“If you write a waltz just like this you’ll get good marks at GCSE”,
“I want you to use this bass and write a canon like Pachelbel’s”.
What are we doing here??
Sounding Off, Order versus Chaos: technique versus freedom of expression
Posted on October 14th, 2008
Author name:
Professor Richard McGregor
Author blurb:
Professor Richard McGregor is Professor of Music within the Faculty of Education at the University of Cumbria. His research interests include composition and the application of composition in the classroom. Richard is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and of the Society of Antiquaries (Scotland).
"Creative music teachers or functional managers of learning?"
Posted on March 15th, 2010
Author name:
Keith Evans
Author blurb:
Keith Evans is Senior Lecturer in Music Education at the University of Greenwich where he coordinates the Secondary PGCE Musicians in Education course in collaboration with Trinity College of Music.
"Should student-teachers be exposed to the wisdom of Kodaly, Orff and Dalcroze, not to mention Curwen?"
Posted on September 13th, 2009
Author name:
John Finney
Author blurb:
John Finney is Senior Lecturer in Music Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and leads the secondary postgraduate course as well as teaching on higher degree courses.
Ian Shirley Ian Shirley is Senior Lecturer in Primary Music Education at Edge Hill University. He is a regular tutor at Sing for Pleasure courses and co-editor of the magazine Primary Music Today.
"The justification for music in the curriculum: music can be bad for you"
Bad is an adjective used to indicate something as evil, naughty, rotten, ill, distressing, offensive, unpleasant. In slang Bad is used when something is relatively good, excellent or positive. Apparently this is called an antagonym - for all I know an out of date antagonym but it makes my point so please read on!
Posted on June 17th, 2008
Most teacher educators in music include some work on the justification for music in schools as part of their programme. I am using my turn as guest blogger to argue that an over reliance on what I call the ‘soft’ justifications for music in the curriculum have ultimately undermined it being taken seriously by pupils and policy makers alike.
What are the ‘soft’ justifications for music in the curriculum? These usually hang around the notion that music is ‘good’ for us and come in the following forms:
Author name:
Chris Philpott
Author blurb:
Chris Philpott is currently Head of the Department of Secondary Education at the University of Greenwich, Chair of the ITE/HEI Focus Group for the National Association of Music Educators and is overseeing Phase Two of the TDA funded Subject Resource Network for Music.
