Ian Shirley is Senior Lecturer in Primary Music Education at Edge Hill University. He is a regular tutor at Sing for Pleasure courses and co-editor of the magazine Primary Music Today.
Sounding Off:
Questions, questions, questions...
My own introduction to music education was, at best, brief, despite completing a B.Ed with music specialism, back in what was regarded as the golden age of child-centred pedagogy - the pre-national curriculum days of the 1980s. One might have thought that a music specialism would immerse me in the pedagogy of music education, fully equipping me to go into schools with the complete confidence to promote musical learning.
Not so...the course focused wholly on the development of my own musical skills and the music education component was reduced to a single module of rather dull and formulaic provision. My learning here has, as far as I can recall, had no influence on my practice. My pedagogy is one which has emerged over twenty years, having explored both formal methods and creative musical exploration. I have enjoyed the Paynteresque explorations of Sound and Silence, I have engaged in whole class teaching, now embodied in Wider Opportunities, I have completed the Voices Foundation 5-day course and I'm a Sing for Pleasure tutor when the occasion demands. I value the principles of a Kodaly based education, yet I also enjoy the free-flowing opportunities of creative musical exploration.
The point is, as one rather lonely and isolated teacher, it is difficult to make sense of all this and realise it in any rationalised form of practice. Certainly, as a teacher of young children the following words of Paynter seem so attractive, in defence of a pedagogy that values children’s creative music making:
'Composition (I prefer to call it `making up music') is the most natural thing in the world. The only stimulus it requires is the opportunity and encouragement to do it. It is quite simply through `doing the art' that not only do we learn about the nature of music itself thereby achieving understanding of what more experienced musicians have been able to do but also we use and develop, in many subtle ways, our powers of judgement, the confidence to take decisions, and the courage to stand by those decisions.' (Paynter, 2002)
Attractive, but are they enough to really transform pupils into thinking, feeling, and acting musicians, who engage in a community with other musicians, playing music which has some resonance with the music they love out of school? So what about a pedagogy that develops through singing, or through whole class instrumental learning, or though musical instruction? Each seems to have a place and perhaps I want it all.
And there is the dilemma: I'm not sure there’s time to have it all. I'm not certain there is time for creative play, which I value so much in the development of making up and performing music, and conversely for formal instruction: for the development of musical literacy (whatever that may be) and the application of informal learning pedagogies, which I value completely. So if there isn't time for all of it, which should I settle for? And do each of these approaches offer enough to satisfy the requirements of the National Curriculum, which actually I value?
There is also the question as to who teaches music in the primary school? Is it the humble class teacher - who may know little about music but understands the children very well? Is it the visiting specialist - who has all the expertise but knows little of the children, and who is unable to maintain interest in the days in between visits? Is it the unqualified class room assistant - dedicated people, but without the skills of either the teacher or the specialist? And what about all the projects and initiatives in music education? Certainly they bring a wealth of opportunity right now, but are they sustainable? Will they still be there in three or five year’s time? Will they have a legacy? Will they impact upon children's identity as musicians? What happens when they disappear? What are the long term plans for the future of music education?
To all of these questions I have no answer, and in each case I understand only something of the issue concerned. I wholly support the view that a Kodaly based approach supports children's ability for audiation; I absolutely value Dalcroze's view that musicality develops through the physical embodiment of music; I value children's experimentation of musical timbre and pattern as advocated by the proponents of Orff. I also utterly value the vision of teachers such as John Paynter who understand that there is more to music education than the simple depositing of musical knowledge and the emergence of musical skill - important though this is.
SO ..... perhaps there is no definitive answer? Does it even matter what music education looks like if children's identity and self-efficacy for music are being enhanced in a positive way. All I feel empowered to do is to raise questions and challenge the situation as I see it. I can only learn by listening and inviting others to share their views and opinions about how primary education could be.
Ian Shirley is a TTRB (Teacher Training Resource Bank) reviewer. Read his TTRB reviews.
Comments
Are we preparing our workforce correctly?
I invite colleagues to visit www.menet.info, follow the links to the " Learning Outcomes" page, have a read and ponder whether the skills here should be incorporated into our standards?