It was envisaged that the data gathered in this investigation from empirical statements, case studies and observation of a broad spectrum of group teachers, would contribute towards establishing a clearer perspective, focus attention on and evaluate the techniques and procedures of group tuition. In short, the study was intended to investigate, in an illuminative and interpretative manner, the effectiveness of group work.

A major concern was to identify a methodology – practice-based, eclectic and illuminative of music and the learning milieu – with designing a questionnaire; and with selecting for interview acknowledged group teachers. Thus the interviews provided both a primary source of opinion and a basis for further evaluation of the principles and procedures of group teaching in action.

To collect empirical data, a case study technique was employed and structured by use of pro formas. Four teachers, chosen on the basis of specific criteria, were each observed systematically in both group and individual settings. The datum elicited was then interpreted and summarized.

This paper presents new data extracted from the National Survey of Jazz Instrumentalists and Vocalists. The survey was administered to 209 professional jazz musicians who resided and performed in Australia during 2009–2010. Presented here are five statistically significant characteristics which differentiate vocalists’ experiences from other jazz musicians. These are: the singers’ preference for learning by imitation, their use of chords to find starting notes, their reliance on aural feedback, their greater sense of personal risk in improvisation, and their desire to be comfortable when performing lyrics. The results are accompanied by suggestions as to how jazz educators may respond to the findings.

In this paper I reflect on transformation in South African education policy, post-1994. The new curriculum for schools was underpinned by the democratic values of the constitution and was a time of renewal for music education. However, over time as the original curriculum documents were revised, the focus of promoting indigenous traditions was abandoned and replaced by an overtly Western approach to music education. It is against this background that I also reflect on the transformation that occurred as a result of a continuing professional development programme that arose from a need to improve curriculum implementation in the arts.

Attempting to explain the mis-match between women's low profile in most music professions and females' success in formal music education, I looked for differences in the attitudes, experiences and expectations of music students. This was done by using repertory grids with relatively small numbers of A-level and undergraduate music students, and postgraduate student teachers with music degrees. Constructivist psychology, of which repertory grid technique is a practical example, offers approaches in harmony with feminist preferences for the meaning people attach to their situation and the usefulness of their interpretation over notions of truth. Thus participants' responses dictate any groupings to emanate from analysis, rather than their being placed in pre-determined categories.

The outcomes of the study suggested, however, that little differentiates female and male musicians, as represented by these music students. Conversely, the results implied that the sexes are inclined to think similarly, insofar as likenesses in their attitudes could be associated with their instrument, and, crucially, that each sex tended to look to mo dels I mentors who reflected their sex as well as instrument. The sexes' inconsistency of achievement might then be explained by differences between sex-role models.

Musicians nowadays need to be able to work both creatively and collaboratively, often in a wider range of artistic, social and cultural contexts. A strong vision on conservatoire pedagogy is needed to reach this goal and at the same time align with the demands of higher education. At the start of the 21st century, renewal of curricula concentrated on implementing the teaching of a broader range of skills, knowledge and attitudes, including problem-solving, reflective, cooperative and communicative competences, as part of the Bologna process of implementing bachelor and master of music programmes. In semi-structured interviews, leaders of conservatoires in Belgium (Flanders) and the Netherlands reflected on their curriculum and revealed their observations and perceptions of its connection to professional practice. Based on a thematic analysis, conservatoire leaders’ observations and perceptions of the process of curriculum reform were identified. They indicated that teaching professionals continue to maintain an autonomous position, practising traditional forms of teaching and learning. Conservatoire leaders were rather hesitant in implementing new pedagogies, teaching principles and guidelines, due to a dedication to craftsmanship and a large amount of respect for the expertise of their teaching professionals.

In recent times the types of teaching and learning strategies adopted within higher education in British music conservatoires have been reviewed and reformed. This paper provides a case study of some of the newer practices adopted by one such institution, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. It focuses on the work of the Performance and Communication Skills Department, and, drawing on participant observations, makes a detailed analysis of the success of the implementation of the teaching and learning aims and objectives. The findings suggest that, not only are the changes adopted by the conservatoire useful, but also that they are beneficial to teachers and students at a number of levels.

The article uses methods of philosophical enquiry and historical research to clarify questions surrounding the epistemological basis for music education. It critically examines the idea of ‘music as aesthetic education’ in the context of evolving policy and practice within the English National Curriculum. It argues for broadening the concept of aesthetic education as a necessary antidote to an impersonal curriculum where an undifferentiated notion of knowledge distorts the character of goals, pedagogy and the valuing of musical endeavour.

This research was carried out as part of an extensive investigation into why some music teachers were experiencing difficulties teaching music to Muslims in their classes. For some Muslims, music is pronounced haram and is forbidden in Islamic law due to its associations; it has frequently been linked with sex, drugs and alcohol and has been ‘tarred with the same brush’. For many more Muslims it is seen as mubah, indifferent in relation to law, but for cultural reasons they would still prefer their children not to take part. Some forms of music are more acceptable than others, and some are acceptable under certain conditions, but of course most non-Muslim teachers are unaware of these. This article reports on observations of music lessons in a school with a high proportion of pupils from Muslim backgrounds. Interviews with pupils and several relevant adults are included. A report of the background to this research, and other aspects of it, can be found in the suggestions for further reading.

This study aims to assess the perceived impact of Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) music students' engagement in music making outside school on their teaching. Fifty-one students training to become secondary school music teachers in England were asked to report on the perceived impact that their participation in music making outside school had on their lives during their training and on its expected impact as a qualified music teacher. They believed that being musically involved outside school has both personal and professional benefits for them as it has the potential to increase their anticipated job satisfaction as qualified teachers and help them become better teachers. They all expressed a desire to be involved in such musical activities as qualified music teachers because they felt that these can help them maintain their enthusiasm, be more confident and motivated, and keep their technique and performance standards to a high level.

Music education in formal settings has the last decades been characterised by informal methods borrowed from outside school. In this study we analyse situations in Swedish secondary school where pupils’ experience of music outside school becomes visible in music class. Pedagogical challenges in these situations are identified that concern how to (i) coordinate perspectives on music in classrooms when arenas for learning music is increasing in number, (ii) make space for new musical movements in school, and (iii) consider the situated nature of learning that complicates the transfer from musical experiences outside to inside school.

In this study, the authors set out to investigate the assessment of musical composition in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), according to the criteria and marking system of a ‘typical’ examining board. In this article they describe how they conducted their investigations, what they found, what they suggest may be reasons for those findings, and how it might be possible to make improvements in the assessment procedures.

The Whole Class Ensemble Tuition (WCET) is a model of teaching and learning music which takes place in many English primary schools. It is a relative newcomer to music pedagogy in the primary school. In the groundbreaking study reported in this paper, two new models of teaching and learning music are proposed. These are (a) Music education starts with the instrument and (b) Music education takes place via the instrument. Conceptualised descriptions of classroom music pedagogies are not commonplace, and so this paper makes a significant contribution to the music education research literature by delineating, describing and labelling two of these with reference to the WCET programme. These distinctions are of international significance and are useful to describe differences between programmes, which constitutes a major contribution to music curricula discussions. The paper concludes that clarity on the purposes of teaching and learning is fundamental to effective musical pedagogy and that this is a matter that education systems worldwide should be considering.

This paper is intended as a sequel to my earlier paper, ‘What's Wrong with School Music? (BJME 1995, 12, 185-201). It carries an account of recent research into the arts in secondary schools which suggests that, despite National Curriculum reforms and innovations, music still lags behind the other arts in the general esteem of students. The paper proposes that the trouble with music in schools is that it has failed to modernise, that is, that it has somehow been impervious to the creative developments in classical and popular music. Robert Witkin's Art and Social Structure (1995) provides a theoretical account of modernism. The baleful influence of Hymns Ancient and Modern on generations of music teachers is condemned. Cited by way of contrast are two examples of a fully modem music education discovered at the Dartington International Summer School of Music. These, it is argued, capture the participatory ethos promoted in the Anthony Everitt's recent Gulbenkian publication Joining In.

Breathing and breath control are central to playing the oboe, yet few detailed educational resources are available to support their teaching and learning. This paper presents a review of existing knowledge and expertise in the field. It highlights common ground and points of controversy, and indicates some key areas for consideration. It points to the need for further research to establish both a more detailed picture of the anatomy and physiology of breathing practices in playing and effective teaching and learning strategies.

This is the story of a remarkable change in approach to musical education which has taken place in Scottish secondary schools during recent years.

Readers will bear in mind that the system of education in Scotland is independent of, and different from, that established in England. It is administered locally by education authorities which, together with head-teachers, are responsible for the curriculum taught within the schools. The Secretary of State for Scotland, nevertheless, retains an overall responsibility for the structure and balance of the school curriculum, which he fulfils by providing education authorities and head-teachers with general advice and guidance on curriculum matters. He is advised on these matters by HM Inspectorate of Schools (Scotland) and by the Consultative Committee on the Curriculum. The Consultative Committee on the Curriculum, in turn, is advised on musical matters by its subcommittee, the Scottish Central Committee on Music. Two external examinations, Ordinary and Higher Grades – taken at ages 16 and 17 respectively – are the responsibility of the Scottish Examination Board.

Scotland has a population of some five and a half million people. It has four professional orchestras – two with international reputations – professional opera and ballet companies, national youth brass and wind bands, and orchestra. There are over four hundred secondary schools. Instruction in music has been a feature of Scottish schools for centuries.

This paper draws on the metaphor of ‘workplace landscape’ to highlight the role of institutional values, evidenced within a Greek University Music Department and a Music Conservatoire, in the construction of musical performance teachers' professional identity. Underpinned by a social constructionist framework and within an ethnographic case study approach, the findings revealed that, on the one hand, participating teachers were constrained by the ‘cultural scripts’ within their workplaces, and on the other, that they utilised and appropriated these cultural tools in constructing their professional identity and practice. The findings imply that advanced music training institutions should engage more radically in a critical rethinking of their ‘workplace landscapes’ as settings for professional identity construction in order to ensure that musical identities are most effectively nurtured.

This paper is the pedagogical embodiment of accumulated understandings drawn from discussions of postmodern and poststructuralist theory and suggests some forms that an ethical music education might take. Music education in the postmodern era calls for and revives an attention to the relations between music and cultural narrative. Students bring diverse locational and historical narratives to the classroom. Bearing this in mind, this paper examines difference in the context of a music education that is now charged with both obligations as a result of internationalism, and with a role in resistance to the homogenising forces of globalisation. It suggests music education as a possible site for a critical concept of knowledge and as a dynamic site of cultural narrative.

Although composing has been a significant part of formal classroom music education in England for over 30 years, there still remains uncertainty about how to teach and assess composing in secondary schools. This research investigates the under-researched area of teaching and learning of composing in upper secondary schools in England whereby students (aged 14–18) may opt to study music for a national qualification. Taking a mixed methodology approach, data were collected through a survey of 182 music teachers, interviews with five prominent composer-educators, as well as research with five case study schools involving observations of teaching and interviews with teachers and students. This paper reports on three prominent beliefs about composers that seem to underpin teaching and assessment practices; firstly that composers have innate musical talents; secondly that composing is solely an individual process and finally that students must learn the ‘rules’ of composing before being creative. This article proposes that these perceptions do not reflect the diversity of composers’ creative practices and may result in reinforcing stereotypes and myths about composers that have the potential to disadvantage certain students in the examination.

This article reports on research investigating the ‘received’ music curriculum as experienced by children and how this corresponds with the expectations of the official music curriculum. The research was conducted in Cyprus and the sample consisted of 1196 children in their final year in primary school. Results verify a huge gap between curriculum theory and implementation, revealing that knowledge accumulated during the six years of primary education is far distant from the over-optimistic intentions of the official music curriculum. Additionally, music was found to be one of children's least favourite school subjects, suggesting the need for a more learner-centred and process-orientated music curriculum.

Central to building any picture of children's musical development is the notion of musical understanding. As teachers we need constantly to seek a better understanding of what children's musical understanding involves and how it is acquired and displayed. Indications of how we may need to look at children's work are taken from a 1984–7 Bristol-based research project, and strategies subsequently adopted for use in initial and in-service teacher training are outlined.