A curriculum and progression framework for music

March 2014

© 13 March 2014, Dr Alison Daubney and the ISM

Contents Page

1. Introduction 3

2. Educational aims 3

3. The importance of Music in the curriculum – 4

4. The aims of the music curriculum 5

5. The importance of pedagogy 7

6. Progression and a progression framework 13

The draft progression framework 14

7. Approaches to assessment 17

Appendix 1: Glossary 22

Appendix 2: References 22

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1. Introduction

A new curriculum comes in to force from September 2014.

Working with SoundCity, the award-winning music education hub in Brighton and Hove, the ISM Education Special Interest Group, and the wider music education profession from teachers through to professors, we have produced this framework document as a starting point to help schools plan their new curriculum, help hubs support schools and develop their own curriculum, and help young people to progress musically in and out of school.

It is based upon a shared overarching philosophy of the value of musical learning and a set of agreed holistic aims.

It is designed with flexibility in mind in order to be successfully adapted to create appropriately challenging learning opportunities which are locally appropriate and take into account musical learning and participation in all settings both in and out of school. This framework is not about recommending any particular teaching styles or strategies; there is clearly a great deal of strength in being adaptable in this regard.

We hope that you will find it useful in your setting to help us to better understand, value and develop young people’s musical experiences and learning from all parts of their lives.

2. Educational aims

The curriculum framework and progression framework aims are:

to excite and inspire all young people, hooking them into musical learning; to provide well-structured, relevant and progressive musical learning which brings

together and builds upon young people’s musical experiences in and out of school;

to provide a balance of structure and freedom which encourages all young people to grow as musicians, developing their own musical identities and interests;

to provide broad experiences which support musical engagement and study at higher levels;

to promote creativity, creative exploration and imagination; to support positive and appropriately challenging musical learning experiences and

pathways for all young people; to develop young people’s use of music technology in creative, imaginative and

worthwhile ways; to enable learners to develop a strong sense of community and their own cultural

identity; to establish a set of assessment principles which are essentially musical; to continually signpost appropriate local, regional and national opportunities for

young people to follow their own pathways and progression routes; to enable pupils to progress to GCSE and other further qualifications to engender a lifelong love of music.

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3. The importance of Music in the curriculum

‘Music is within us all. It is the one evolutionary vestige common to making which needs nurturing and developing throughout life. Every individual has the ability to create sound, to recreate sound and to be affected by sound. From cradle to grave, access to a high quality music education should be provided in order for all people, regardless of race, creed or gender, to enjoy, learn and develop through engagement with music.’

Music Education Policy, August 2009

Music is unique. Music plays a central role in all human societies and cultures. Music affects every community and ‘all humans, including infants, possess basic musical skills’i,ii,iii.

The numerous benefits of a music education – both through its intrinsic value and as additional benefits realised through its extrinsic impacts are well researchediv and well known and should be recognised in every educational setting, from the home to the classroom.

Music’s place in the national and school curriculums is therefore critical.

Schools are expected to deliver a music education to their pupils. The Henley Review of Music Education in England (Henley Feb 2011)v, which led to the National Plan for Music Education states that ‘music’s place as a National Curriculum subject [is] of paramount importance … There is a strong sense that the statutory requirement of being included in the National Curriculum provides a basis for all other music provision in and out of school.

The National Plan for Music Education (DfE, Nov 2011)vi in England sets out an expectation for a good school music curriculum to be in place.

Ofsted’s recognition of the importance of music can be found in their triennial review of music educationvii. The ISM produced documents to help head teachers and senior leaders in schools understand the Ofsted report on music education hubs to help schools understand what they are now expected to deliverviii as part of the National Plan.

In discussing the importance of music in the curriculum and its significance for schools, we have not even touched on the economic significance of music. One of the only elements of the UK economy to grow in recent years and worth over £3.5 billion a year to the UK economyix, the music profession is growing and flourishing. Students need to understand it.

Music is at the heart of our society and should be at the heart of every school, every setting and every curriculum.

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4. The aims of the music curriculum

This curriculum framework seeks to help all young people to develop the knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes in order for them to develop as creative and imaginative musicians, exploring the many pathways which are open to them across the City now and in the future.

The text is guided by Paynter’s (1982, Introduction)x principle that:

‘Classroom music is the core activity and extra-curricular music should develop from here.’

It is these fundamental principles of inclusion and progression which guide this document.

We aspire to offer all young people a worthwhile, relevant and inspiring musical education that both meets with and challenges their aspirations, interests and ambitions, building upon their prior experiences and opening up new creative opportunities. At all stages, we want to encourage young people to think and act as musicians. In line with Paynter’s (1982, Introduction) guiding principle, ‘Making Music is more important than musical information’, it is essentially practical and musical in nature. This curriculum framework encourages practitioners to plan exciting and accessible experiences which are fundamentally musical, helping young people to learn about music and critically engage with music through their first-hand experiences of being a musician and making music.

Throughout all stages, it is built around the requirements laid out in the National Plan for Music Education (DfE, 2011) xi, which impacts upon all schools, and the National Curriculum. For young people at all stages of music, an holistic approach to music education is encouraged, based around the following integrated approach:

 

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Through the integration of these key processes, at all levels, young people will:

be excited by, inspired by and curious about music and sound; develop subject specific and transferable musical skills, knowledge and understanding

through first-hand experience of music; develop independently and collaboratively as a musician; exploring, creating and re-

creating music on a wide variety of musical instruments, vocal techniques and ICT; acknowledge and build upon personal musical experiences and influences from within

and beyond the school environment; collaborate with others in purposeful, creative and expressive ways, within and

beyond the subject boundaries; make individual and collaborative decisions creatively and intelligently through all

aspects of their music making in order to generate outcomes that are original, valuable and musical;

explore ways in which music can be influenced by and combined with other art forms and forms of expression;

engage with interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary practice within the arts; take risks within a structured framework which promotes curiosity, musical learning

and creative exploration; continually develop a sense of personal, national and global identity through

experiencing and exploring music from a wide range of genres, styles, traditions, cultures and historical periods.

be excited by learning with and from a wide range of music and musicians; use music to explore links between home, school, the wider community and the rest

of the their world. communicate and explore how experiences, ideas, thoughts, feelings, values,

meanings and emotions are expressed through music, using sound, spoken language, other forms of personal expression and a range of notations as and when appropriate;

use all of these influence and experiences this to inform their judgements, process and analysis of and their own and others’ work;

be able to justify creative decisions through musical demonstration and discussion/persuasion;

share their work with a range of audiences through appropriate means; transfer knowledge, skills and understanding to new learning situations; recognise suitable local, regional and national pathways for developing their

aspirations beyond the music classroom as appropriate; be aware of the roles of music and musicians in society and be mindful of issues of

ownership.

At all stages, the music curriculum and progression framework aims to offer pupils learning experiences which acknowledge, consolidate and build upon their learning experiences from within and outside school. A structured yet flexible learning framework, built upon thinking and acting as a musician, provides young people with opportunities to develop, skills, knowledge and understanding in creative and imaginative ways. It is essential that musical learning and progression are considered and carefully planned at all stages in order to promote successful outcomes and maintain a safe and nurturing environment where pupils feel able to take creative risks and explore their thoughts, feelings and emotions.

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5. The importance of pedagogy

‘There can be no real curriculum development without teacher development.’ Stenhouse, (1975: p208)xii

The music curriculum and the variety of pedagogies employed should be viewed as developing, not static; different classes, year groups, groups and individuals will vary and the musical learning journey they take individually and collectively evolves over time. One of the most exciting things about learning is that it is not always linear and there are many different tangents along the way that should be embraced and explored. As practitioners, we engage in professional enquiry; we are always reflecting upon our work and young people’s learning - what we could do to enrich musical learning even further - all reasons why curriculum and pedagogies evolve over time.

Essentially, this music curriculum framework is about ‘learning through doing’ – i.e. learning about music through getting inside music by ‘being a musician’. At all stages, a wide range of pedagogic approaches should be employed to flexibly encourage young people to develop as creative, confident, capable and motivated musicians who develop the habits, attitudes and traits of effective learners (Claxton,2002)xiii. In order to model these behaviours, it is clearly important that teachers and practitioners consider themselves as lifelong learners who are aspiring musicians and part of the musical community.

This curriculum development is integral to the models of partnership working promoted across Music Education Hubs. As Gregory et al. (2009: Abstract)xiv report:

Practitioners learn best from each other in a partnership environment, where learning is informed by exploration in practice and where risk-taking is encouraged.

When professional practitioners and learners share equal status in a ‘creative partnership’, it develops teamwork, respect and mutual support.

Where arts and science specialisms are shared and exchanged on common themes, fundamental re-thinking can take place, which consequently informs individual artistic practice.

These same principles of learning communities, where practitioners and young people learn from each other, underpin the approaches to music education advocated through this curriculum framework. We recognise that young people learn in many different ways and in many different environments – this diversity should be celebrated.

It should be the aim of every hub to professionally support and develop the diverse range of practitioners who work across the hub, in and out of schools. Workforce development is therefore vital for us to all explore and value a wide range of pedagogic approaches that value and nurture learners’ experiences from inside and outside the classroom, providing plentiful opportunities for exploration and discovery learning and thus promoting imagination and creativity.

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A rich and diverse range of pedagogic approaches, ranging from the didactic to discovery learning opportunities, are required throughout all stages of musical learning. Whilst it is important that creativity and choice of direction are promoted, recognition needs also to be given to the importance of skill development and the ‘connections’ between different aspects of musical knowledge skill and understanding. These connections may be immediately apparent to an adult, but it is clear that this is not always recognised by learners (Fautley, 2014)xv. It is also essential that practitioners know the young people they are working with – their preferences, strengths, prior experiences and challenges, for example, in order to be able to provide appropriate personalised learning which guides and supports meaningful learning opportunities that provide access for all learners.

‘It is not a matter of just allowing children to do anything. It is a matter of presenting to the children situations which offer new problems, problems that

follow on from one another. You need a mixture of direction and freedom.’ Piaget, in Burman (2008:161)xvi

Whilst it is certainly the case that a wide variety of pedagogic approaches are desirable and that the role and approach of practitioners is varied and flexible, it is also the case that musical learning and progression should be planned for, not just hoped for.

Modelling and scaffolding are often key to this, whilst leaving plentiful scope for learners to explore and try out their own ideas within defined musical contexts. Using sound-based ways of capturing the musical process helps to instil reflective practises for practitioners and young people, as well as providing a meaningful evidence base demonstrating progress over time and creating a musical profile for and with all young people (see section 7 on Assessment). In all stages of learning, encouraging young people to bring their musical experiences into the classroom is most desirable – for example, to use instruments they learn or play for classroom situations; to give them a degree of choice over listening material at certain points in the school day etc.

Young children often purposefully make creative decisions at a very young age and are creative risk-takers, curious to explore and develop their sound world. They are also inventive musicians, increasingly able to revise, refine and communicate material with creative intent (Barrett, 2005)xvii. They sit on the swings in the park, singing songs they know and replacing words or phrases; they play clapping games and skipping games with friends, they dance and wriggle to music, and play games such as Just Dance, Rock Band or Sing Star on their games machines just for fun (Glover, 2000xviii; Daubney & Mackrill, 2012)xix. It is not, therefore the case, that they only ‘know about’ music from being ‘taught’ - quite the opposite; many children have sophisticated musical knowledge, skills and understanding which is initially honed in their early life experiences in the home and beyond. It is therefore the job of formal and non-formal education to encourage and develop these creative habits and traits, not to shut them down.

Young people need to be encouraged to explore and represent their experiences, feelings and ideas. Practitioners should encourage these through a variety of approaches – experimenting, doodling, playing, rehearsing, practicing, listening etc. Yet, it is equally important that young people communicate through other means, for example, movement, talking, discussing, questioning, visual arts. Through providing a rich mix of individual

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and collective musical learning opportunities, young people are able to acknowledge and embrace musical expression, purposeful participation and to explore, communicate and develop individual and collective musical identities.

Embracing Le Blanc’s (1991)xx theory of ‘open earedness’, which suggests that young children are very open to hearing a wide range of musical styles and genres, music education offer learners opportunities to explore and make connections with music from a broad range of musical stimuli from their own and other cultures, as well as different genres, traditions and historical periods, as appropriate to the stage of learning, the relevance at that time and to that learning situation. The musical education which this framework strives to support and encourage aims to provide and over-arching structure for musical learning in which ‘learning about’ music will come from ‘musical learning’ as a first-hand experience, i.e. from the inside out. It is a balance between using music and influences which young people are familiar with and introducing them to new influences and music by helping them to understand the relevance and connections. As Fautley (2014) has highlighted, compartmentalising music into 6 week blocks of learning ‘about’ a topic (e.g. samba, followed by African, followed by Reggae) frequently does not help to develop their musical skills, knowledge and understanding over time and often young people cannot see the connections or the relevance.

Examples that you might consider might be developed around skill building; over a series of lessons, young people might learn Samba rhythms, the patterns of speech in rap or African drumming patterns whilst exploring rhythm, but also understand the connections between the music and also, as appropriate, explore the cultural, social and historical context of music to help them better understand the music as a musician. In another example, learning about melodic intervals, or recognising and drawing the ‘shape’ of music in the air whilst engaging with the sounds, should extend naturally from having had that first-hand experience as a musician, not as a theoretical exercise. In these ways, theoretical aspects of music, technical language and notations are understood within a meaningful context, not as remote concepts which bear no relationship to music and sound.

In schools where ‘learning journeys’ (sometimes called ‘creative curriculum planning’ or ‘topic based work’) are the norm, it is often possible to purposefully develop musical knowledge, skills and understanding through using music in ways which both enriches, and is enriched by, the learning within the topic or theme, because the context is better understood.

‘The arts are increasingly seen as a way of joining up the curriculum and making it meaningful to young people. Through the arts children express their feelings, thoughts and responses. The arts have the potential to stimulate open-ended

activity which encourages discovery, exploration, experimentation and invention.’ Duffy (2006 xvi)xxi

A word of warning, however; whilst music might sometimes be used as a ‘vehicle’ to support learning in other areas (for example, to memorise the parts of the water cycle, or to provide a soundscape for a particular scene in a book during a literacy lesson), the knowledge, skills and understanding entrenched in musical learning need to be properly

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planned and for sufficient and regular time to be allocated which has a clear focus on musical learning.

Exploration of a range of musical instruments (melodic and percussive), learners’ own voices, sounds in their environment and other ways of producing and manipulating sounds should also be explored and developed. Whilst parameters and guidelines may be useful sometimes, offering young people the freedom to explore individually and collectively and playing musical ‘games’ which offer them opportunities to take improvise, creative risks and to stamp their ownership on their music are very important. In formal educational settings, young people often think they are seeking the ‘right’ answer; our job as educators is to find ways to give permission for and to encourage exploration, individuality and creative risk taking.

‘When students believe the text possesses a single correct meaning, it is not difficult to understand why they would regard their task as discovering the correct one…being smart means being right, and being right means knowing the answer

to questions posed. Such an attitude toward understanding does little to promote intellectual values that celebrate multiple perspectives, judgements, risk taking,

speculation and interpretation. Visual images, music, dance, and other non-literal forms can invite modes of thinking that reflect the foregoing values. When

everything is specified, the need to interpret is diminished.’ Eisner (1994, 71)xxii

Marsh’s extensive work on children’s musical play (for example, 2010,2011, 2013)xxiii clearly demonstrate the need for formal and non-formal educational experiences to encourage these creative practices, describing how effectively children operate ‘as musicians’ in informal situations such as the playground and other ‘play’ situations.

Deliberate practice (Ericsson, Crampe & Tesch-Romer, 1993)xxiv has an important role to play in skill development. McPherson, Davidson & Faulkner’s (2012)xxv longitudinal study clearly shows that good quality practice is linked to ‘stickability’ – children who practice a musical instrument, even for only a few minutes a day, are more likely to continue playing. This is clearly linked to self-determination (Deci and Ryan, 1985)xxvi, and helps promote an identity of ‘being a musician’. Providing opportunities and strategies for rehearsal and practice are important, even during lessons. For example, when singing a song as a class, you may stop and practice small parts such as the first note, the diction, a difficult passage in the chorus, in order to improve the musical quality. Such examples of ‘practice’ help to model this concept, as well as improving the quality of the music.

Through multiple informal and formal opportunities, young people should develop the confidence and skills to rehearse and perform in a variety of situations, working effectively as a musician as part of a team. Performing opportunities as ‘work in progress’ during lessons provide excellent opportunities for assessment for learning, allowing learners to have the opportunity to reflect upon success, areas for development and have an opportunity to progress their work further. Thus regular ‘mini plenary’ opportunities throughout individual lessons are a crucial pedagogic approach at all stages of learning.

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Being part of an audience is also important, experiencing music for different purposes and in different settings. For very young children, this might mean realising that you should probably sit quietly and listen when others in the class are performing, and to applaud at the end. You should remember, though, that music is a mood-setter; there are many ways in which music is used in schools, for example when children come into assembly. It is perhaps not realistic (or desirable) that they should sit in absolute silence and not move their bodies to upbeat, happy sounding music and there are also many situations where it may be desirable to actively engage with and respond to music, even when part of an audience.

As they progress, young people’s musical representation are likely to change from imitating and adapting known sounds to producing music which is increasingly sophisticated, individual, and assimilating a wider range of influences. This will be further encouraged through a balance of self-discovery which builds upon young people’s own motivations and preferences, and teacher-guided work which offers new yet relevant experiences. This will encourage learning at a deeper level than would be simply acquired through maturation.

Indeed, musical experiences in formal and non-formal settings are characterised by opportunities for active and experiential learning in which young people are engaged in doing something musical, whether self-generated or in response to direction. This hands-on, experiential learning promotes active and purposeful engagement and provides a framework for learners to increasing take responsibility for their learning. Ownership is crucial to success and thus pedagogic approaches should seek to promote this. Practitioners need to work out when and how to appropriately intervene with the musical process, and, wherever possible, encourage young people to suggest for themselves how to develop and improve their work. Thus, strategies such as planned questioning and asking questions / setting tasks which promote high order thinking are a fundamental part of a teachers’ armoury.

Progressively, the curriculum and pedagogies employed need to recognise increasing levels of maturity and development of skills, knowledge and understanding gained from previous study and from musical lives developing outside of the classroom, drawing upon past experiences, as well as managing expectations and offering new and relevant experiences. It is worth remembering that a child’s world is often turned upside down when they go to secondary school; the structures of the school day, the relationships with teachers, new friendships all play a part in getting used to this new life. Daubney and Mackrill (2013xxvii) have produced a help sheet to assist schools and teachers to do the best they can for the wide range of pupils from many different schools who join together when starting secondary school.

If provided with appropriately planned opportunities, young people draw upon an ever-increasing range of stimuli from music and other areas of their lives, to become increasingly more imaginative and skilful in their musical making and musical responses. Musical identity is particularly important to adolescents as a ‘badge of identity’ (Tarrant et al., 2000)xxviii.

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‘In today’s world, deciding what music to listen to is a significant part of deciding and announcing to people not just who you ‘want to be’…but who you are.’

Cook (1998:6)xxix

Thus, the music curriculum should be constructed around having tangible relevance to learning experiences considered by young people to be valuable and authentic and which allow them appropriate opportunities for self-expression and self-directed learning. At different stages, this authenticity will also involve digital exploration. The curriculum needs to be constructed and delivered in such as way that young people are able to increasingly develop their own areas of interest whilst balancing this against broadening their awareness and excitement of new musical influences.

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6. Progression in music

Progression in music is not universally linear. Whilst a broad musical progression framework is offered as part of this curriculum framework, it is intended to be adapted to individual settings in order to be suitable yet challenging for the young people in that particular learning community.

The framework attempts to show possible progression over a period of time, in order to help practitioners to plan inspiring and worthwhile musical experiences for learners, and to have an understanding of how to help learners progress musically in a variety of ways.

It is based upon classroom experiences of practitioners across Soundcity: Brighton and Hove music education hub and whilst reasonably comprehensive, there may be musical progression routes which are perfectly legitimate yet not considered in depth within this framework. That is not a problem; this is your framework to adapt to your setting as you see fit. It should also be considered in relation to the Music Progression Roundtable’s work (Sandbrook, 2013)xxx.

The progression framework is based upon:

thinking and acting as a musician in a range of situations, taking on different roles;

developing imaginative, innovative, creative and increasingly personal responses which explore and communicate thoughts and feelings;

increasingly honed musical skills (including vocal and instrumental) and a developing degree of technical accuracy, fluency, control and expression and musicality;

the ability to communicate ideas effectively and musically; exploring and responding to music in a variety of creative ways, e.g. through

movement, drama, visual arts, discussion, questioning; developing confidence, enthusiasm and a sense of achievement; growing independence in the refinement and development of ideas and personal

outcomes; engagement with and experimentation with music from a widening range of

genres, styles, traditions, cultures and historical periods; developing an increasingly sophisticated working knowledge of vocabulary which is

relevant to the context; exploring personal and collective identities; developing meaningful use of relevant notations; critical engagement in relation to own and others’ music and ideas; opportunities to explore music and increasingly specialise / follow bespoke

pathways, aspirations and influences.

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Progression frameworks

In all stages of learning and at all levels, musical development should be considered, planned for and assessed holistically. This framework is most certainly not about atomising the statements and ‘assessing’ against them individually. Progression is considered to be an ‘individual’s journey’ – it is about enriching musical lives with experiences and learning opportunities which firmly places the learner at the centre and helps them to recognise and direct their musical learning journey.

As this document has tried to make clear, progression is not linear and it is also multi-faceted, bringing in aspects of musical lives from within and beyond the classroom. If we are serious about helping young people to recognise, celebrate and plan musical progression, we need to think about and incorporate the diverse opportunities within which music education takes place in order to do this.

As Sandbrook (2013)xxxi states, ‘informed collaboration is essential’. The following tables bring together the ideas of a wide range of professionals from within and beyond SoundCity: Brighton and Hove Music Education Hub.

These tables are constructed in order to assist practitioners in all settings to recognise and plan for musical progression. They are designed to be used holistically and adapted to suit local needs.

Warning

These tables must not be used to sub-level or level pupils as was previously understood by the National Curriculum.

Whilst we are not qualified to talk for other subjects, in music, sub-leveling has been singled out by educators, academics and Ofsted as being particularly counter-productive and damaging to a high quality music education.

The level of concern is sufficiently high to warrant this explicit health warning: senior management in schools must not sub-level progress in music.

6. Music – Progression Framework

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Acting as a Musician - Singing, playing, making and exploring

Examples for children in reception classes Examples for children across Key Stage 1 Enjoy singing, playing, trying out and changing sounds, explore sounds and

music through play Explore the ‘sound world’ in and out of the classroom. Play and sing spontaneously, for example when listening to stories and adding

sound effects/soundscape and playing games Play, sing, chant and use their voices expressively; learn new material;

rehearse/ explore/develop known material. Learn new material (songs, poems etc.) and rehearse / perform Recognise and broadly control changes in timbre, tempo, pitch and dynamics

when playing instruments and vocally. Contribute to performances of simple material and own music from memory,

exploring a range of given and chosen instruments (including, but not limited to, pitched and non-pitched percussion, body percussion) and vocally.

Follow and offer simple musical instructions and actions. Develop greater control of sounds when playing and singing Keep a steady pulse with some accuracy, e.g. through tapping, clapping,

marching, playing (develop ‘internalising’ skills) Listen to ideas from others, taking turns as appropriate to the context, e.g.

passing around instruments, sharing, listening to others playing/singing/sharing ideas.

Show awareness of the audience when performing.

Enjoy making, playing, changing and combining sounds; try out different ways of producing sounds with voice, musical instruments, simple music technology, ‘body sounds’ (tapping, clicking, marching, stamping etc.),

Explore sounds and music through play Sing and play with expression, from memory and using simple notations as appropriate. Sing new repertoire increasingly in tune within a limited pitch range. Pitch small intervals with a

good degree of accuracy. Join in and stop as appropriate. Contribute to performances on a range of given and chosen instruments (including but not limited

to pitched and non-pitched percussion) and vocally. Follow and lead simple performance directions, demonstrating understanding of these through

movement, singing and playing (including, but not limited to, dynamics and tempo, starting and stopping, adhering to ‘starts and stops’ -i.e. sound and silence). Pupils could suggest and try out their own ideas.

Perform appropriate material with good sense of pulse and rhythm. Develop ability to internalise a steady pulse –e.g. ‘sing’ short extracts ‘in your head’. Demonstrate awareness of self and others, recognise the importance of their own and others’

contribution to performances, rehearsals and when developing music. e.g. by playing quieter if the ‘soloist’ needs to be heard; blending voice with others, not

interrupting solos; responding to musical cues.

Freely explore using own voice, a range of musical instruments, sounds and music technology to discover and enjoy playing with, manipulating and combining sounds

Respond with simple musical suggestions to a range of given and chosen stimuli

Explore ways in which sounds can be made and changed and use these in own responses to given or chosen stimuli, e.g.

Musically represent different soundscapes and moods. Recognise and demonstrate how changes can be made Choose and order sounds to achieve a particular musical purpose (e.g. a mood

or effect)

Creatively experiment with different ways to produce and change sounds. Use a range of given and chosen stimuli, use own voice, musical instruments and music

technology to discover and enjoy playing with and combining sounds to creatively represent intended purposes and for exploratory purposes. (i.e. ‘inter-related dimensions of music’, as described NC).

Create, repeat, adapt and extend simple rhythmic and melodic patterns and words as appropriate to given or chosen stimuli/ in play contexts.

Provide musical responses to stimuli with creativity and intentionality. Explore ways in which changes can be made, selecting and rejecting musical ideas in different

contexts. Demonstrate awareness of the basic organisation of musical ideas within own creative responses. Confidently organise ideas into simple structures which suit a particular contexts.

6. Music – Progression Framework

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Thinking as a musician

Examples for children in reception classes Examples for children across Key Stage 1 Listen and respond to a variety of live and recorded music through joining in

and through movement, by making simple statements and observations about the music, and through other sound-based and other creative responses (e.g. drawing, colouring, talking, acting, dancing, waving scarves)

Develop an internal sound bank, for example explore how different musical instruments look, sound and feel. Respond to music and sounds heard, for example by miming the way musical instruments are played and joining in spontaneously when listening

Express thoughts and feelings about music using appropriate communication vehicles, for example, playing, singing, verbal or sign language, movement, other art forms such as drama, drawing.

Recognise own work and that of others within the musical context – e.g. as part of an audience, applaud; as a performer, acknowledge the audience; take turns.

Demonstrate understanding of how sounds are made and changed within a specific musical context, for example high and low pitch, loud and quiet dynamics, fast and slow tempo, pulse, rhythm, names of a limited range of pitched and non-pitched percussion), use creative responses such as mark making, movement, playing, singing etc. as ways into talking about music.

Make and listen to recordings of own voice, other classroom sounds, musical instruments etc. Comment upon / respond when listened back.

Listen with increased concentration, responding appropriately to a variety of live and recorded music, making statements and observations about the music and through movement, sound-based and other creative responses.

Be perceptive to changes in music, different experiences of music and different sounds and finding ways to communicate ideas, e.g. miming sounds of instruments heard, moving in response to music / changes

Express thoughts and feelings about music through simple musical demonstration, language, movement and other art forms, giving simple justifications of reasons for responses.

Musically demonstrate increased understanding and use of basic musical features as appropriate related to a specific music context (for example, graduation of sound – getting louder, softer, higher, lower, faster, slower, describe the quality of sounds and how they are made, combined etc. and names of common classroom instruments), supported by verbal explanation, pictures, movements etc. as appropriate.

Find ways to explain / demonstrate (e.g. speech, drawing, movement) how music makes you feel; have opinions about music

Make basic comments and suggestions about own and others’ work; Demonstrate understanding of the differences between pulse and rhythm through physical

movement, playing, singing.

Recognise how physical objects, shapes etc. represent sounds; interpret these in own ways.

Suggest symbols to represent sounds (e.g. a large foot for the Daddy bear, small foot for baby bear)

Make physical movements that represent sounds (e.g. move like a snake, an elephant, grow like a tree in response to music).

Aurally recognise the sounds of a small range of classroom instruments (e.g. identifying the sound of a triangle with eyes shut)

Begin to recognise and musically demonstrate awareness of a link between shape and pitch using graphic notations

Begin to recognise rhythmic patterns found in speech, e.g. saying / chanting names, counting syllables in names etc.

Aurally identify, recognise, respond to and and use musically (as appropriate) basic symbols (standard and invented), including rhythms from standard Western notation (e.g. crotchets, quavers), within a short structures and basic changes in pitch (e.g. a see-saw of sounds on two different pitches).

Respond to and represent sounds and symbols through music, movement, other art forms, spoken language.

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7. Approaches to assessment

‘Assessment is not a bolt-on activity or something to be done at the end of an activity, but is integral to teaching and learning.’

Hickman (2007:77)xxxii

There is no doubt that assessment in music education has, to some extent, been a ‘thorn in it’s side’ for some years. Fautley (2010xxxiii, 2014bxxxiv) has written extensively on assessment and the diverse communities (e.g. pupils, teachers, parents, departments, schools, ‘the system’) that it needs to satisfy. Whilst each school will have its’ own assessment systems in place which you need to manage, the assessment examined here mostly deals with using assessment to support and promote young people’s musical learning. It is clear from Ofsted (2012, 2013) that whole school assessment systems across all subjects do not usually work for Music. So, whilst being mindful of the systems expected, there are opportunities with this new National Curriculum coming into place, to suggest alternatives which you think may be more suitable for Music as a subject in your school or setting.

In thinking about the purpose of assessment, the learners need to be a top priority. In other words, a big part of your job is to help them develop as a musician. This is best done through regular formative ‘feed-forward’ opportunities that naturally occur as part of a learning process, and also as timely interventions from you, them and other pupils and musicians. In order to drive musical learning forward and make if relevant for all pupils, this type of bespoke and targeted ‘assessment’ is crucial.

Partly in order to satisfy the requirements of the ‘system’ and partly to help young people build a sonic music portfolio, evidence of musical learning and progression should be gathered as part of the musical process and at natural ‘end points’ or ‘junctions’. As advocated repeatedly by Ofsted (e.g. 2012, 2013) this evidence should be gathered in musical (sound / audio visual) ways from a broad range of learning situations and from across the whole school year, adhering to the holistic approach advocated throughout this entire framework. This, in essence, encourages all young people to build up a sound-based musical profile of their development as a musician over time.

There is no requirement from the National Curriculum or from Ofsted to formally ‘level’ or ‘grade’ pupils during a school year, which means that the learning process does not need to be interrupted by artificial ‘assessment’ lessons or tasks. That is not to say that working towards something ‘of value’ is not important – it is. As adults, we often think that the process is more important than the outcome. For young people, the outcome is often the motivating factor that keeps them going during the process. The outcome in music can be a variety of different things, for example, a recording, a performance etc. but it is often important for young people to know what they are heading for and, wherever possible for this to be authentic and have relevance / currency in their world. This does not mean that units of work need to end with an ‘assessment lesson’, in fact we are advocating that this is highly unnecessary; allowing the musical process to develop more naturally will likely receive higher quality outcomes which meet pupil aspirations

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and ambitions, as well as encouraging then to recognise for themselves the learning journey.

‘Genuinely musical assessment is a key to effective education.’ According to Swanwick (1999, reprint 2012: page 61)xxxv

When used meaningfully and purposefully, assessment contributes significantly to musical learning and progression. In particular, well scaffolded formative assessment helps young people to reflect upon the learning process and to recognise where they are, to consider the range of possibilities available and to plan out their next steps. Practitioners should intervene only when appropriate and try to do so in ways which encourage and scaffold young people to consider for themselves the broad range of possibilities (Daubney, 2008)xxxvi. Teachers should also employ modelling and demonstration to scaffold learning but leave open opportunities for learners to explore creatively and imaginatively.

This kind of intervention and role relies on teachers using appropriate questioning and probing techniques in order to guide learners holistically towards a range of successful outcomes, leaving ownership with the young person or group (Fautley, 2014). Using a variety of communication processes is useful and desirable for young people to get their ideas across, for example musical sound, movement, speech, other art forms.

A similarly broad range of techniques should be used in order to encourage young people to express their thoughts, feelings, emotions and views in relation to music.

Teachers should always be mindful that even their informal utterances to learners may be taken as informal assessments in the minds of learners: Swanwick (1999: 62)xxxvii reminds us that “assessing in everyday situations is often informal, intuitive”. For teachers and practitioners, listening to learners talking and discussing together, sketching out ideas and rehearsing, provides insightful evidence of their thinking, misconceptions and learning processes. This recognises that the process of learning is as valuable as the end product. The difficulty is that teachers frequently discredit this kind of intuitive ‘assessment’ because it is often not visible to others and does not ‘measure’ anything concrete. It is, in this sense, abstract from how teachers often perceive that they are ‘expected’ to evidence learning.

With the disapplication of ‘levels of attainment’ which were embedded in the previous National Curriculum, there is an opportunity for assessment of music to become much more ‘musical’.

Within the framework suggested here, the following are key principles of genuinely musical assessment which we seek to promote.

Evidence of musical progress across time should be recorded and ownership of this should remain with the young person. This should be sound based (audio and/or audio visual). Ofsted have been advocating this approach for many years and it is also specifically

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mentioned in the National Plan for Music Education (DfE, 2011). For example, you might just audio/ video snapshots of groups working each week or fortnightly and use all of these to demonstrate progress over time.

In order to make this happen, a suitable and large virtual ‘filing system’ is required, such as Sound Cloud.

Wherever possible, develop success criteria and an appropriate progression scaffold with young people, not for them. This should be bespoke for every unit of work, not using generic criteria across a whole year or key stage. This will help young people to recognise that there are a range of creative possibilities available to them in order to decide for themselves what works well in particular situations. The tables in section 6 of this document aims to help you develop success criteria for specific work, whilst being mindful of the possible ‘bigger picture’ of musical progression over time.

Use regular opportunities for the whole musical community (i.e. you as a musician, the pupils and other musicians) to critically engage with the musical process in order to take stock, recognise the learning journey, set specific musical targets and identify next steps, all of which will move their learning and musical development on. This may be within lessons/ session and also across a longer period of time. For example, lessons may include a ‘mini plenary’ where exemplar work in progress or from another class is used to refocus attention and generate ideas. Another way in which target setting is used could be at the beginning of a lesson which has an ongoing piece of work being undertaken (as in some ‘Musical Futures’ style lessons).

Musical development and progression should be considered across a wide range of work. This could bring in musical learning and development from outside the classroom too in order to make proper connections between a young person’s musical life in and out of school and help them to build upon and celebrate their musical identity. In the longer term, building this culture may help to overcome some of the negative feelings about musical ability which are harboured by some young musicians who feel that they can’t ‘do’ music in school despite being very accomplished outside of the classroom.

In other words, teachers should not be made to make regular ‘judgements’ for school reporting systems which do require teachers to undertake mindless ‘progress’ updates against pre-defined targets, which, as already demonstrated, are cited as poor practice by Ofsted (2009xxxviii, 2012, 2013b)

Any ‘record’ keeping’ needs to be both manageable and useful; practitioners may wish to focus on just a few young people in each session and keep notes and/or recordings about what they hear / see. Of course, autonomy and ownership are enhanced through young people being totally invested in the process themselves, making recordings, setting targets etc. so this should also be encouraged as much as possible.

Ultimately, well-planned lessons, sessions and series of lessons, which have clearly defined desirable (yet flexible) outcomes, objectives routes and goals which are

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appropriately differentiated for the young people in a learning situation, are essential for helping young people develop as well-rounded musicians. In other words, specifically targeting learning to the particular learners is essential for everyone to feel successful and appropriately challenged.

Judging ‘starting points’ and establishing ‘baselines’

As already discussed above, it is genuinely musical assessment which will help practitioners to establish baselines / work out what young people are currently able to do, know and understand about music. Yet, much of this only has real relevance in relation to musical sound. For example, trying to find out what young people can do musically, what they know and understand and have experienced cannot be adequately established from a ‘test’ or a questionnaire. It is a matter of working with young people as a musician, playing alongside, observing them as a musician trying out different musical challenges and setting up opportunities for them to show you what they can do. In other words, if you want to establish a ‘baseline’, this is most definitely done through a wide range of practical approaches. There is of course value in asking young people what they have done but often they forget or focus on events such as concerts.

So, you know they sing. But do you know if they can pitch well? Do you know if they can hold a harmony part? You need to know them as a musician. This is the kind of ‘musical’ information that you need in order to work out the next steps in their musical learning journey and to make your music curriculum exciting, relevant and challenging.

The bottom line here is that you need to get to know you pupils well as soon as possible; You could consider starting off with a series of different practical workshops will help you to establish a realistic idea of what pupils can do and what their past experiences have been, attempting to gauge the musical experience and potential of young people on a variety of situations in which success does not have a ‘glass ceiling’ and really encourages and motivates them to be creative and take risks.

School assessment structures – how will this work?

Within the structure of the new curriculum, it is clear that there is a great deal of opportunity for creating new assessment systems that are built around formative feedback and comment, rather than driven my often meaningless and arbitrary sub-levels. There is plenty of advice on ways to embed formative comment throughout this document and also on the Musical Futures website and Martin Fautley’s blog about how this might be embedded into the culture of a music classroom. This principal is equally valid in many settings, and is something hubs may want to consider revisiting for the variety of non-formal opportunities they offer and also within First Access programmes and instrumental tuition.

Beyond this, though, at this point in time it is unclear what individual schools will expect in terms of reporting and assessment. We have studied the guidance issued by the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and suggest that, using the progression

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framework as a guideline, schools plot the learning they expect over the course of a year. This could be individual, i.e. focussing on ‘progression’ for individuals (i.e. setting targets for short and medium term) rather than assessment against a pre-defined set of generic criteria which may not be relevant in all settings and all young people.

On an ongoing basis, qualitative comments, self and peer evaluation, should support these judgments and to help identify possible next steps and targets. As in the examples of good practice in the NAHT report, pupils should contribute to making these judgments, writing reports and setting targets. This is in line with the work on meaningful formative assessment which underpins Black and Wiliam’s (2001)xxxix seminal work in this field.

We suggest that periodic reporting to the ‘system’ is only carried out at particular fixed points (e.g. end of reception, end of year 2, end of year 4, end of year 9, although in reality schools are unlikely to accept this less than annually). Against each set of criteria on an appropriately differentiated assessment scaffold decided on by the school (i.e. not individual statements), teachers and pupils should identify progress that has been made and, from this wide body of evidence, pupils should be designated as either:

Working Towards Working At Working Beyond

Ideally, teachers will award one judgement holistically, recognising the integrated nature of musical learning. In essence, this was the aim of the original ‘level descriptors’, which then became morphed into an inappropriate and somewhat system of sub-levelling which gets in the way of musical learning (Ofsted, 2012).

This really is the opportunity to seize the moment and bring musical assessment back into being an important aspect of promoting and nurturing musical learning.

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Appendix 1: Glossary

To be completed

This will aim to help non-specialist teachers understand terms such as musical dimensions, pitch, dynamics, formative assessment, assessment for learning etc...

Appendix 2: References and End Notes

i Prenatal development and the phylogeny and ontology of music, R Parncutt in S Hallam, I Cross & M Thaut (Eds), The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology, 219-234. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009 ii We are musical, G Welch, International Journal of Music Education, 23(2), 117-120, 2005 iii The Music one-to-one project: Developing approaches to music with parents and under two-year-olds, S Young, A Street & E Davies, European Each Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(2), 253 – 267 2007 iv The Power of Music, Professor Sue Hallam v Henley D, Henley Review of Music Education in England, 7 February 2011 vi Department for Education, National Plan for Music Education, 25 November 2011 vii Ofsted, Triennial Review of Music Education, 2 March 2012 viii Ofsted, Music Education Hubs, 15 November2013 ix UK Music, True Value of Music Industry to UK Economy Revealed, 16 December 2013 x Paynter, J. (1982) Music in the Secondary School Curriculum. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press xi Department for Education, National Plan for Music Education, 25 November 2011 xii Stenhouse LA, An introduction to Curriculum Research and Development, 1975 xiii Claxton, G. (2002) Building learning power. TLO, Bristol. xiv Gregory, S.; Fern, D;Catchpole, N. & Clements, S. (2009) MAP/Making: Creating new landscapes in music, art and performance. Reflective Conservatoire conference 2009. Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. xv Fautley 2014a – Listen, Imagine, Composer report xvi Burman, J.T. (2008) Experimenting in relation to Piaget: Education is a chaperoned process of adaption. Perspectives on Science, 16 (2), 160-195. xvii Barrett, M.S. (2005) ‘Representation, cognition, and communication: Invented notation in children’s musical communication’, in Miell,D, MacDonald, R, Hargreaves, D, (Eds). Musical communication Oxford University Press, Oxford. xviii Glover, J. (2000) Children Composing 4-14. Routledge Falmer: London. xix Daubney and Mackrill 2012 xx LeBlanc, A. (1991) Effect of maturation/aging on music listening preference: A review of the literature. Ninth National Symposium on Research in Music Behavior. Cannon Beach, Oregon, March 7–9. xxi Duffy, B. (2006) Supporting Creativity and Imagination in the Early Years: Second Edition, Open University Press. xxii Eisner, E. (1994) Cognition and curriculum reconsidered, 2nd Edition. Teacher’s College Press, Columbia University, New York & London. xxiii Marsh, K. (2013). Music in the lives of refugee and newly arrived immigrant children in Sydney, Australia. In Patricia Shehan Campbell and Trevor Wiggins (Eds.), The Oxford

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Handbook of Children’s Musical Cultures, (pp. 492-509). New York, USA: Oxford University Press. Marsh, K. (2011). Meaning-making through musical play: cultural psychology of the playground. In Margaret S. Barrett (Eds.), A Cultural Psychology of Music Education, (pp. 41-60). UK: Oxford University Press. Marsh, K. (2010), Children's Playground Games and Songs in the New Media Age. xxiv Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T. & Tesch-Roemer, C. (1993) The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100, 363-406. xxv McPherson, G. E., Davidson, J.W. and Faulkner, R. (2012) Music in Our Lives, Rethinking Musical Ability, Development and Identity. OUP, Oxford. xxvi Deci, E.L., and Ryan, R.M. (1985) Intrinsic motivation and self determination in human behaviour. Plenum Press, New York. xxvii Daubney and Mackrill 2012, paper at www.ism.org/nationalcurriculum xxviii Tarrant, M. North, A. & Hargreaves, D.J. (2000) English and American adolescents’ reasons for listening to music. Psychology of music, 28, 166-173. xxix Cook, N. (1998) Music: A Very Short Introduction. OUP, Oxford. xxx Sandbrook (2013) Supporting all children’s musical progression. Materials online at http://www.bensandbrook.com/supporting-all-childrens-musical-progression . Accessed on 25/1/2014. xxxi Sandbrook (2013) Supporting all children’s musical progression. Materials online at http://www.bensandbrook.com/supporting-all-childrens-musical-progression . Accessed on 25/1/2014. xxxii Hickman, R (2007) (In defence of) whippet-fancying and other vices: RE-evaluating assessment in art and design’ .In Rayment, T (ed) The problem of Assessment in Art and Design. Intellect Books UK NSEAD xxxiii Fautley, M. (2010) Assessment in Music Education. OUP, Oxford xxxiv Fautley , M. (2014b) Think piece from Music Expo xxxv Swanwick, K. (1999) Teaching music musically. Routledge, London. xxxvi Daubney, A (2008). Teaching styles in music composing lessons in the lower secondary school. PhD thesis, University of Surrey, U.K. xxxvii Swanwick, K. (1999) Teaching music musically. Routledge, London. xxxviii Ofsted (2009) Triennial Review of Music Education, Making more of music: an evaluation of music in schools 2005–08. xxxix Black and Wiliam (2001) Inside the Black Box: raising standards through classroom assessment.