The organisation and assessment of composing at Key Stage 4 in English secondary schools

2011 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-157
Author(s):  
Jonathan Savage ◽  
Martin Fautley
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Storage System ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Music Classroom ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
Musical Thinking ◽  
School Music ◽  
Fit For Purpose ◽  
Examination Board

This paper explores secondary school music teachers' current practice with regard to the organisation and assessment of composing at Key Stage 4. It draws on research undertaken on a nation-wide basis in England, via the use of two online surveys and face-to-face interviews. In terms of the organisation of classroom composition, the study found that the place of staff notation is currently under-theorised in terms of a developmental musical thinking tool, as opposed to what might be termed a ‘storage system’. The research also found that ICT has brought composing to a wider range of participants. Considerably more time is spent on composing than other musical processes within a typical Key Stage 4 music classroom. The study found that music teachers are, in general, satisfied with the sorts of assessments which are being done at Key Stage 4. Examination Board criteria for assessing composing are universally utilised but there is a feeling that whilst these criteria are fit for purpose, they do not always reflect the effort that students have put into their work. Some styles which are ‘set’ by examination boards are seen as being inappropriate for some students to access.

scholarly journals Can the adoption of informal approaches to learning music in school music lessons promote musical progression?

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hallam ◽  
Andrea Creech ◽  
Hilary McQueen
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Approaches To Learning ◽  
Musical Skills ◽  
Music Lessons ◽  
Stage 4 ◽  
School Music ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Three Phases

The aim of this research was to explore the impact of the adoption of the Musical Futures approach on the musical progression of students in Musical Futures’ Champion schools. The research took place over three years in three phases with 733 students and 28 music teachers completing questionnaires. Data from the interviews with 39 staff and focus groups of 325 students provided greater insights into the questionnaire responses. Overall, teachers reported that Musical Futures had enhanced the musical progression of their students and increased take up at Key Stage 4. In some cases this had led to changes in the qualifications on offer with an emphasis on those which were vocational rather than academic. This created some tensions in catering for the needs of different groups of students who had a range of different musical skills.

Australian super veteran secondary school music teachers: Motivated and valuable

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-239
Author(s):  
Jennifer Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Career Stage ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
School Music

Veteran teachers are defined as having over 15 years’ teaching experience. This research introduces a new career stage of ‘super veteran’ for music teachers that have worked for 30 plus years and seeks to identify the influences on, and contributions of, Australian secondary school music teachers of this career stage. This article reports on survey data gathered in a larger qualitative study that contained a national survey and interviews. The analysis of the interview data in the larger study is yet to be completed. Likert-type scale questions were used for demographic data collection and open-ended questions explored influences on music teacher work practice. Of the responses, 32 were from super veteran secondary school music teachers. These teachers were motivated by working with students and felt valued by them and their parents. Super veterans continued to be engaged in professional development, found work–life balance a constant challenge and many were planning to continue teaching. This research has implications for school leaders in encouraging, valuing and utilising the expertise of super veteran secondary school music teachers. It suggests tailoring professional development for this career stage, gives feedback on the implementation of new curriculum and indicates strategies for stress management and work–life balance.

Addressing the concerns of conservatoire students about school music teaching

2005 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Mills
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Royal College ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
First Year ◽  
Music Teaching ◽  
School Class ◽  
Secondary Music ◽  
School Music

While most of the students who graduate each year from the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London build performance-based portfolio careers that include some teaching, very few of them enter secondary school class music teaching. This article describes how young musicians' concerns about the career of secondary class music teacher develop as they move from sixth former to first year RCM undergraduate to third year undergraduate, and proposes some ways in which these concerns may be addressed. RCM students often agree strongly with statements consistent with a positive attitude to teaching, such as feeling a sense of achievement when pupils learn, and considering that teaching is about helping pupils realise their musical potential. However, they also tend to think that secondary class music teaching is not ‘doing music’. Successful secondary music teachers may take a different view, and the effect on RCM students of working with such teachers is reported descriptively.

Honoring Gender Diversity in Music Classrooms

2021 ◽  
pp. 98-126
Author(s):  
Matthew L. Garrett ◽  
Joshua Palkki
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Instrumental Music ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Inclusive Classroom ◽  
Music Classroom ◽  
Vernacular Language ◽  
School Music ◽  
Curricular Materials

In this chapter, attention is given to specific ideas that school music teachers can use to honor TGE students. Examples for sharing and displaying TGE-inclusive names, pronouns, and titles are presented within a variety of music classroom contexts. The authors describe how school music teachers can select inclusive classroom curricular materials by reviewing them for bias against gender diversity, by incorporating inclusion in elementary classroom discourse, and by working to avoid gender stereotypes in instrumental music settings. Further discussion focuses on the need for age-appropriate interactions with children, the implications of gendered vernacular language in classrooms settings, and considerations for music teacher-educators working with pre-service teachers at the college level.

OPINIONS OF SECONDARY SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHERS ON THE USE OF EBA (EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION NETWORK): SAMPLES OF ŞANLIURFA

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (45) ◽  
pp. 2253-2264
Author(s):  
Cihan TABAK ◽  
Ümit BOZ
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Information Network ◽  
Music Lesson ◽  
School Music ◽  
Access Problems ◽  
Keywords Education ◽  
Academic Year

With this research, it is aimed to determine the opinions of secondary school music teachers about the use of EBA. In line with the purpose of the research, the opinions of secondary school music teachers were taken by using the scanning model. The study group of the research consists of 22 music teachers working in ġanlıurfa in the 2021-2021 academic year. In order to collect data in the research, a semi-structured interview form was applied to the teachers. The data obtained as a result of the application were processed and descriptive analysis was made. As a result of the research, teachers related to EBA; They frequently use 'Live Lessons', 'Lessons' and 'My Page' modules, EBA contributes to them and the students, they do not have access problems to EBA, but students have access problems, they prefer 'Mobile Application' when using EBA, ' It was concluded that they performed the 'Live Lesson' module over the 'Zoom' application and did not record it, that they did not find the music lesson contents in the EBA sufficient, that they produced content and made the contents produced outside of the EBA accessible to the students. Keywords: Education Information Network, Distance Learning, Music Lesson

Student perceptions of the classroom environment, student characteristics, and motivation for music lessons at secondary school

2021 ◽  
pp. 102986492110558
Author(s):  
Ioulia Papageorgi ◽  
Natassa Economidou Stavrou
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Classroom Environment ◽  
Teacher Support ◽  
Student Characteristics ◽  
Task Orientation ◽  
Music Classroom ◽  
Music Lessons ◽  
Orientation Order ◽  
School Music ◽  
Rule Clarity

The literature suggests that there is often no alignment between student preferences and what and how it is taught in the music classroom. A total of 749 Cypriot secondary school students, aged 12 to 14 years, responded to a survey addressing enjoyment of music, motivation for school music lessons, and perceptions of the music classroom environment. The survey included a questionnaire with six subscales: Involvement, Affiliation, Teacher Support, Task Orientation, Order and Organization, and Rule Clarity. High ratings for Affiliation, Teacher Support, and Rule Clarity suggest that, overall, students’ perceptions of the classroom environment were positive. They were not uniform, but varied on the basis of student characteristics. Girls rated Rule Clarity higher than boys. Younger students tended to rate Task Orientation, Order and Organization, and Rule Clarity higher than older students. Higher-achieving students tended to rate Affiliation and Teacher Support higher. Older boys rated Involvement lower than younger boys, whereas older girls rated Involvement higher than younger girls. It can be inferred that boys experienced a gradual increase in perceived Affiliation as their achievement improved, although the pattern was less consistent for girls. Girls tended to report higher motivation for school music lessons than boys. Motivation was enhanced by classroom environments in which students experienced higher levels of enjoyment of music, engagement, and support from teachers. The findings show that the music classroom environment should be characterized by student engagement, clarity of rules, good organization, clear goals, teacher support, and affiliation between classmates.

Composing and performing in the key stage 3 classroom: a study using multi-trait, multi-method analysis

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Convergent Validity ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Teacher Rating ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Musical Activity ◽  
School Music ◽  
Assessment Guidelines ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Musical Understanding

‘Music is both a creative and a performing art’ (Hallam, 2006, p. 70). Many musicians and music educators maintain that composing and performing, although related, are essentially different aspects of musical activity. In the professional musical sphere, composition and performance are almost invariably separated; academic studies have treated them discretely; GCSE and ‘A’ level specifications assess them distinctly, and many music teachers assess them in the classroom as if they were separate disciplines. It is common practice for students in the lower secondary school in England to work in a more integrated way, however (Philpott, 2001; Major, 2008), composing, performing to the class, and appraising each others’ work. Recently produced assessment guidelines for secondary school music teachers in England (NAME, 2011) encourage this more integrated view, accepting the assumption made by Swanwick and Franca (1999, p. 12) that ‘musical understanding is a broad conceptual dimension’ by considering composing and performing as inter-linked ways of demonstrating and communicating musicality. This study sets out to investigate the links between composing and performing in the secondary school classroom, through peer-rating, teacher rating and students’ self-report attitudinal questionnaires, analysing these using a multi-trait, multi-method technique.Evidence for convergent validity was found between performing and composing in the classroom, suggesting that they are closely linked and may indeed be related parts of the same trait. This may have implications for the ways in which composing and performing are taught and assessed. A larger-scale study could be undertaken to investigate this further.

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