Jonathan Savage

Reconstructing Music Education through ICT

Today’s students have not just changed incrementally from those of the past, nor simply changed their slang, clothes, body adornments, or styles, as has happened between generations previously. A really big discontinuity has taken place. One might even call it a singularity, an event which changes things so fundamentally that there is absolutely no going back. This so-called singularity is the arrival and rapid dissemination of digital technology in the last decades of the twentieth century. [Prensky, 2001, p. 1, his italics]

Working Towards a Theory for Music Technologies in the Classroom: How Pupils Engage with and Organise Sounds with New Technologies.

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in schools is now commonplace and, for many, an unquestionable part of everyday teaching and learning. But detailed studies of the use of ICT in classroom-based music education are rare. This article explores how pupils aged between 11 and 16 used ICT to create and perform music in new ways. Working as a teacher-researcher, the author used the methodologies of action research and case study to investigate how pupils engage with and organise sounds with ICT.

A survey of ICT usage across English secondary schools

The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is a statutory component of the Key Stages 2 and 3 National Curricula in the UK. This research presents findings from a national survey of the availability and usage of ICT in music classrooms within English secondary schools. It also examined a range of issues related to the training and continuing professional development opportunities that teachers utilised to develop their skills in this area. Key findings from the research show that music education is dominated by conservative uses of ICT that reinforce traditional subject content. Rigorous strategies for the sharing of knowledge in this area are needed if wider impact is to be made on the delivery of music curriculum that exploits the broader potential of ICT to widen access and provide students with an inclusive and personalised curriculum.

Sound2Picture: developing compositional pedagogies from the sound designer's world

Sound2Picture (www.sound2picture.net) is the latest stage in a series of research and development projects being conducted at Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). It documents the work of one sound designer who demonstrated a host of new skills and imaginative practices with hardware and software. The article shares aspects of this work through case study and considers the implications for the work of music educators.

Assessment of composing in the lower secondary school in the English National Curriculum

This article reports the results of research into teachers’ practices concerning the assessment of composing at Key Stage 3 in the National Curriculum for Music in England. It finds that many teachers are using NC levels for assessing individual pieces of work, a process for which they were never intended. It also finds that teachers find it difficult to show progress using NC levels, and that many teachers have rewritten the levels into child-friendly language, thus causing further difficulties.

Assessment for learning and teaching in secondary schools

Assessment is central to teaching and learning, yet is one of the most difficult areas of professional practice. This book guides trainee secondary teachers through its complexities and provides practical strategies, exemplified by case studies. It examines issues such as diagnosing problems, sharing learning objectives, assessment as a tool for motivation, effective planning, using evidence to adapt teaching, peer and self assessment, learning through dialogue and understanding formative assessment. Targeted specifically at trainees, this text links explicitly to the new QTS Standards, and its tasks provide opportunities for reflection and for practising the range of skills involved in assessing pupils.

Viewpoints Informal Approaches to the Development of Young People's Composition Skills

This short article introduces a current research project investigating authentic models of composition in popular music. I hope that, as a result of presenting the design and intentions here, readers might reflect on the issues raised and respond via these ‘Viewpoints’ pages or directly to me. I believe that through dialogue the research, and the application of its findings (as a CDROM classroom resource), will be more rigorous and illuminating. There is an increasingly significant body of research relating to how children compose within the classroom and the perceived educational benefits that it brings:

The guided reader to teaching and learning music

The Guided Reader to Teaching and Learning Music draws on extracts from the published work of some of the most influential education writers to provide insight, guidance and clarity about key issues affecting Music teachers. The book brings together key extracts from classic and contemporary writing and contextualises these in both theoretical and practical terms. The extracts are accompanied by a summary of the key ideas and issues raised, questions to promote discussion and reflective practice, and annotated further reading lists to extend thinking.

Teaching contemporary themes in secondary education : technology, culture and communication

The media has a huge impact on how we view society and the world and new technologies continue to transform the way in which we work and learn. It is therefore essential that young people can engage critically in their consumption of media and the internet and are able to make informed decisions about the technologies they use. This book provides explores the broad contexts and ideas that technology facilitates in our culture and considers what this means for teachers in practice.

Teaching Secondary Music

Designed to support teachers in developing new strategies and pedagogies for teaching music, and for teacher education students requiring a comprehensive overview of the subject Teaching Secondary Music provides a modern and accessible of key issues in music education at secondary level. Focusing on the nature of musical understanding and how to facilitate and assess musical progress, the editors bring together a team of experienced music educators leading the programme of support for the new secondary curriculum. Supported with practical examples, case studies and resources exploring effective practice, Teaching Secondary Music covers the key concepts and approaches which underpin good practice in secondary music education.