Teaching and assessing composing in English secondary schools: an investigation into music teacher confidence

Devaney, K. (2023) Teaching and assessing composing in English secondary schools: an investigation into music teacher confidence. In: The Routledge Companion to Teaching Music Composition in Schools: International Perspectives. Routledge Music Companions . Routledge, Abingdon. ISBN 9781032026268 (hardback) 9781003184317 (e-book)

Abstract

Composing has been an important and statutory part of English classroom music education for over 30 years. The landmark introduction of composing into the National Curriculum ensured all young people experienced composing until the age of 14. Although the advancement was viewed positively, classroom composing was not always met with enthusiasm with many music teachers feeling they lacked necessary skills, confidence, and composing experience to be able to teach it. After the age of 14, students can opt to study music to gain qualifications such as a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), or A level. Composing is a significant and assessed part of these qualifications alongside listening and performing examinations. Given that composing has become a regular part of classroom music teaching, there is still very little research into composing teaching and learning. This chapter will explore secondary classroom music teachers’ experiences of, and confidence in, teaching and assessing composing, with key debates based upon the findings of an exploratory study involving case study and survey research methods. The chapter proposes that music teachers are less concerned about their own lack of composing experience, ergo their ability to teach composing, but instead have low confidence due to current assessment procedures that they deeming as being unpredictable, unreliable, subjective, and potentially biased toward western classical musical norms.

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