Possibly because very few teachers in Britain are fluent readers of Scandinavian languages while, on the other hand, the majority in the academic professions in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland speak and read – not infrequently write – English, the flow of thinking about music education and its developments often appears to be one way.

Yet although it may be true to say that, over the last twenty years or so, music educators in the Nordic countries have drawn quite a lot of inspiration from beyond their own borders (Finland and Sweden tending to look towards Hungary; Norway, Iceland and Denmark perhaps turning more often to Britain and the United States), it would be a serious error to imagine that they have no significant ideas of their own! Indeed, an enormous amount has been achieved in these countries from which the rest of us can usefully learn.

The invitation to provide a review of the articles published in our five year editorship prompts us to evaluate the aims and purposes of music education research, and to consider the function of journals such as BJME in bridging the artificial divide between academics and professionals. We identify four themes that were prominent in the volumes we edited: the roles and identities of music teachers; pupil perspectives; blurring of boundaries between home, school and community; and music in higher education. Surveying articles related to these themes, we consider the questions they raise for future research, addressing the day-to-day realities of teaching alongside the exploration of new ideas which extend music education as a significant field of study.

In 1872 John Hullah was appointed Inspector of Music in Training Colleges and his first act was to introduce a practical examination for each of the students. Each year he visited all of the colleges receiving financial aid from the Government to examine the students after which he wrote up his findings in a report for the Committee of Council on Education. These reports, and those of his successor John Stainer, give a unique account of music in the training colleges in the period 1872 to 1899.

Progress is a two-edged sword; for some it releases new and enriching opportunities, while for others it cuts away hope. We are all too familiar with the effects of mass unemployment, deadening the spirit and damaging the self-respect of so many people – particularly the young. Curiously, society's institutions of government and education appear reluctant tograsp a particular nettle – the by now pressing need to reappraise the concepts of ‘work’ and ‘leisure’. Even so, some enterprising young people, in various parts of the country, have shown considerable initiative in developing community music workshops where they meet to play rock music. For them this is an important work activity, even if it is not one that brings conventional monetary rewards. This article introduces three of these workshops, and examines the motivation of those who organize them.

Amartya Sen's capability approach offers a new perspective for educators throughout the curriculum. This new insight has the potential to promote a music education that is inherently tailored to the individual. In essence it asks the question: What is music education going to offer to this student? This article represents an initial enquiry into the capability approach when applied to music education. With a theoretical understanding of the capability approach its application can provide insight into pupil voice, teacher voice, growing student autonomy and differentiation.

The case is put for improvisation as the basis for world music, with special reference to flexibility of the blues and the gamelan. An overview of the impact of society on music leads to a general survey of the status of improvisation in pre-industrial Western European culture. Improvisation is contrasted with composition and consideration is given to the problems of providing education in improvisation without destroying its vitality and communicative power.

The effects of London Sinfonietta education projects on their participants are identified and analysed, through questionnaire and interview, and then measured against London Sinfonietta policy itself. To a great extent the aims of the policy are being met: the work is found to be an enjoyable and valuable experience leading towards an understanding of contemporary art music. Some problems identified concern the integration of the teachers, appropriate training for the players and composers, and the elitism of the concert hall. The fieldwork was undertaken with the kind co-operation of the London Sinfonietta education team and the schools involved.

This article investigates the possibilities of a vocational pedagogy for undergraduate popular music education which is grounded in site and city. The value of work-integrated curricula in tertiary music environments is well established; however, often absent from such discussions is consideration of how geospatial contexts mediate the opportunities and resources available to universities. In response, we provide a critical comparison of how work-integrated learning (WIL) has been developed in two undergraduate popular music degrees in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Through comparison, we consider how the geographic locations of both programmes have shaped WIL, as well as identifying the specific economic, cultural and political tensions that emerge.

Every educational system has its goals and objectives, curricula and modes of implementation. There is however the need for periodic assessment and evaluation. Specifically, this research paper sets out to evaluate the success or otherwise of the music education delivery system in Kwara state of Nigeria and its implications for the goals of music education in Nigeria. Data were gathered primarily from field situations using empirical and deductive methodologies and secondarily from government publications and other publications related to the subject matter. The paper observes that the noble idea of bi-musicality, a concept that stresses musical literacy in both one's own culture and that of the West is hampered by lopsidedness, crisis of perspectives and inadequate resource materials and persons. There is also a structural defect in the vertical relationship between the various levels of music education in the state. The paper further identifies public perception of music as a Christian subject as one of the obstacles to an effective music education delivery system in Nigeria. The paper concludes that until significant musical theories and conceptual approaches emerge from extensive fieldwork into Nigeria's diverse musical cultures, it will be difficult to develop and sustain an authentic and functional music education framework in Nigeria.

Teachers describe work with pupils aged 10 to 15 which explores the connection between listening, appraising and composing and other aspects of listening as a learning process. These case studies provide evidence of how a group of Berkshire teachers make connections that were envisaged by the architects of the National Curriculum but not necessarily encountered in practice.

Unfortunately the March 2017 issue of the journal contained the wrong version of the editorial. The correct version is contained in this erratum.

The Editors apologise for the error.

The purpose of this study was to explore musicians’ approaches to performance during practice and identify the factors that underpinned their approaches. We hypothesised that musicians would be able to recall their focus, knowledge and thoughts of their own repertoire during music performance and that such data would reveal musicians’ cognitive behaviours during the performance. By analysing musicians’ retrospective verbal protocols, we found that musicians used four main reasoning processes – study, static analysis, intuition and performer’s analysis – in their approach to music performance. The findings show that musicians utilise multiple cognitive behaviours for music performance. The implications for instrumental music teaching are discussed.

Guided by three theoretical frameworks in vocational psychology, (i) theory of work adjustment, (ii) two factor theory, and (iii) value discrepancy theory, the purpose of this study was to investigate Turkish pre-service music teachers' values and the role of fit between person and environment in understanding vocational satisfaction. Participants were 85 students enrolled in the department of music education in a Turkish university. The Minnesota Importance Questionnaire (MIQ) was used to examine the participants’ values in six dimensions: achievement, comfort, status, altruism, safety and autonomy. Results revealed that the pre-service teachers value achievement most followed by autonomy, which suggests that they would like to have a sense of accomplishment and control in their future job. The degree to which their values fit their predictions about future work environment was found to be highly correlated with vocational satisfaction. These results provided evidence that the vocational theories used in the current study offers a helpful and different perspective to understand the pre-service teachers' satisfaction with becoming a music teacher in the future. We believe that researchers in the field of music education may use these theories and MIQ to examine the role of values in pre-service and in-service music teachers' job satisfaction.