Janet Mills

Teachers' beliefs about effective instrumental teaching in schools and higher education

What makes instrumental teaching, including vocal teaching, effective? And is this the same in schools and in higher education (HE), including conservatoires? We asked 134 local education authority (LEA) instrumental teachers to state what they believe makes good teaching in schools and in HE, and to list the strengths and weaknesses of the teaching that they recall receiving as students. We found that many teachers believe that good teaching in schools differs from good teaching in HE. There are differences in the beliefs held by teachers with and without qualified teacher status (QTS), and also in those of men and women. Many teachers report that their teaching is influenced by the ways that they were taught, and the ‘peak’ lessons that teachers received often appear particularly influential. We explain the steps we have taken to enable LEAs to apply the findings when planning professional development for their teachers, and suggest further applications.

Taking the plunge: The hopes and fears of students as they begin music college

The attitudes and experiences of 13 music students entering a conservatoire were tracked before their entry and throughout their first term at college. Aspirations and apprehensions towards the musical, academic and social aspects of college life were collected in addition to career aims, and the data analysed qualitatively to produce emergent themes. Three pivot points were drawn from the analysis, describing events or factors that appear to shape the developmentofthestudentsasmusicians.Thefirsthighlightstheimportanceofthestudents’ first performance at college, and the second focuses on overcoming possible feelings of inadequacy generated from being one of many outstanding musicians. Thirdly, the role of feedback is highlighted as an important part of the students becoming confident in all aspects of their musical work.

Working in music: the conservatoire professor

This article describes an innovative approach to analysing, describing and evaluating the careers of musicians, and applies it in the case of 37 ‘professors’, that is, instrumental teachers, working at a conservatoire in the UK. The professors emerge as flexible and committed musicians who enjoy teaching conservatoire students, and who nearly all feel that they benefit musically and personally from this work.

Music technology inspected: good teaching in Key Stage 3

How is information and communications technology (ICT) used to promote musical learning by pupils aged eleven to fourteen, i.e. pupils in Key Stage 3? Inspectors from the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) visited 52 schools in England, and inspected 161 Key Stage 3 music lessons that made some use of ICT. This article describes the characteristics of the good teaching found in 106 of those lessons, and discusses some issues concerning the use of ICT in classrooms.

Starting at secondary school

The quality of music teaching that pupils receive when they enter a new secondary school at the age of 11 years varies. The article considers the characteristics of unsuccessful and successful approaches to teaching in Year 7.

Music in the National Curriculum: The First Year

During the academic year 1992–93 HM Inspectors of Schools (HMI) inspected 1208 class music lessons in maintained schools in England. These included almost 400 lessons attended by pupils in their first, third or seventh year of statutory schooling, that is pupils to whom the National Curriculum applies. HMI found a wide range in the quality of the practice in both primary and secondary schools. However, the proportion of lessons which HMI judged to be satisfactory or better in at least one of three important dimensions was substantially higher in primary schools. Primary class teachers often under-rated the quality of their music teaching. Some principles for developing good practice were identified.

Working in Music: The Pianist.

We investigate the careers of 908 alumni of an international UK conservatoire, including 211 pianists. During the last five years, 82% of alumni worked only in music, and 7% only outside music. Women performed less and taught more. The tendency for pianists to perform less, and teach more, than other alumni has diminished. However, female pianists who graduated since 1990 have performed less than male pianists, particularly in recent years. The article adopts an approach that may be used to compare the careers of musicians graduating from conservatoires in different countries, and with different specialisms, and offers some benchmarks against which such comparisons may be made. Conservatoires that know the careers of their alumni, how these are changing with time, and how they compare with those of other institutions, may adjust their curriculum to support their future alumni—or use it to influence the shape of future alumnis careers.

The inter-reflexive possibilities of dual observations: An account from and through experience

In this article, we explore the methodological possibilities of dual observation and ‘inter‐reflexive’ interpretation as we have experienced this in a longitudinal ethnographic case study of music teaching and learning in an English Cathedral Choir School. Our intent here is to understand the ways in which our particular historical, social and cultural perspectives lead us to partial yet complementary sensings, seeings, hearings and feelings in this setting, and the ramifications of this for the interpretations we bring to observational data, and the subsequent development of interpretive narrative accounts. Through an analysis of our respective narrative accounts of our first observational encounter in the research setting, and subsequent ‘inter‐reflexive’ interpretation, we seek to interrogate the ways in which a plausible, credible and believable narrative can be developed through the separate and joint analyses of storied reflexive observation.

Pitching it right? Selection and learning at a music conservatoire

This article focuses on an oversubscribed UK higher education music conservatoire that centres its selection procedures on individual performance auditions. In this mixed‐method study, centrally‐held assessment scores are used to show that A‐level music grades are a more effective predictor of final degree result than performance at audition. This context is then used to consider the learning of two students at the conservatoire who defy the expectations implied by the statistical results. Through six interviews with each student, their stories are probed through the lens of their trajectories of participation. Drawing on the notion of expansive and restrictive learning, the role that depth and breadth plays in learning to perform is unpacked, and it is suggested that both may be of central importance in shaping musical expertise. The authors discuss the results in terms of the specific challenges that the conservatoire faces in broadening its access, and consider the implications for learners of musical ...