In 1942 the McNair Committee was appointed to consider the ‘supply, recruitment and training of teachers and youth leaders and to report what principles should guide the Board in these matters in the future’. Special attention was given to the needs of music teachers, and the proposals put forward by the Committee provided the framework for the pattern of training for the next 30 years. This article considers the reactions of the Ministry of Education, the Royal Schools of Music and the Incorporated Society of Musicians, making extensive use of archive material. Comparisons are drawn with the training received by music teachers today, with a call for further discussion of the essential skills necessary for effective music teaching.

In the present case study, we used observation and interviews to investigate the musical experience of a group of children of 3–4 years old. We look into the uniqueness of music in the child’s environment which belongs to the media, family and school contexts. The present study allows us to understand some implications of musical experiences for building social identity and the need to link formal music learning processes with those taking place in non-formal and informal spaces. Through this paper, we provide a vicarious experience that will enable the reader to understand our findings and raise new questions and interpretations.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impact of the Curriculum Design Coherence Model (CDC Model – Rata, 2019) on the design practice of two music teachers in a middle school music class in New Zealand. The CDC Model proposes that deep learning first requires deep design coherence. This coherence is generated by three interrelated design dimensions: (i) the ‘surfacing’ of epistemic structure, (ii) the use of subject concepts and (iii) the interrelationship between ‘knowledge-that’ (knowledge of something) and ‘know-how-to’ (knowing how to do something with that knowledge of something). We discuss how the model has been put to use in the design of a song writing unit of work for students aged 10–12 years in a general music class and note the impact of the model on the developing design expertise of the two music teachers involved in a wider research project.

This article presents some arguments in favour of a student-centred learning and teaching approach for higher music education (HME), with specific reference to conservatoire settings in the United Kingdom. In support of student-centred pedagogy, theoretical modelling is undertaken to offer a model of motivation accounting for both individual and group learning environments, thus drawing together diverse pedagogical research into learner “self-efficacy,” “distributive” classroom agency and partnership models of learning and teaching. Based on the author’s own teaching practice with MA Music students at Leeds Conservatoire, two student-centred classroom strategies are outlined: Critical Response Process (CRP) and practice as research. These strategies are evaluated via theoretical and, in the case of CRP, primary research data from a questionnaire presented to MA Music students reflecting on their experience. Finally, an overarching student-centred framework for HME course design is proposed, cross-mapping different learning activities, knowledge paradigms and forms of motivation based on the previous discussion.

Uncovering the motivations towards a profession may contribute to a better understanding of how the profession is chosen and will be pursued. However, the research on the attractiveness of the music teaching profession is rather limited and predominantly focused on identity development, thereby overlooking other aspects that may play a role. In pursuing a case study, my aim is to contribute to this field of research by investigating the views of pre-service music teachers enrolled at the University of Karlstad in Sweden. The results depict a unique motivational profile compared to their counterparts in other subjects. These differential aspects are threefold, indicating a high prevalence of ‘extrinsic motivations’ driving their choice of profession, that ‘altruistic reasons’ have lower significance as a motivating factor, and that there is a poor perceived relevance of these individuals’ future profession. In addition, this study provides evidence of the prevalence of ‘musician identities’ over ‘teaching identities’ and foresees the dependence between the participants’ motivation and their future students’ progression. Moreover, I hypothesise that career changes and Pygmalion effects are to be expected if intrinsic motivation towards the profession is not fostered or if this population’s motivation is linked to the progress of their students rather than the challenge of motivating them in the first place.

Higher music education institutions should continually review their curricula to ensure that their graduates are best equipped to support musical learning for children and young people. Perspectives on early careers in instrumental teaching were obtained via an alumni-led workshop and focus group at a UK conservatoire. Findings revealed that whilst extensive pedagogical training was offered, its value was not fully acknowledged across the institution and that more could be done to alleviate students’ anxieties about their developing musician identities and future stability. As new teachers, alumni are well placed to help prepare students for the professional realities of joining the music education workforce.

This article discusses the literature on music teacher education programmes for mainstream education in order to undertake critical reflection on what we are doing and why in our university classrooms, what theories are implicit and what could be done to improve our programmes. After analysis, mainly from European contexts, and considering the Spanish one in particular, we find an influence of the economic – and, ultimately, political – rationale on substantial aspects, manifested in apparent disjunctions between musical and educational features, as well as in formal issues, fundamentally due to the European Higher Education Area. In the end, it is concluded that, without renouncing the economic aspects, curricula should be more addressed towards the integration of pedagogical and musical knowledge, and the treatment of aspects related to social justice, if we do not want an uncritical reproduction of rationalities that are often obsolete in the training of pre-service music teachers.

Probation – a word I had always associated with the prison service rather than teaching. In my early naïvety I thought it rather derogatory to use this word to describe my first year as a teacher. A four-year university course was surely enough, I felt, to allow me to remove the learner label and to be fully qualified. But, as I gradually came to realise, the first year in full-time teaching was as much a learning process for me as it was for my pupils.

My training had consisted of a three-year Music and Education degree followed by a one-year PGCE course. I am not entirely certain that PGCE courses are the most effective means of training teachers, because their brevity limits the amount of time spent in schools. However, the system does allow the opportunity of more specialised study first, and I am grateful to have been able to do a teacher training course as well. The breadth of the PGCE studies confused me. At times I wondered whether the study of educational psychology and sociology would be better replaced by more down-to-earth advice on lesson preparation and the control of difficult classes. In retrospect I realise that virtually all the work was useful and, anyway, the music tutorials covered practical matters.

There is considerable concern in the Russian Federation of the Soviet Union about the state of music education in general schools, the schools most children attend. Many observers draw attention to the decline in musical standards in these schools since the Revolution of 1917. Glasnost – ‘openness’ and Perestroika – ‘reconstruction’, are key factors in contemporary Soviet society which are affecting attempts to raise the standard. In particular, the Kabalevsky system developed in the 1970s and implemented in the 1980s is the focal point of reconstruction and, because of openness, is also the focal point of criticism.

In this article the author outlines some of the features of current music education in general schools. The influences of glasnost and perestroika on development are discussed and some international implications are suggested.

The article contains the results of a survey (1991) into electro-acoustic music studios and courses in higher education in the UK. Not only is there an ever-increasing profile of information technology in music, but also unprecedented speed and scale of advances in music technology which question not only what is taught, but how. By surveying the state of the nation's studios and courses, the authors seek to suggest strategies for future studio- and course-design that take into account these rapid developments as well as the fast growing demand for studio access and tuition.

It's the start of a new academic year and a familiar pattern is about to repeat itself. Students from a variety of locations around the country arrive for their first composition lesson, fresh from seven years of secondary education, no doubt pleased with having passed A level music…

This article explores the development of musical language, as it takes place alongside the study of an instrument. More than simply the ability to read the printed score, musical literacy may be achieved creatively through improvisation and composition from the earliest lessons. The basis of this learning is through training the memory of the inner ear.

What do the views of children, teachers and inspectors about the quality of a school's music provision have in common, or are they all different? A trained expert visited ten primary schools, and her judgements about the music provision for children aged 10–11 were compared with those of the teachers, the children's views about music at the school, and the judgements reported in the school's most recent published inspection report. It was the children, particularly the boys, who agreed most closely with the expert. The judgements of the expert and the inspectors were broadly consonant, but the generalisation in the inspection writing led to its requiring a careful read if weaknesses in some schools' provision for Year 6 were to be detected. While there was general agreement between the expert and the teachers over children's attainment in the more effective schools, the judgements of the teachers were seriously awry in schools that neglected an aspect of the National Curriculum, typically composing. At present, inspectors routinely survey the views of parents and carers, but not those of pupils. The Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), the government department responsible for the inspection of schools in England, is currently considering some limited use of older secondary pupils' views as inspection evidence. The evidence of the research described in this paper is that younger children, in Year 6, could usefully be involved in providing inspection evidence. Indeed, it is possible that they may prove to be rather better ‘inspectors’ than older children, and also than some of their teachers.

Differentiation is a key concept in the Cypriot music curriculum, last revised in 2010. This paper aims to investigate teachers’ interpretation and implementation of differentiation in their music classrooms. Interviews with Cypriot classroom music teachers and focus groups with their students took place within the context of a larger research project that investigated how elements of the Cypriot music curriculum were interpreted and applied by teachers and how this pedagogy in turn influenced students’ motivation. Interviews were carried out with eight music teachers. Differentiation, as understood and implemented by these Cypriot music teachers, differed in fundamental ways to differentiation as conceptualised in academic literature concerned with this concept. These findings may serve as a point of reflection for future professional development in Cyprus relating to differentiation and its implementation.

Global colonialism and continuing post-colonial influences caused widespread cultural change at the interface of different cultures. Musical acculturation can be observed in most colonised countries. Some pro-colonialists apologetically allege that through colonisation the colonised territories would receive developmental aid and economical benefits. If this was the case, did Korean music education also benefit from Japanese colonisation as is commonly claimed? And also, was Korean school music acculturated by the Japanese curriculum? To answer these questions, I scrutinised the intentions of colonial Korean music education through interviewing 42 witnesses who attended primary schools of the time, simultaneously analysing school activities such as morning assembly and the military draft, both of which show musical content. The interviews focused in particular on the day-to-day life at school, pedagogic content and impacts of colonial education on pupils’ later life and cultural identity.