Music and Education: A Topic that is Close to my Heart

Professor Qing Gu

A Personal Journey

• A music teacher who changed me

© Q Gu

Benefits of Music Education: Quick Facts (The Royal Conservatory, 2014)

© Q Gu

Added value: • broadened learning

and development opportunities

Experiences & Skills

Quality Music Education Makes a Difference

• Students in high quality music education programmes outperformed those in lower-quality programmes in standardised tests of English and mathematics.

(Gardiner et al., 1996; Johnson &

Memmott, 2006; Kelly, 2012)

© Q Gu

Evidence from Neuroscience

• Music is not a predictor, but a mediator:

– Lasting changes in children’s brains

– Increasing their cognitive capacity to perform tasks that require sustained attention and careful listening and reading

(Portowitz et al., 2009; Skoe &

Kraus, 2012; The Royal Conservatory, 2014)

© Q Gu

Music Education: A Privilege?

• Higher rate of participation and lower rate of attrition from high-SES students (Hoffman, 2013; Antmann,

2015)

• Music as Cultural Capital: Family background and socioeconomic status (Southgate & Roscigno, 2009)

© Q Gu

A BROAD CURRICULUM WITH WIDE-RANGING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUPILS

Freedom to lead: A study of outstanding primary school leadership in England (Matthews, Rea, Hill & Gu, 2014)

© Q Gu

Colmore Junior School

“The outstanding curriculum ensures that pupils excel across a wide range of subjects. It has been imaginatively organised to provide all pupils with specialist teaching in art, music and drama on one afternoon each week. … The school has also forged close links with organisations such as Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Birmingham Royal Ballet Company, to develop pupils’ artistic talents. There is a very wide range of clubs for pupils to join, including choir, samba band, cricket, netball and gardening club.”

(Ofsted report, 2007)

© Q Gu

Colmore Infant School

“The curriculum is full of diverse and exciting activities. Artists in residence, for example, help pupils to create beautiful works of art. Parents and carers are heavily involved in working with their children through events such as science week and ‘men behaving dadly’, where fathers and male carers join in practical activities. Partnership with the local junior school has allowed the appointment of a specialist music teacher, resulting in high standards of music across the school.”

(Ofsted report, 2011)

© Q Gu

THANK YOU

Qing.Gu@nottingham.ac.uk

© Q Gu

SFR 21/2015: ‘School Workforce in England: November 2014’. Issued 2 July 2015

Page 8 of 33

Figure 3: A slightly higher percentage of younger teachers work in primary schools

The distribution of teachers in primary and secondary state-

funded schools: England, 2014

3c Ethnicity of school staff

There has been a small decrease in the percentage of teachers recorded as White-British. In

2014, 87.5 per cent of teachers are White-British compared with 88.0 per cent in 2013.

87.5 per cent of teachers are White British.

Teachers from ‘Other White Background’ (3.6 per cent), White-Irish

(1.7 per cent), Indian (1.7 per cent) and Black Caribbean (1.0 per cent)

backgrounds are the next largest groups of teachers.

In comparison, in 2014, the percentage of head teachers recorded as

White-British is 93.7 per cent. A reduction from the position in 2013,

93.9 per cent.

School support staff have a similar ethnic breakdown of staff.

86.6 per cent of teaching assistants are recorded as White-British. This

is a small reduction compared with 2013 when 87.1 per cent were

recorded as White-British.

87.2 per cent of all non-classroom based school support staff are

recorded as White-British.

Between 2010 and 2015 there have been increases in the number of younger teachers and decreases in the number of older teachers. For example, the percentage of full-time equivalent teachers that are aged under 30 has increased from 23.0 per cent (in 2010) to 25.1 per cent (in 2015).

Issues

•Only 75% of classroom teachers who started in 2012 were still in post three years later.

•Fewer men now work in schools. Women now make up 73.8% of the workforce. But 18.5% of the men are SLTs

•3.1% of teachers in all primary/nursery schools do not have QTS; at secondary 5.9%. Free schools have the highest proportion of those without QTS (12.5% primary, 10.3% secondary).

Secondary School Music Workforce

6700

6800

6900

7000

7100

7200

7300

7400

2013 2014 2015

NumbersofClassroomMusicTeachers

Numbers of Classroom Music Teachers

2013 7,300

2014 7,100

2015 6,900

Hours Taught: Secondary Music

82000

83000

84000

85000

86000

87000

88000

89000

90000

91000

92000

2013 2014 2015

ClassroomMusichourstaughtY7-13

Total

2013 90,900

2014 88,600

2015 85,500

Music hours taught KS3

53.5

54

54.5

55

55.5

56

56.5

57

57.5

2013 2014 2015

KS3

Hours Taught Years 7-13

KS3

2013 57.2

2014 56.0

2015 54.9(1000’s)

Music hours taught KS4 and KS5

(1000’s)0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.05.56.06.57.07.58.08.59.09.5

10.010.511.011.512.012.513.013.514.014.515.015.516.016.517.017.518.018.519.019.520.020.521.0

2013 2014 2015

KS4&KS5

KS4 KS5 Linear(KS4) Linear(KS5)

KS4 KS5

2013 19.7 14.0

2014 19.2 13.5

2015 18.3 12.4

Questions

• Given this, what can hubs and music services do to strengthen relationships to help where there are ‘gaps’?

• What happens to extra-curricular music when the school music workforce is reducing?

• Do we worry about KS4 and KS5 take up rates?

• Do we worry about high quality music making in areas/regions/nationally?

Strut

Paul Brennan

Strong economy,

compassionate city

Percentage of pupils

that attend

Academies by LA

LeedsNorth Yorks

Our worry list…

Inclusion - exclusion

School closure & failure

Safeguarding

Cohesion & health

Budget

0

4

8

12

16

20

SEN

Secondary Primary

96003150

SEND Trend…

Leeds: Pupils with EAL in Reception

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

2000-01 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

EAL

9% 31%

713

3095

2013201220122011200920082007 2014

Social Emotional

Mental Health (SEMH)

In every classroom

in England & Wales

3 children will suffer

from mental health

disorders

Outcomes…Pupils with

SEMH

needs20% 19% 1.4%

All pupils 1% 2% 56%

Excluded

from

school

NEE

T

5 GCSE’s

A*- C inc

Eng & ma

Opportunities

1. New compact for music education -

benefits vulnerable children

2. Add to & strengthen local vision

3. Target leaders - relationships

4. Strong public service values - benefitting

the most vulnerable

5. Strut - Strength of the

city/county/borough

Opportunities

“…May your hands always

be busy

May your feet always be

swift

May you have a strong

foundation

When the winds of changes

shift

May your heart always be

joyful

And may your song

always be sung

May you stay forever

young…”

Trust

Thank you!

• Fragmentation is here to stay.

• “Quality” is now “Impact” and “Value for money”

• Cross border working is inevitable.

• Evolution is not new to us – we have done it before.

• 2 stories to learn from

Music Service/ Music Education Hub Perspective