavily contextualised and cannot be applied well across all settings? Having said that, a few commentators including Jimmy Rotherham on X mentioned the principle of ‘sound before symbol’, and there was also a fair bit of discussion around the need for a diverse range of music to be studied, including this from Gemma Carroll on LinkedIn “Inspiration! Immersing pupils in high quality music of a wide range of styles/genre. Even though tempting, not always playing to pupils popular choices/pushing the boundaries opening to the world to the pupils. We have such a wealth of music at our fingertips!” Also on LinkedIn was this lovely quote from Kirsty Hunter, “Telling the story of music, from the cultures, history, people and innovators who set the tone. Bringing diverse genres to evoke connection with all learners. Immersion in production, performance and audience. Being part of a collective, so learners know the importance of their contribution to the whole.”
My initial idea was to collate opinions, write this article with some helpful pointers towards identifying quality, and then move on However, the response was so overwhelming, and so disparate, that another plan formulated in my brain We all agree that quality is important, but as a sector we have lots of different, very contextualised ideas as to what this constitutes. Wouldn’t it be great if someone (me!) could get as many opinions as possible from as many different contexts as possible, and analyse these for common themes? Wouldn’t that be useful for music educators to consider their own ideas of quality, and how to develop ‘ more ’ quality within their own contexts?
So here I am, asking you, the readers of Primary Music Magazine for your ideas on what constitutes ‘high-quality’ music provision. The link at the bottom of this article will take you to a short survey where you can share as many or as few thoughts as you like regarding this subject, up until 30th April 2024. I will then have the (huge!) job of analysing all this data to create a research report that will be freely available to all, and I’ll be sure to update you on its main findings in our next issue!
