by Author ally

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(Re)moving the goalposts

It's early days in this brave new world of music education hubs. Ofsted have already inspected and reported on a limited number of hubs in a report published today. What do you think about the report? My initial thoughts are given below.

The latest music education report from Ofsted has been released today – ‘Music in Schools: What Hubs Must Do’.  This report examines how schools and music education hubs work together, but given the title, it is surprising that the report focuses quite heavily on the ‘quality’ of provision in schools, and particularly in curriculum lessons. As usual, it reports mixed findings, but the over-riding tone of the report is that Ofsted feel that hubs 'must do better'.  

What is Ofsted’s definition a music hub, anyway?  I’m not sure that the essence of a music ‘hub’ is well articulated through this report, in fact the wider cultural organisations, arts organisations, support services, universitites etc. barely get a look in at all.   Where is their voice in this report?  How is the child’s whole musical education recognised within this inspection framework and resulting document? And based on a small sample size, coupled with no real in-depth investigation into hubs reported here, how sure can we really be about the accuracy and worth of the judgements made?

There are a few things I agree with, but a lot of ‘stuff’ in there that makes me worry.  Having seen the articles in today’s popular press, I think I am right to be nervous.  Isn’t it amazing that the Daily Mail picks up on a perceived lack of ‘classical music and notation’? Although I was chuckling to myself about their mention of ‘vigour’ in music education, I am left wondering how ‘sound before symbol’ and ‘thinking and acting as a musician’  - approaches/philosophies I really and truly believe make sense - dovetail with some of the implicit suggestions of what we should be striving for. I am not for one moment suggesting that it is one or the other – but which comes first is not, in my mind, up for debate.  Surely we want music to be musical and children to learn about music from the inside - though experiencing it themselves? Recent Ofsted guidance on this seemed to be clarifying that they also agree that music should be musically experienced, and whilst this current report does not undermine this general aspiration, some of the language used and descriptions, might.

Whether or not the report intended, there will be people out there dusting off their old scales books and dry notation lessons so that they are doing what they think Ofsted want.  It's a bit cat and mouse, this game of 'what makes a decent music education'...schools change their demands on teachers in order to seek the holy grail of 'what Ofsted want'. Actually there are mixed messages about 'what Osted want' depending upon the type of inspection; interest in and judgements about arts provision in schools vary greatly between inspectors and inspection types.  In the grand scheme of things schools are mostly bothered about whole-school inspection ratings and the other accountability measures that are used to beat them with. This report highlights anomalies between whole school inspection grades and the quality judgements made in music lessons in these hub visits.  Even if any inspection grades are to be trusted, doesn't it raise questions about the (lack of) attention given to the arts in whole school inspections? If schools continue to be so focused upon endless achievement and accountability measures, including inspections, one wonders where the ownership and innovation for music education will come from anyway. 

Where is all this going? Having carefully checked the core and extension roles of music education hubs, I conclude that much of the focus of the content in this report come under one part of one extension role (see below).  With substantial cuts from ACE already kicking in, where is the reality in this? And is it really what Music Education Hubs set out to do in their business plans and funding agreements? 

Speaking of ACE, I’m also wondering how their plans for hubs in the next round of funding are coming along.  Ofsted imply in this report that the smaller hubs appear to be doing better so far; I keep hearing on the rumour mill that the total number of hubs will be substantially smaller next time round making the geographical areas…bigger! 

Those of you who know me well will know I’m a solutions-focused kind of girl. This report is here to stay, whatever we think of it, and I am worried that music teachers and their senior leaders were choking on their cornflakes whilst reading this generally ‘bad news’ in their newspaper early this morning and thinking ‘oh dear’.  I work with music teachers and practitioners in different settings day in, day out and I know how hard they work to make a difference to kids' musical lives.  I can’t think of a music teacher or practitioner in any setting who sets out to do a rubbish job.  Of course there are things that can be done to make music education better, but there needs to be a realistic and balanced view of this and what the role of hubs can be in bringing about systemic changes in organisations and schools over which they have no direct control or power. We need to find tangible ways to move forward.  

In order to help distill some key messages and some cautionary notes, for example reminding (and perhaps reassuring) hubs that their role is to ‘augment and support’ provision in schools, I have produced a short resource. I hope music organisations, hubs, schools and others with a genuine interest in music education find it helpful to find a way forward from where this latest report leaves us. 

A downlodable copy of The summary can be found at the bottom of the page on this link.  Whilst you're there, read the ISM response.  Notice the balance between the points they welcome and those which are 'less helpful'...

In case you are interested, the core and extension roles of Music Education Hubs are given below. 

 Core roles

  • Ensure that every child aged 5 to 18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument (other than voice) through whole-class ensemble teaching programmes for ideally a year (but for a minimum of a term) of weekly tuition on the same instrument.
  • Provide opportunities to play in ensembles and to perform from an early stage.
  • Ensure that clear progression routes are available and affordable to all young people.
  • Develop a singing strategy to ensure that every pupil sings regularly and that choirs and other vocal ensembles are available in the area.

 

Extension roles

  • Offer continuing professional development to school staff, particularly in supporting schools to deliver music in the curriculum.
  • Provide an instrument loan service, with discounts or free provision for those on low incomes.
  • Provide access to large-scale and/or high-quality music experiences for pupils, working with professional musicians and/or venues. This may include undertaking work to publicise the opportunities available to schools, parents/carers and students.