Introduction
The study reported here forms part of a larger project funded by the Nuffield Foundation (see Kokotsaki, Reference KOKOTSAKI2015) that aimed to bring together schools in the North East of England to enable the sharing of ideas about how the primary-secondary transition in music can be improved and to measure the impact that this collaboration may have. The current paper seeks to explore which components of pupils’ school music lessons seem to contribute to them feeling happier about music at school by allowing their voices to be heard at the beginning of secondary school.
Pupil voice research has been recognised in the years since the pioneering work of Jean Rudduck (Reference RUDDUCK, Lang, Olson, Hansen and Bunder1999) for its potential to establish a more collaborative style of learner-teacher relationship where the conditions of learning can be re-shaped, child engagement can be made more meaningful and standards of achievement can be raised (Flutter, Reference FLUTTER, Finney and Harrison2010). Allowing pupils’ voices to be heard can lead to a better alignment between the content of the curriculum and pupils’ learning expectations and interests. Burnard and Björk (Reference BURNARD, BJÖRK, Finney and Harrison2010) highlighted, in particular, the benefits that can be gained if pupils are allowed to voice their experiences of musical learning and school life. Referring to Lamont and Maton's study (Reference LAMONT and MATON2008), which found that children's attitudes towards music decline to a larger extent than in other curriculum subjects as they start to perceive musical ability as a fixed entity that not everyone possesses, they argued that teachers can be more responsive to individual learners’ needs, interests and aspirations by taking seriously what pupils have to say about their music in school.
Furthermore, school transitions in early adolescence carry ‘academic risk’ (Symonds, Reference SYMONDS2015) in the sense that pupils may feel less motivated and engaged as they move schools when their developing needs for identity, self-esteem, autonomy, competence and social support are not satisfactorily met in their new educational environment (Symonds & Galton, Reference SYMONDS and GALTON2014). The potential benefits that good quality music education can have on children may be compromised if the transition to secondary school is not supported effectively. Research evidence on transition (Galton, Gray & Ruddock, Reference GALTON, GRAY and RUDDOCK2003; Hargreaves & Galton, Reference HARGREAVES and GALTON2002) suggests that primary and secondary schools have started paying increased attention to making the transfer process as smooth and anxiety-free as possible in an attempt to ensure ‘progression’, a strengthened transition from Key Stage 2 (KS2) to Key Stage 3 (KS3)Footnote 1 and ‘curriculum continuity’ so that pupils ‘get to a flying start’ as they move to the secondary school (DfES, 2004: 5). Lucey and Reay (Reference LUCEY and REAY2000) argued, however, that pupils’ anxiety can be useful as it is central to the development of effective coping strategies during the transition to secondary school but that pupils often report a real sense of excited anticipation about their new school and this should not be overlooked.
Marshall and Hargreaves (Reference MARSHALL and HARGREAVES2007) found that most pupils in their study experienced less anxiety about moving up to the secondary school and the various transfer events that were now common practice among primary and secondary schools resulted in pupils looking forward to the transfer with increased expectations about what secondary school music would offer. However, where specific expectations had not been met, many pupils that had previously been designated by the primary schools as ‘training’ (pupils who were currently involved in musical training outside class music lessons) or ‘aspiring’ (pupils who were not currently having training but expressed an interest in doing so) changed their positive attitudes to music to negative ones.
The danger of positive attitudes declining or dipping after transfer to secondary school has been discussed in the case of science (Galton, Reference GALTON2002) and mathematics (Galton et al., Reference GALTON, GRAY and RUDDOCK2003). In an American study in Michigan, Wigfield and Eccles (Reference WIGFIELD and ECCLES1994) found a sharp dip in children's attitudes to mathematics after transition. However, in their UK study, Galton and his colleagues (Reference GALTON, GRAY and RUDDOCK2003) found that children's attitudes to English improved and attitudes to science stayed stable across transition but showed a rapid decline by the end of the first year in the new school.
In their study of teachers’ views of the primary-secondary transition in music education, Marshall and Hargreaves (Reference MARSHALL and HARGREAVES2008) concluded that progress in many areas of transfer and transition has been limited. Their study indicated that, even though there is commonly a good level of liaison activity between primary and secondary schools, most of these activities tend to mean ‘familiarisation’ for both teachers and pupils through open days and joint events with little liaison in music. The focus tended to be on administration of instrumental lessons with limited records passed on regarding children's musical ability and no emphasis on curriculum continuity and progression. In subjects such as music and physical education (Capel, Swozdiak-Myers & Lawrence, Reference CAPEL, ZWOZDIAK-MYERS and LAWRENCE2004), much less attention has been given to addressing curriculum continuity and progression between the two phases in comparison to English, mathematics and science (Braund & Driver, Reference BRAUND and DRIVER2005).
Many secondary school music teachers feel obliged to ‘start from scratch’ to be able to deal with the wide range of ability levels and the varied musical experiences that pupils would have had in the different feeder primary schools (Mills, Reference MILLS1996, Lamont et al., Reference LAMONT, HARGREAVES, MARSHALL and TARRANT2003, Marshall & Hargreaves, Reference MARSHALL and HARGREAVES2008). Marshall and Hargreaves (Reference MARSHALL and HARGREAVES2007) have suggested, however, that the ‘start from scratch’ approach and lack of appropriate liaison do not necessarily have to mean a ‘negative introduction to music at secondary school’. They argue that where and when teachers are prepared to start from scratch with interesting and highly musical activities which include all pupils and provide appropriate challenge regardless of their prior musical experiences, they are able to transition well and to increase their interest in music. In addition, a ‘start from scratch approach’ can prevent there being too much similarity between primary and secondary school curricula (Measor & Woods, Reference MEASOR and WOODS1984) and encourages pupils to develop intellectually and emotionally. However, this approach can be frustrating for the more advanced children but can work well for the weaker or more inexperienced learners (Symonds, Reference SYMONDS2015).
Issues relating to transfer and transition in music have been identified in numerous Office for Standards in Education reports (Ofsted, 1993; 1999; 2004, 2009; 2011; 2012). The 2009 report (par. 185) mentioned that it was very rare for primary and secondary schools to have developed effective partnerships. It also indicated that many music teachers and subject leaders were often isolated with limited opportunities for helpful continuing professional development and challenge. As a result, the quality of provision was often inconsistent and teachers lacked understanding about what musical progress meant in practice. It was suggested that better links need to be developed between schools to help pupils make more consistent progress (par. 198). The Ofsted report in music (2012) recognised that attempts were being made to improve the transition between primary and secondary schools.
This research paper aims to explore pupils’ attitudes to music in Year 7 (first year in secondary school) looking, in particular, at the factors that seem to increase pupils’ levels of satisfaction towards music at the beginning of secondary school. The larger research study funded by the Nuffield Foundation (Kokotsaki, Reference KOKOTSAKI2015) investigated pupil attitudes to school and music during the transition to secondary school and comprised two phases (Phase I: May 2011 – July 2012; Phase II: July 2012 – July 2013).
Method
Sample
Six schools from the North East of England were selected to take part in the project, three schools that had effective transition strategies in place (‘good practice’ schools: Schools 1, 2 and 3) and three schools that had no such strategies in place (‘need to improve’ schools: Schools 4, 5 and 6). These schools were selected to represent geographical and socio-economic diversity within the North East of England (for more information about the selection of the project schools, see Kokotsaki, Reference KOKOTSAKI2015).
Data Collection and Analysis
The research findings presented here are based on (i) 97 focus-group interviews with pupils carried out during the two phases of the project and (ii) an Attitudes to Music questionnaire completed by pupils at three different time points (reported for Phase I).
i. Focus-group interviews
Focus-group interviews with Year 7 pupils from the six schools in Phase I (data are not available for school 3 in June 2011) and the three schools in Phase II covering all abilities were carried out three times during the year: (i) either in June when the pupils visited the secondary school before the beginning of Year 7 or in September of Year 7 if the pupils did not get the chance to visit the secondary school in the summer (Phase Ia/IIa), (ii) in November of Year 7 (Phase Ib/IIb), and (iii) at the end of Year 7 (Phase Ic/IIc). Measuring pupils’ attitudes at these three times has been recommended by researchers who have studied the transfer process (see Galton, Reference GALTON2002). Overall, 67 focus-group interviews in Phase I and 30 focus-group interviews in Phase II with 4–5 pupils in each group were carried out (for a breakdown of the number of interviews that took place in each school during the three time points in Phases I and II, see Table 1). Each interview lasted between 10 and 20 minutes. The interviews took a semi-structured interviewing format where participants were asked a set of questions but they also had the flexibility to raise any issues that were relevant and important to them during the course of the interview. The main themes that were covered in each interview concerned pupils’ enjoyment of music in their primary and secondary school, what musical activities they were involved in, whether they were looking forward to their music lessons, what their expectations about music were in each different interviewing stage and what they would change in music if they were given the chance.
About 50% of pupils took part in more than one interview during each of the two years. It was not deemed important for the purposes of the research to interview the same pupils three times because different pupils would help provide a more holistic perspective of their musical experiences in Year 7.
ii. Attitudes to music questionnaire
An attitudinal questionnaire which measured pupils’ attitudes to music was completed three times by Year 7 pupils in each school. Findings from the first phase of the project are reported here (June 2011, November 2011 and July 2012). This questionnaire was adapted from the attitudes to English scale as developed and used by Pell (Reference PELL, Galton, Steward, Hargreaves, Page and Pell2009) in his work on the consequences of transfer for pupils’ attitudes and attainment. The 15 items of the attitudes to music scale were subjected to principal components analysis (PCA) using the SPSS software package for statistical analysis as the music scale had not been used before. This analysis (for more detail see Kokotsaki, Reference KOKOTSAKI2015) generated two factors that were relevant to liking and making music. Two items were omitted from the subsequent data analysis. The liking music scale consisted of seven items and the making music scale consisted of 6 items. The two scales are presented in Tables 2 and 3 where reliability information for the total scale and for each of the items is shown. The corrected item-total correlation information in the two tables indicates that all items correlate well with each of the scales. Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient for the liking music and the making music scale is 0.81 and 0.79 respectively which indicates a very acceptable level of reliability (Cortina, Reference CORTINA1993).
It was not possible to ensure that the same pupils completed the three questionnaires in Phase I. However, even though any differences found cannot be attributed to a change over time, the data provide an overall perspective of Year 7 pupils’ attitudes to music in different time periods. Furthermore, pupils from the same six schools completed the questionnaire and it is expected that their musical experiences in each of these schools would have been consistent. Due to these sampling limitations, the findings need to be interpreted with caution and so limit our ability to reach firm conclusions. Nevertheless, the similarities observed in the findings between the whole pupil sample and a matched sample of 182 pupils in Phase I (see Kokotsaki, under review) seem to provide more confidence to the claim that the attitudinal findings might be actually representing a true picture of these pupils’ attitudes despite the aforementioned limitations. Gender differences in attitudes to music for the children that took part in this project are reported elsewhere (Kokotsaki, under review).
Data Analysis
The phenomenographic approach to data analysis (Marton & Booth, Reference MARTON and BOOTH1997) was adopted to explore pupils’ views on the factors that seem to increase or reduce their enjoyment of music in Year 7. Using the Atlas-ti software for qualitative analysis (Muhr, Reference MUHR1997), each individual transcript was firstly examined closely by coding the emergent phenomena in the data and was then compared with the remaining interviews in an attempt to find similarities and differences in pupils’ attitudes towards music. This categorising process led to the emergence of ‘categories of description’ (Marton, Reference MARTON1981) to represent analytically the number of different ways of experiencing musical activities in the project schools at the beginning of secondary school. This was a strongly iterative and comparative process in line with the phenomenographic analytic method (Åkerlind, Reference ÅKERLIND2005). The final categories are presented in Table 4 (in Appendix) with supporting quotes from individual interviews. The structure of the ‘outcome space’ was then investigated by relating the categories of description to one another and presenting them in a structured set which allows the phenomenon under investigation to be viewed holistically (see Figure 1). A series of repeated measures Analysis of Variance tests were used to analyse the attitudinal questionnaire data.
Figure 1: The factors that increase pupils’ enjoyment of music at the beginning of secondary school: the ‘outcome space’
Ethical considerations
Participants’ anonymity has been preserved in the presentation of the findings. The study has adhered to all ethical obligations as suggested by Rubin and Rubin (Reference RUBIN and RUBIN1995) and has been approved by the Research Ethics and Data Protection Sub-Committee in Durham University's School of Education. Permission to access the school to collect data from the project was also gained by the head teacher of each school who had previously agreed for their school to take part in the research. Both teachers and pupils were asked for permission to record interviews and they were informed about the intended use and purposes of the research. They were also assured that their participation was fully voluntary and that anonymity would be preserved. In the interviews with the children, in particular, the purpose of the research was explained in simple language and the children were reassured that they did not have to give answers. The researcher avoided leading questions and the interview was conducted in a familiar environment. The children were released from their classroom music lesson for a short period of time (10-20 minutes) by their music teacher.
Findings
Pupil voice in the first year of secondary school: what pupils enjoy most
The analysis helped elicit nine themes that, when considered as a whole, were found to represent these pupils’ attitudes to music during their first year in secondary school. Figure 1 presents these themes as they interact with one another to show the conditions under which pupils report the highest satisfaction with their music lessons in Year 7. The key emergent theme was pupils’ desire to be actively involved musically by doing practical and interactive work as opposed to ‘sitting and writing’ and carrying out assessments which they felt was often the case with other subjects. Their desire to be musically involved was exemplified in their comments as performing, composing, singing, playing a variety of instruments, working in groups and forming bands, and getting familiarised with different types of music. The teacher was perceived as being the key determinant of the nature of pupils’ musical involvement as decisions on how and to what extent pupils would be musically involved in the lesson would lie with the teacher. Pupils also reported a desire to be somehow involved in this decision-making process where they would appreciate an element of choice regarding the content and nature of their musical involvement. However, just being musically involved is not enough by itself to draw a complete picture of these pupils’ attitudes to music. The study findings show that between being musically involved and reporting full enjoyment of their music lessons lies the pupils’ desire to learn and make good progress. In other words, just making music is not enough. The musical tasks need to be carefully planned so that adequate learning and progression are taking place. A cross-school and cross-phase comparison revealed differences in how these themes are exemplified in different schools or in different phases within the same school and these are presented below. Reference is made to particular quotes from the interviews (Table 2 in the Appendix) to illustrate these findings.
Musical involvement – practical work
Pupils reported enjoying their music lessons when they were involved in practical work where they had the opportunity to exercise their musicality throughout the lesson by taking an active role in the lesson, making music or participating in various projects. This active practical work was contrasted in the pupils’ comments with other school subjects which involved ‘a lot of writing and study techniques’ (e.g., quotation 1i, Appendix F). Where pupils had the chance to be involved in this kind of practical work, they reported higher levels of satisfaction with school music (e.g., quotations 1i, 1ii, 1iii, 1iv, 2i, 2ii, 4, 6ii, 8i, 10, 11i, 11ii, 14ii).
‘It is a lesson where everyone in the class can get involved, so when we come into the classroom we are all happy.’ (Ib, School 1)
‘It’s something different from all the hard work and tests.’ (Ib, School 3)
‘I love it when we do practical work but not when we do work (writing).’ (IIb, School 5)
In contrast, when writing and testing in music was perceived as dominating the music lesson over practical work, they reported enjoying music less (e.g., quotations 7i, 7ii, 7iii).
‘(We should do) less writing and use the instruments more.’ (Ic, School 3)
Singing
Interesting perspectives about singing in secondary school emerged. Singing seemed to play a significant role in pupils’ lives (e.g., quotations 18ii, 18iii, 18iv). About half of the pupils interviewed mentioned their desire to sing both in school and outside school (e.g., quotations 19, 20i, 20ii, 22i, 22ii). Some expressed disappointment about singing opportunities in secondary school (e.g., quotations 18i, 21) or about lack of singing compared to primary school where it formed, in some primary schools, a significant part of pupils’ musical and social identity. This point is illustrated by pupils in School 3:
‘You start when you’re in reception, because you learn the ABC song and you’re singing that all the time and then you just gradually learn more songs. Singing was an important part of our lives. Even in the playground our games would have something to do with singing. It was just like you could go with the flow. It was a relaxing time. It was and now we’re all like ‘homework’. It kind of joined us together, like the whole school. . . and we would all sing in groups, so it wasn’t very embarrassing.’ (Ic, School 3)
However, a small number of pupils (3 boys) disliked singing in class quoting reasons including singing not being a ‘manly’ activity and feeling embarrassed to sing in front of their friends in class.
Performing and Composing
Part of pupils’ overarching desire to be musically involved at the beginning of Year 7 was their participation in performing and composing activities. These pupils were willing to perform a musical piece to others in class (e.g., quotations 28, 29) or outside of the class (e.g., quotations 26ii, 26iii) after a period of practice (e.g., quotation 25).
‘I like performing – e.g., doing riffs, and giving feedback and advice to one another.’ (IIb, School 5).
‘(I like) performing in the hub in front of the whole school.’ (IIa, School 6)
When well-organised opportunities to perform were available, pupils reported higher levels of satisfaction for their music lessons in the school. However, in School 4, for example, pupils seemed less satisfied with music during the second phase of the project (e.g., quotation 27) possibly due to the school closing down the following year with negative repercussions to staff morale, enthusiasm and overall music provision.
‘I am disappointed with music – there is not enough time to practise, no performing.’ (IIb, School 4).
Similarly, when composing activities were actively encouraged in the school, pupils talked with enthusiasm about the creativity, imagination and freedom that such music making activities can generate (e.g., quotations 31iii, 31v, 32ii, 33i, 33ii, 35ii, 35iii, 37ii).
‘. . . I enjoy it more because you can be a bit more creative.’ (Ic, School 1)
‘We compose our own music – I love the freedom.’ (Ic, School 6)
‘We made up music and I enjoyed it – because your mind can just go free.’ (IIb, School 5)
In particular, pupils talked highly about their involvement in a series of progressive composing activities that culminate in a larger musical product as was the case in School 6 despite the perceived challenges that this kind of ‘project work’ entailed:
‘We made a movie of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – in groups, we put the music in the background.’ (Ic, School 6)
‘Our project work is challenging but we can do it.’ (IIc, School 6)
Playing a variety of instruments
A key factor that seemed to influence how satisfied pupils were with practical work was whether opportunities to play the available musical instruments were built into their music lessons in an organised and structured way. At the very start of secondary school, all pupils interviewed expressed their excitement and enthusiasm about music in the new school mainly because of bigger spaces, the variety of available instruments and the music technology resources. They all reported looking forward to making good use of these facilities. Subsequent interviews during Year 7 revealed pupils’ increased satisfaction with music when they were given the chance to make good use of the available instruments. Three approaches to instrument use were observed which led to differential levels of satisfaction.
Firstly, when pupils had the chance to only play the keyboard during Year 7, they reported the least satisfaction, especially when keyboard work was limited (e.g., quotations 46i, 46ii, 46iii, 46iv, 46v, 48ii, 50i, 51iv, 52iii, 52iv).
‘We don’t really do a lot of work on the keyboards.’ (Ib, School 3)
‘We’ve only been on the keyboard once I think. . . but it was fun.’ (Ib, School 3)
‘I find written work and notes really boring. We don’t play on the keyboards much.’ (Ic, School 3)
Secondly, pupils from Schools 2 and 4 in particular, enjoyed the keyboard work they did in the classroom but expressed disappointment about not using other available instruments, such as drums and guitar (e.g., quotations for School 4: 47, 59i, 62i, 62ii, 62iii, 62iv).
‘We only did the piano, not drums or guitar.’ (IIc, School 4)
In School 2, pupils were disappointed with only being allowed on the drums ‘as a treat for completing the work’ (51i) after the main keyboard work (51ii) or because some instruments that were available were not used (51iii). Amongst participating pupils when there was a variety of musical instruments available and pupils could make good use of these in the classroom, there was a heightened sense of satisfaction and achievement among the pupils that were interviewed (e.g., quotations 49i, 49ii, 54, 55i, 55ii, 55iii, 57i, 57ii, 57iii, 60ii, 61i, 61ii, 61iii, 61iv, 64i, 64ii, 64iii).
‘Since I’ve played bass, I love the instrument and my ambition in life is to become a professional bassist. She’ll become a singer.’ (Ic, School 5)
‘Before I could only play the guitar, but when I came here I could play the drums, piano and guitar.’ (IIc, School 6)
‘I play the harp and it’s special.’ (IIc, School 6)
Group work, different types of music and choice
In addition to making good use of a variety of instruments, pupils talked about their desire to be engaged in group work by forming bands preferably in friendship groups, and communicating musically by playing music to each other. When this was actively encouraged, pupils reported higher satisfaction with school music (e.g., quotations 70i, 72ii, 72iv, 72v, 77, 78i).
‘We work as a group, playing drums, guitars and then perform it.’ (Ic, School 5)
Furthermore, a desire was expressed among the pupils interviewed for more ‘modern’ and ‘up-to-date’ songs to form part of their school music curriculum (e.g., quotations 81, 83i, 83ii, 84, 85, 88).
‘I would like to do more up-to-date songs and listen to different types of music instead of just a little bit of classical and little warm ups.’ (Ib, School 3)
Last but not least, pupils talked of their desire to be given an element of choice regarding aspects of their musical involvement as far as choice of instruments or types of music were concerned. In School 6, for instance, pupils were excited about a perceived element of choice that they felt was available to them (e.g., quotations 92, 93i, 93ii).
‘You have a choice. . . I am excited about the choices for Year 8.’ (Ic, School 6)
Perceived Learning and Progression
Pupils also talked about a sense of learning and progression that needed to be tightly linked to their musical involvement. It was not just the fun aspect of their music lessons that they were keen to experience, but also the feeling of making good progress in learning. Comments about learning and progression were made by a number of pupils especially during the first interviewing phase. There was a perceived need for appropriately differentiated tasks (e.g., quotations 103, 105), for making good progress in music inside and outside of the classroom (e.g., quotations 100, 101ii, 102iii, 106i, 106ii, 107i, 107ii, 112i, 112ii, 111ii) and ‘spending more time’ in order to go into more depth ‘on more important modules’ (e.g., quotations 108i, 108ii, 109).
‘. . . spending more time instead of just doing it briefly.’ (Ic, School 1)
‘. . . to try and get better at what you can already do.’ (Ia, School 2)
Teachers
Teachers were perceived to play an important role in determining pupils’ levels of satisfaction with school music. Pupils appreciated their ‘great, proper teachers’ that make the lesson ‘fun’, are ‘relaxed’, offer clear guidance and appropriate support. When pupils perceived their teachers as having the aforementioned characteristics, they were happier with their music lessons (e.g., quotations 113i, 113ii, 115i, 115ii, 116, 118, 119i, 119ii, 119iii, 126i, 126ii, 126iii, 126iv).
‘The teacher now is much happier. She helps you if you’re stuck.’ (Ic, School 5)
However, pupil comments showed that when there was insufficient guidance, lack of clarity in instructions and low levels of support in practical work, pupils reported lower levels of satisfaction (e.g., quotations 122, 123i, 123ii, 124i, 124ii, 125).
‘We just get sent off with a piece of paper and have to do the rhythms but we don’t really get it explained.’ (Ib, School 3)
‘It’s the kind of teachers that teach it, they don’t explain it properly, they don’t set it out properly.’ (IIb, School 1)
Questionnaire findings on attitudes to music
A series of repeated measures Analysis of Variance tests revealed some statistically significant differences in pupils’ attitudes to music from the end of Year 6 (last year in primary school) to the end of Year 7 (first year in secondary school). When all schools are considered together, results indicated that attitudes became more positive between Year 6 and the beginning of Year 7 (non-significant change) but less positive by the end of the year (Table 5 and Figure 2, p<.01). This indicates that pupils felt more positive about music during the first term of Year 7, but these positive attitudes declined as the year progressed.
For the ‘good practice’ Schools 1 and 2, attitudes to music fell from the end of Year 6 to the end of Year 7 with a significant decline in School 2. For School 3 (the third ‘good practice’ school), pupil attitudes to music presented a non-significant increase at the beginning of Year 7 but then fell again by the end of the year. However, in School 4 (‘need to improve’ school), attitudes to music increased considerably at the beginning of Year 7 but then showed a statistically significant decline at the end of Year 7. Attitudes stayed stable in School 5 and presented a non-significant increase in School 6 from the end of Year 6 to the end of Year 7.
When the two sub-scales are considered separately, pupils seem to like music less from the end of Year 6 to the end of Year 7 as a small but significant (p < .05) decline in their attitudes can be observed (Table 6). Their attitudes to making music remain stable during this time (Table 7).
Discussion and Conclusion
The exploration of pupils’ thoughts and feelings about music at the start of secondary school led to the emergence of nine themes which helped depict these pupils’ perceptions about the value they attribute to their musical school experiences. At the end of primary school, all pupils expressed enthusiasm and positive anticipation about music in their new school regardless of the quality and breadth of their musical life in primary school which has been found to vary considerably even across neighbouring schools (Hallam et al., Reference HALLAM, CREECH, RINTA and SHAVE2009).
Nevertheless, all pupils were impressed with the bigger spaces that the music department occupied in their new school and they anticipated that this together with the impressive array of available instruments and the subject specialism of their prospective music teachers, would result in them experiencing very interesting and engaging music lessons. This enthusiasm from pupils permeated all interviews at the beginning of both phases. Subsequent interviews explored the nature of pupils’ musical involvement and revealed a number of defining components of their musical experience that, when present, seem to make their music lessons more satisfying and enjoyable. Firstly, pupils were eager to be actively involved in practical work in the classroom where performing, composing, singing, playing a variety of instruments, making music in groups and getting familiarised with different types of music were perceived as essential elements. Secondly, an element of choice regarding the content and nature of pupils’ musical involvement was perceived as being important. The teacher was considered to be the key determinant of pupils’ musical experiences as he/she would set the musical tasks to the right level for all pupils to make appropriate progress. Experiencing a sense of progression was seen as the mediating factor between being musically involved and reporting full musical enjoyment. Concerns about pupils’ limited musical improvement, challenge and enjoyment because of insufficient emphasis on active music-making and the use of inaccurate or unmusical assessment methods have been raised in recent Ofsted reports (2009, 2012).
A further cross-phase and cross-school comparison revealed similarities but also some differences between schools in terms of the extent to which pupils felt that their musical needs were satisfactorily met. Even though it was not the purpose of the study to determine which schools teach music better, some instances of pupils’ experiences can help exemplify further the context in which the pupils reported higher or lower satisfaction regarding their music lessons in secondary school. Pupils in Schools 1 and 3, for example, expressed the desire to sing more and pupils in Schools 2 and 3 would have enjoyed using the available instruments more effectively within the classroom. A range of performing and extra-curricular musical opportunities were appreciated in Schools 1 and 4 and all pupils expressed enthusiasm about having the chance to make up their own music in school. Pupils in School 5 were disappointed with their new teacher who was not perceived as being so enthusiastic and offering as many opportunities for musical involvement as their previous one.
Pupils in school 6, however, reported the highest satisfaction about music in their school in comparison to the rest of the pupils interviewed. It was interesting that all of the elements that have been found in this study to lead to pupils’ enhanced satisfaction in music, have been reported as forming part of pupils’ everyday musical experiences in school 6. Pupils in this school felt that there were ample opportunities for singing, composing, playing a range of instruments, practising and performing in groups, and making good progress in a supportive and appropriately differentiated way where an element of choice was encouraged by the teacher. These qualitative findings are also supported by the attitudinal questionnaire findings which showed that pupils’ initial positive attitudes to music declined as the year progressed, particularly regarding their appreciation of music as a subject. Despite this overall decline, attitudes to music presented an upward trend in School 6 from the end of Year 6 to the end of Year 7.
Some background information will shed light on the perceived success of this school regarding its musical provision. School 6 is a Musical Futures (MF) champion school whose pedagogical approach is based on the premise that pupils learn best and enjoy music more when informal out-of-school musical experiences are adapted and effectively used in the music classroom (Green, Reference GREEN2008; D'Amore, Reference D'AMORE2009). A case study investigation of seven MF champion schools identified a range of positive outcomes for pupils (Hallam, Creech & McQueen, Reference HALLAM, CREECH and MCQUEEN2011). Among these were pupils’ increased motivation in music, their improved ability to set targets and identify areas of development, and a belief that the ability to be musical was something that can be developed rather than being based on innate talent. The implementation of the Musical Futures programme also led to an increase of music uptake at Key Stage 4. Studies by Gower (Reference GOWER2012), Wright (Reference WRIGHT2008) and Cabedo-Mas & Dίaz-Gόmez (Reference CABEDO-MAS and DIAZ-GOMEZ2013) offered support for the use of such informal pedagogical principles in the music classroom but Gower also highlighted some of the barriers that schools might face in taking on such initiatives because of the increasing pressure for schools to meet rigid targets in a climate of league tables and school accountability.
This study further supports the fundamental principles of MF which are based on the underlying principle that pupils learn best and are more engaged in music when informal learning approaches are introduced into the more formal context of schools (Green, Reference GREEN2008) where pupils have choice, take control of their learning, make music with friends and perform to others (Hallam, Creech & McQueen, Reference HALLAM, CREECH and MCQUEEN2011). The significance of active music making has been highlighted by leading music educators who argued that ‘peer group initiated musical experimentation’ allied to critical reflection and discussion (Welch & Adams, Reference WELCH and ADAMS2003) and room for ‘social sharing’, choice and ownership (Swanwick, Reference SWANWICK, Philpott and Spruce2012) can enrich pupils’ musical understanding. The findings of this study, such as pupils’ desire to extend their repertoire to more familiar and popular types of music, to make music with their friends in groups, to be able to exercise an element of choice in their music making, to be able to use the available instruments effectively to perform and compose music in a comfortable and supportive environment are well-aligned with some of these MF principles. The present study thus confirms the importance of these aspects of provision in musical learning in the lower secondary school.
Listening to these pupils’ voice helped to illuminate their views on the elements that make their musical involvement in school at the beginning of Year 7 enjoyable and satisfying. Overall, very positive experiences were heard as pupils shared some of these musical experiences. However, it is worrying that negative perceptions of music were also heard, especially when the same pupils were very enthusiastic and excited about music at the end of primary school. These considerations lead to the hypothesis that some pupils feel disillusioned and can become more disengaged with music at the end of their first year in secondary school. As the questionnaire findings showed, overall school attitudes presented a general falling trend for four of the six schools with a significant decline in attitudes for all schools taken together in the first phase of the project. Overall, children seemed to like music less at the start of secondary school. However, due to the sampling limitations mentioned earlier, these findings need to be interpreted with caution.
This hypothesis needs to be further explored in a systematic way. If it is found that pupils’ attitudes drop as they start secondary school, this can have important implications for their subsequent musical development, their interest in music as a school subject and their lifelong engagement with music. Lamont and Maton (Reference LAMONT and MATON2008), for instance, attempted to explain the low uptake of music at GCSE level and found that the longer pupils are at school, the more likely are they to view music as being of less significance compared to other school subjects and as an ‘elite code where achievement depends upon both possessing specialist knowledge and being the right kind of knower’ (p. 267). Temmerman (Reference TEMMERMAN1993) highlighted the lasting influence of school music experiences on people's lives and the importance for teachers to engage pupils in practical music activities in order for school music experiences to be perceived in favourable terms. The role of the music teacher as a key figure in the teaching and learning process has also been emphasized by Cabedo-Mas and Dίaz-Gόmez (Reference CABEDO-MAS and DIAZ-GOMEZ2013) who argued that participatory musical activity can help pupils experience improved interpersonal and social relationships. The quality of the teacher-pupil relationship during transition and in the first few years of secondary school can influence children's behavioural engagement with school more generally (Benyon, Reference BENYON1985; Ferguson & Fraser, Reference FERGUSON and FRASER1998, Midgley, Feldlaufer & Eccles, Reference MIDGLEY, FELDLAUFER and ECCLES1988; Smith, Reference SMITH2006).
The importance of the music teacher in supporting pupils’ active musical involvement giving clear guidance and an element of choice to the pupils has been highlighted in this study. Increasing opportunities for input, choice and decision making have been identified in the literature as enhancing an individual's perceived autonomy which, together with relatedness, can provide the most likely route to the enhancement of a student's quality of life during the transition to secondary school (Gillison, Standage & Skevington, Reference GILLISON, STANDAGE and SKEVINGTON2008; Symonds & Hargreaves, Reference SYMONDS and HARGREAVES2014). Music as a subject is in a privileged position to enhance pupils’ sense of relatedness through carefully planned groupwork and encourage autonomous work where pupils can develop their sense of agency and independence. In this sense and when taught effectively, music in the secondary school could equip pupils with appropriate strategies that could help them cope better with the academic and social changes that accompany the transition process (Qualter et al., Reference QUALTER, WHITELEY, HUTCHINSON and POPE2007).
Although this is a small-scale study in terms of sample size, the quality and richness of the qualitative data adds an important perspective, building on and supporting previously published research. The results provide the basis for a useful debate about particular issues relevant to pupils’ musical participation at the beginning of secondary school. Here, the notion of relatability (see Bassey, Reference BASSEY2001) is of relevance for teachers. While they may find that their circumstances vary from those described in this study, they are likely to find parallels with their situation. To that extent, they can relate these findings to their own experiences and carefully consider both the quality of pupils’ transition and the importance of engaging pupils in music at the start of secondary school. This critical outlook to teachers’ own practice can lead to a conscious consideration of their pedagogical beliefs and principles and assist in overcoming possible practical constraints in putting into practice desired curriculum elements (Cain, 2007, in McQueen and Hallam, Reference MCQUEEN, HALLAM, Hallam and Creech2010). Developing partnerships with a network of music teachers and working collaboratively with professional musicians and instrumental teachers is one way forward in encouraging teachers to employ a larger range of musical exploration avenues in the music classroom.
Acknowledgements
This project would not have been possible without the financial and continued support of the Nuffield Foundation which has been very much appreciated.
The Nuffield Foundation is an endowed charitable trust that aims to improve social well-being in the widest sense. It funds research and innovation in education and social policy and also works to build capacity in education, science and social science research. The Nuffield Foundation has funded this project, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation. More information is available at www.nuffieldfoundation.org.
Appendix
Figure 2: Pupils’ Attitudes to Music (July 2011, November 2012, July 2012) *‘good practice’ schools
Table 1. Focus-group interviews with Year 7 pupils in Phase I and Phase II
Table 2. Liking music scale
Table 3. Making music scale
Table 4. Pupil voice about music in school during Year 7 – Categories of description
Table 5. Pupils’ Attitudes to Music (July 2011, November 2012, July 2012)
Table 6. Liking Music sub-scale (July 2011, November 2012, July 2012)
Table 7. Making Music sub-scale (July 2011, November 2012, July 2012)
