FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Music Lotto Manifesto
According to a government report, known as Music Manifesto, the standard of school education in music across the United Kingdom is so varied as to be described as a 'postcode lottery'.
The details of this report go on to say that there are "pockets of excellence" around the country that the rest of the national education system should be using as a positive example to bring the nationwide standard up. Of course, this could be interpreted as an indication that the majority of local education authorities are failing in their duty to bring excellence in music education to the children of today. Hardly surprising, really, since funding for extra-curricula music activities such as the running of choirs and orchestras and the providing of one-to-one vocal and instrumental tuition for pupils in England and Wales seems to have continued be reduced over the past decade.
Certainly, when I was at school lessons in as many instruments as a pupil would want to play were provided free of charge to parents and many groups were organised by the music department after schools. But with the reduction in financial backing and the ever increasing demands on teachers, I'm afraid those days seem to be over. However, it is clear from the report that many teachers and LEA's continue to work hard to provide the best possible musical opportunities for every young person that comes through the school system and these groups and individuals should be congratulated for their outstanding work.
My personal experience of working as a peripatetic pianist / music teacher in primary schools around the Bradford area is that most schools continue to be grossly overstretched to the point that musical activities simply have to take a position of secondary importance. Too often I have visited schools where the teachers responsible for the class don't even know what it is the kids should be doing in their music lessons, let alone conduct the sessions, giving them a sense of structure and purpose. Infact, I have often been told by staff on duty that they have no idea what repertoire the regular teacher (usually a person brought in from outside to teach singing) works from and where in the school building the necessary resources are located. This is not a slur on these schools or the staff that work in them: simply a fact that is all to easy to observe - music is not treated as an important, serious academic subject because teachers and support staff really don't have the time or energy to bestow this status upon it, thanks to the numerous other pressures weighing down on them, for example in maintaining high standards in literacy and numeracy.
So, it is good that this report has come along to shine a light on the problems that schools are facing and to help them get the assistance they require from the relevant LEA. I hope that this initiative has a marked and notable effect on music education in our schools all year round, not just in National Music Week for Schools.
The details of this report go on to say that there are "pockets of excellence" around the country that the rest of the national education system should be using as a positive example to bring the nationwide standard up. Of course, this could be interpreted as an indication that the majority of local education authorities are failing in their duty to bring excellence in music education to the children of today. Hardly surprising, really, since funding for extra-curricula music activities such as the running of choirs and orchestras and the providing of one-to-one vocal and instrumental tuition for pupils in England and Wales seems to have continued be reduced over the past decade.
Certainly, when I was at school lessons in as many instruments as a pupil would want to play were provided free of charge to parents and many groups were organised by the music department after schools. But with the reduction in financial backing and the ever increasing demands on teachers, I'm afraid those days seem to be over. However, it is clear from the report that many teachers and LEA's continue to work hard to provide the best possible musical opportunities for every young person that comes through the school system and these groups and individuals should be congratulated for their outstanding work.
My personal experience of working as a peripatetic pianist / music teacher in primary schools around the Bradford area is that most schools continue to be grossly overstretched to the point that musical activities simply have to take a position of secondary importance. Too often I have visited schools where the teachers responsible for the class don't even know what it is the kids should be doing in their music lessons, let alone conduct the sessions, giving them a sense of structure and purpose. Infact, I have often been told by staff on duty that they have no idea what repertoire the regular teacher (usually a person brought in from outside to teach singing) works from and where in the school building the necessary resources are located. This is not a slur on these schools or the staff that work in them: simply a fact that is all to easy to observe - music is not treated as an important, serious academic subject because teachers and support staff really don't have the time or energy to bestow this status upon it, thanks to the numerous other pressures weighing down on them, for example in maintaining high standards in literacy and numeracy.
So, it is good that this report has come along to shine a light on the problems that schools are facing and to help them get the assistance they require from the relevant LEA. I hope that this initiative has a marked and notable effect on music education in our schools all year round, not just in National Music Week for Schools.
