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Personalising MusicLearning

DAVID PRICE

musical futures

paul hamlyn foundationspecial project

TEACHERS

RESOURCE:

SECTION 1

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ForewordBy Valerie Hannon - DfES Innovation Unit

The Musical Futures Teacher Resource Pack offers a concrete example of howpersonalising learning can be applied to a specific subject, in this case music.The DfES Innovation Unit has consistently encouraged initiatives which seek toturn the theory of personalisation into practice, so we are pleased to supportMusical Futures in doing so here.

This pack presents three different approaches to personalising music learning,reflecting the diversity of practice now springing up as secondary schools beginto introduce a range of other music leaders into the classroom. After-schoolsprojects, led by community musicians or music services, have become commonin recent years. Musical Futures, perhaps uniquely, is bringing extra-curricularapproaches and practices into the formal curriculum, with dramatic results,especially at Key Stage 3.

Whilst the three approaches differ, they shared a common starting point. EachMusic Service in Leeds, Hertfordshire and Nottingham sought to increaseyoung peoples motivation through enhancing student voice. This processensures that students became co-investors in their learning: they are more

likely to be enthused about music making when they have a say in what islearnt and how it is learnt. This is a message which goes beyond MusicalFutures, and indeed music as a subject.

The other key theme running through these materials is collaboration:between schools, and between schools, music services and non-formal sectororganisations. Music learning takes place in so many differing contexts andlocations outside the classroom, that a truly personalised and enrichedexperience demands a more collaborative approach. The Music Manifesto(www.musicmanifesto.co.uk) calls for music learning, in and out of school, tobe better coordinated; this pack offers an exciting route to achieving this.

Whilst the changes in pedagogy and curriculum described here may seemchallenging (even radical) to some practitioners, they have been developed byeducators with extensive experience in secondary music teaching and they havebeen placed within the context of the national curriculum requirements andexisting assessment structures. This, together with supplementary lesson plans,should give reassurance that the next practices advocated are rooted incurrent realities.

The Innovation Unit will be working with Musical Futures to further support forteachers through a series of training events and by developing teachernetworks. It is through such examples of collaboration and imaginationcontained here that personalisation will be made real in music learning for allyoung people.

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IntroductionDavid Price - Project Leader Musical Futures

As a busy music educator, you may feel daunted by the sheer weight of materialwhich this pack contains, especially if this is your first introduction to theMusical Futures project, but we hope youll be able to find some time to lookthrough the resource pack and this accompanying pamphlet.

Personalising Music Learning has become a key theme of Musical Futures,perhaps inevitably since our starting point has been to find ways to engagemore young people in music, for longer. Key Stage 3 is a critical moment intheir musical lives, since a good set of experiences here can encourage them tocontinue in the formal sector (through school and instrumental lessons), thenon-formal sector (through extended schools or youth and community projects)or give them the confidence to work informally (in self-led groups). Webelieve that too few young people follow any of these three routes and thatpart of the answer lies in personalising their musical experience between theages of 11-14.

The impact of some of our practical work in schools where weve seendramatically increased levels of motivation, and GCSE /instrumental tuition

take-up encouraged us to believe that the process of personalisation should bedocumented through our three Pathfinder Music Services in Leeds, Nottinghamand Hertfordshire. The Innovation Unit at the Department for Education andSkills have been our partners throughout this process and were most gratefulfor their support and input. DfES are also disseminating guidance materials forsecondary music teacher, arising from their Key Stage 3 pilots in 2006/06.Although the two sets of materials have differing approaches, the resourcefulteacher will be able to apply either, or both, according to the circumstance andlearner needs.

We have avoided the temptation to simply create a personalisation-through-lesson-planning approach (although there are some lesson plans if you find

them useful). The approach were advocating is a flexible one, through there isa theory behind it, so wed urge you to read this pamphlet first.

We believe all three models could work with any age range, but there is apotential sequence, should you be interested in combining more than oneaspect. The Nottingham Whole Curriculum Approach has worked well withYear 8 pupils, and the Hertfordshire Informal Learning Model has been deliveredsuccessfully at Year 9 (though also in Yr 8 and 10). The Leeds extra-curricularprogramme has been developed to complement activities in Key Stages 3 and 4.

Although we are still learning and refining the models, one lesson is clear theimpact of these models is, to a large extent, achieved through a shift in theconventional teachers role, and through an extended team of music leaders

working together: peripatetic tutors, community musicians, student-tutors,teacher trainees. Wed suggest therefore that if youre interested in using anyof these materials in your work, your first point of reference should be yourlocal music service or music advisor.

These materials are copyright-free, so you can copy the print materials,CD-ROM DVD and audio CDs as you wish, but please observe the terms of thepublishing license at the front of this pamphlet.

Finally, we hope youll enjoy reading, watching and listening to the resourcepack and would value your response. If you have any comments, and especiallyif you are thinking of using them in school, please let us know at:

[email protected]. You can also download further copies of theTeacher Resouce Pack from the Musical Futures website:www.musicalfutures.co.uk

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Chapter One:Personalising Music Learning an introductionThe Musical Futures project has always worn two hats. The first has been toadvocate the structures and policies needed to maximise the impact of musicparticipation for young people. We highlighted some of the key issues aroundthis in our introductory pamphlet, and will return to the subject in futurepamphlets. Our other main concern, however, has been what many wouldconsider to be of primary importance: the processes and practices which leadto sustained progression in music learning. The pamphlet Transforming MusicalLeadership examined in detail some of the skills and approaches seen in someof our best music leaders1. This pamphlet will look at a broad range of factorswhich affect the dynamic between what is taught and what is learnt. We havegrouped these together under the heading of Personalising Music Learning fortwo reasons: Firstly, because our pathfinders (in Leeds, Nottingham and Hertfordshire)

have quickly appreciated the need to tailor their programmes and projectsto meet individual needs

Secondly, because Personalising Learning is a concept which is becoming

familiar to those who work in schools, particularly senior managers, itprovides an opportunity to translate a theoretical construct into the nutsand bolts of teaching and learning in a specific subject

We will need to begin with the theory, not least because this resource is aimedat all those interested in improving music education, in and out of schools, whomay be less familiar with the term. But we will also illustrate some of thepractices, processes and emerging lessons of those involved in Musical Futures,and beyond.

What do we mean by personalising learning?Over the last five years, one of the UK governments main drivers for improving

public services has been to personalise them. What is generally meant by this isto customise services to individual needs and circumstances, allowing morechoice, voice and participation in the process. Along with health, localgovernment and employment, the education sector is seen as a key area forimprovement through personalisation. Charles Leadbeater refers to scriptswhich public services operate within, many of which have not changed fordecades. The script for schools has long been: choose what you want to studyfrom a pre-defined and delineated set of options; sit with 20-30 other learners;learn from your teacher who has to deliver set amounts of content often in aparticular style; sit some exams; have your learning assessed by an examiner;get your results; move on to the next stage; do it all again 2.

School leaders are now being urged to change this script, by which educationis done to the consumer, in favour of the learner being more able to self-determine their education. To some extent, this script revision is beingborrowed from current economic thinking. Large corporations are being urgedto adopt the new enterprise logic of re-shaping their relationship to theconsumer. First coined by Shoshana Zuboff of Harvard Business School andJames Maxmin in their book The Support Economy (2002), the new enterpriselogic argues that corporations must stop seeing their customers passivelywaiting at the end of a production line, with the transaction, or sale, definingthat relationship. Instead, they should recognise the societal shift taking place,whereby peoples desire to have more control over their lives, necessitates along-term response from corporations, characterised as deep support3. Inshort, their involvement with customers should not end with the transaction,but continue through an on-going dialogue based upon their developing needs.

PERSONALISING MUSIC LEARNING

Schools are beingurged to change

this script... infavour of thelearner beingmore able to

self-determinetheir education.

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These societal shifts affect consumer expectations in all forms, includingeducation4. Leading educators are therefore beginning to apply these theoriesto personalisation more generally, and schools in particular. The new enterpriselogic, as applied to schools, proposes that: The student is the most important unit of organisation, not the classroom,

nor the school system Schools cannot achieve transformation by acting alone they need to join

networks to share knowledge, address problems and pool resources Networks should involve individuals, agencies, institutions across public/

private and educational/non-educational divides New ways to allocate resources are needed to support this transformation(adapted from The New Enterprise Logic of Schools Caldwell, B. J. (2005))

Such networks are now rapidly emerging among schools, supported by localEducation Improvement Partnerships, the Specialist Schools and AcademiesTrust (SSAT) and (iNet), its international network of schools. By creatingdistributed networks, and in a new spirit of self-determination, school leadersare learning from each other and thus gaining the capacity to innovateappropriately and confidently5.

The results, though rarely reported in the media, are effecting change in thoseleading edge schools the learning script is being re-written. Some of these

schools are sharing teachers across subjects in partner-schools. Others aredemolishing the school boundaries, allowing children to learn in the community,in industry, or at home. Many are redefining the arbitrary categorisations whichhave applied to learning: challenging key stages and assessment of learningdetermined by age rather than aptitude; integrating subjects taught; devisingweek-long projects rather than 50-minute lessons. Some schools encouragestudents to have roles as governors, student-teachers, entrepreneurs andmanagers. The net effect usually results in students becoming more active,more independent, and therefore more responsible, learners.

A new enterprise logic of music education?Before examining the key ingredients of a more personalised music education,

its worth observing that the new enterprise logic can be applied, not only toschools, but to music education more generally, since young people learn aboutmusic in and out of school. We shall specifically examine the implications ofpersonalising music learning in the non-formal sector in chapter three. At thispoint however, its worth noting that a genuinely young person-centred andcoordinated provision is more likely to be forged through a new enterprise logicof organisations delivering music education across all sectors of activity: formal,non-formal and (especially) informal.

Collaborative cross-sector networks are starting to emerge, most notablythrough the Music Manifesto. Given the diversity of representative groups, thesedevelopments are focusing upon the young persons needs as a common starting

point. It could be argued that, like personalisation itself, this is long overdue.

Perhaps the final point to make about personalising music learning is that thereis nothing in these pages that isnt already done every day by skilled musiceducators - but it may afford a new way of looking at practices which cansupport the diverse needs of all young music learners, so that more of themmay become lifelong learners.

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Schoolscannot achieve

transformation byacting alone - theyneed to join

networks to shareknowledge,

address problemsand pool results.

Footnotes:1 In this pamphlet series we use music leader as an umbrella term denoting any adult, or peer, who supervises young people in

their music learning.2 Leadbeater, C (2004)3 The Support Economy, Zuboff & Maxmin (2002)4 Some corollaries are striking in educational terms the transactions which have defined consumer relationships, could be seen

as exams.5 Music teachers predominantly work in isolation, frequently in departments of one. Music practitioners in the non-formal sector also

have relatively few networks in which to share innovations. The recent creation of Advanced Skills Teachers in Music offers somepossibility of a network forming. And creating similar networks should be a priority for music educators/managers.

Questions:As a music education provider, isthe transaction between you andthe young person supported by otheropportunities? How deep is suchsupport?

Are you part of networks whereknowledge, skills and problems canbe shared?

Does the concept of personalising

music learning appeal to your ownprofessional aspirations?

Are the learning opportunities thatyou lead personalised for youngpeople? If not, how might they be?

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Chapter Two:The building blocks of Personalising MusicLearningThere are good grounds for seeing music as the strongest example we have ofpersonalised learning. Few other curriculum subjects have such variety oflearning environments outside of school, or the capacity to engage and exciteyoung people. But it is also the case that a truly personalised provision presentssignificant challenges to educators. The purpose of this chapter is to examine

the essential components of personalising learning within the context of musiceducation, referring by way of illustration to our experiences in the MusicalFutures project.

The Department for Education and Skills lists five components of personalisedlearning: Assessment for learning Effective teaching and learning Curriculum entitlement and choice Organising the school Beyond the classroom

However in his pamphlet series for the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust

and the International Network for Educational Transformation, David Hargreavesbreaks these down into nine inter-connected gateways: Student voice Curriculum School organisation and design Workforce Development Learning to learn Mentoring and coaching Assessment for learning New technologies Advice and guidance

He argues that schools will have needs which prioritise some of these aboveothers, and innovations which work in one context may not work so well inanother. Taken separately these nine concepts have less impact than when theyinterweave and self-support. Additionally, they remain theoretical constructsuntil they are made real. So let us look at the journeys being undertakenthrough Musical Futures and within the context of these gateways.

Personalising Music Learning in actionThe three selected Musical Futures Pathfinders are each hosted by localauthority music services. Though their areas of interest and strategies differ, allthree share a common desire: to increase student voice. Within the script ofmusic services and school music departments dialogue has typically involved

professionals headteachers, managers, teachers and tutors with youngpeoples voice in their music education being fairly muted and passive, optingin or out of tuition being offered.

Musical Futures Leeds wanted to know what role, if any, they could play insupporting the needs of young musicians who had rejected formal music tuition though many of them still made music informally, without adult supervision.Nottingham, in the process of constructing their music service from scratch, hada unique opportunity to consult with young people on the kind of musicalexperiences they would want in and out of school. In Hertfordshire the focuswas upon the experiences of year 9 students, in particular how to make theirtimetabled lessons more relevant to their musical lives and interests. A varietyof consultative mechanisms have been piloted with varying degrees of success:

on-line discussions; student forums; in-lesson questionnaires; lunchtime focusgroups and private one-to-one interviews.

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The results have led us to suggest a number of prerequisites for developingeffective student voice: The process is entirely dependent upon trust, effective listening and

openness students will only be frank in a culture or environment whichvalues their honesty at all other times. They are acutely sensitive totokenism or patronage. Bringing external questioners into neutral spaces,without the presence of a teacher, has been highly beneficial in thisrespect

The process must stem from a commitment to change. An open, on-goingdialogue is impossible to sustain unless young people receive regularresponses to their concerns. Sometimes concerns can be contradictory orrequests impossible to meet; students understand these realities if they arekept informed. But if they suspect that the process is cosmetic, with noprospect of significant change, the process can do more harm than good

The individual voice also needs to be heard within (or aside from) thegroups. We have found that young musicians are often uneasy overexpressing opinions (particularly those which may be perceived as unusual)in group consultations. Similarly, criticisms of a personal or professionalbehaviour will often only emerge in a confidential situation.

As Hargreaves notes, student voice is a gateway to change. Finding out whatyoung people think of their music education is the first step to improving it.

Musical Futures consultations have had important implications for the threePathfinder Music Services in how they support schools to develop, most notablyin curriculum, school organisation & design and workforce development.

Perhaps the most striking example of change arising from student voice is to befound in the three Nottingham schools - Big Wood, Haywood and Henry Mellishcomprehensives. 300 Year 8 students took part in an exercise to identify a rangeof music projects they would wish to see in their schools. For at least two ofthe three groups this required imagination, since they have been without afull-time music teacher for some years. The conversations led to a broad rangeof activities which were first piloted as individual projects in year one, andhave now been evaluated and put together as a year-long Whole Curriculum

Approach. Two former secondary music heads, Ian Burton, the music servicedirector and Sharon Jagdev-Powell, the Musical Futures Nottingham manager,mapped the projects against the statutory National Curriculum requirements.

This highly-enriched curriculum involves all children in skills sessions on bass,guitar, keyboards and drums, forming cover bands, writing minimalist musicsoundtracks, improvising jazz pieces, sampling and sequencing music, taikodrumming and samba workshops, song-writing and recording studio sessions.The project-based delivery (as opposed to a series of lessons) meets another oftheir stated desires: that the music made should be real, with authentic end-products. Projects utilise The X Factor and Battle of the Bands competitions,and students publish their music on their own homepages. It also becameimmediately apparent that such authenticity could only be achieved if students

worked with real instruments, in small groups. Even the most energetic,committed and talented Head of Music, acting alone, would struggle to deliversuch a programme.

Fortunately, an innovatory approach to workforce development has ensuredthat the leadership of the curriculum is distributed across a team consisting ofthe Head of Music (where there is one), the project manager (where thereisnt), community musicians, instrumental tutors, PGCE trainee teachers andspecialist performing groups (Kagemusha Taiko delivered training and skillssession in world music traditions and members of the Hall Orchestra workedwith students on minimalist compositions). A further future team is beingtrained within the project: a band formed among year 10 pupils who are

benefiting from mentoring and coaching provided by the professional musicians,so that they can teach their peers next year.The programme is unusual, not least because it consolidates the impact thatperforming groups and freelance musicians can bring to a school, with theconsistency of a planned, long-term, commitment by all involved. Many schoolsnow have visiting performing groups, and most have regular peripatetic

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instrumental tutors. In generalhowever, these activities are oftenframed as extra-curricular rewards fortalented students.

Ian Burton believes that their MusicalFutures experiences point to a newdirection for music services: that ofbrokerage, curriculum and workforcedevelopment:

This model can be replicated acrossother music services as it ties in withexisting provision and redirectsexisting resources to be used moreeffectively. We have also designedour own professional programme asthere is a lack of available musicleaders to participate in this wholecurriculum approach. By training ourown staff we will ensure that thereare resources available after the

project finishes to continue this wayof working.

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Creating the right learning environmentThe Whole Curriculum Approach is an example of radical innovation, ratherthan an incremental one. As such it has required the headteachers involved tore-think aspects of school organisation and design. The only realistic way toensure that freelance musician time was effectively used was to re-scheduleall Year 8 Music classes in each school to take place on one day. The addedbenefit to this adjustment has been that the delivery team are available forafter-hours music clubs and surgeries, providing individual support for studentswho may have struggled during the earlier classes.

A further implication lay in the students and staff desire to work in smallgroups, with authentic instruments (in this case usually amplified). Fourseparate spaces, large enough to accommodate 5-6 students with instruments,were deemed essential. Many school music spaces built in the 60s and 70s weredesigned on the premise that a single teacher stood before a class of 30 with,at best, a couple of additional broom cupboards to accommodate piano prac-tice. With the advent of music technology, these rooms now frequently house arange of electronic keyboards (each with a required set of headphones) aroundthe perimeter. The experience of all three of our pathfinders underlines one ofour key findings: that schools can make their music provision more vital, andcloser to their students external experience of music, by recognising the social

importance which students place upon the activity, and designating accommo-dation accordingly. Much of the current music accommodation in schools mili-tates directly against this. It is to be hoped that, under the Building Schools forthe Future programme, emerging designs will enable the creation of adequatenumbers of flexible, soundproofed, spaces for small group activity.

When projects take place in unsuitable accommodation, such disruption is onlytenable if the senior management and all staff understand the whole schoolbenefits of a thriving musical culture. The success of the Whole CurriculumApproach depended heavily upon headteacher support in re-timetabling andre-locating classes. The importance of senior management support for musicprojects is widely accepted as a prerequisite for successful delivery.

Bernie Groves, Headteacher of Big Wood Comprehensive,Nottingham on Musical Futures Whole Curriculum Approach:When this was put to me I had to have a sharp intake of breath because the idea of running all the curriculum on aThursday and having 4 areas set aside in a school - where we have no sound-proofing, we dont have specialised rooms,we just havent got that and the space to accommodate all the instruments - had to be thought about. I had to go backto my timetabler and say, Er, excuse me, can you unpick the timetable that youve just done, and put music together.

It has to be, I think, a whole school involvement in it. Everyone has to see the benefit of it for it to work. I dont thinkit would be very easy for a music teacher just to decide that they were going to do it, because there wouldnt be thewill to make it work. So there are difficulties with it, but as far as Im concerned, the benefits far outweigh thedifficulties what you have to do is think to yourself, well, what do I want at the end? And what I wanted is exactlywhat were getting. Enthusiastic kids - enjoying, achieving and it actually has a roll-out effect across the curriculum.You know they feel good about themselves in one lesson, because theyve just managed to play something and theyrethrilled about it. So the payback comes across the whole curriculum.

This is a different way of learning. This is personalised learning absolutely the way it should be. This is Every ChildMatters as it should be. Weve always had children going out to peris6 but its never impacted on the school. Itssomething that happens in a room with a select group of children. The beauty of this is, its structural. It affects allthe children. Its become an entitlement across the whole year group.

Schools can maketheir music

provision morevital, and closer to

their students

externalexperience of

music, byrecognising the

social importancewhich students

place uponthe activity,

and designingaccommodationaccordingly.

6 peripatetic music tutor

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A shift toward the informalIf there has been a common theme in the lessons emerging from Musical Futures so far, it has been this: that successfulpersonalised music learning opportunities appear to favour less formal approaches in all aspects of provision. Some of thetypical characteristics of the differing modes of learning are listed below:

Nowhere has this been seen in such stark relief than in our Hertfordshire schools. In a collaboration between Musical

Futures, Hertfordshire Music Services and the Institute of Education, a model of informal learning based upon the musiclearning of popular musicians has been employed with Year 9 students. See Section 3 for full details.

This learning approach was first detailed in Lucy Greens How Popular Musicians Learn and a subsequent seven-stagedelivery model developed by Green and Musical Futures Hertfordshire. The learning process is based upon 5 key principles:1 Learning music that pupils choose, like and identify with2 Learning by listening to and copying recordings3 Learning with friends4 Personal, often haphazard learning without structured guidance5 Integration of listening, performing, improvising and composing

With one or more (though not all) of these principles present in all stages of the project.

These are essentially the processes which pop musicians have successfully adopted in teaching themselves how to playand create music without adult supervision. Musical Futures has sought to find out how these processes might work withincurriculum time in school. The age-range chosen was Year 9 students, though teachers have also developed the modelwith ages above and below this. In order to identify how this process has encouraged learning to learn, mentoring andcoaching and student voice it may be helpful to explain the learning processes being developed in the 17 schools nowtaking part. Students start the year by choosing their own friendship groups to work in and selecting a piece of their favourite

music to copy, based upon the instruments available in the classroom. After 3-6 weeks (according to teacherjudgement) students have realised recognisable reproductions of their chosen piece

During the next phase, students are presented with a given song, broken down into a number of riffs or constituentparts on a CD, which they copy and choose to make their own arrangement. No notation is used

Students are then given the opportunity to choose another piece to copy. They are usually able to realise a

performance closer to the original, and often without the support of the CD Next, students are set the task of either composing a song, or improvising a musical jam. Initially, they work

independently and then with experienced music role models teachers, freelance musicians, or even peers The final phase offers students the opportunity to copy musical pieces in unfamiliar genres, explained in more

detail below

The music leader (classroom teacher with either instrumental tutor, community musician or sixth-form musician) has aspecific role throughout the year: Set the task Stand back Observe, diagnose, guide, suggest Model, demonstrate Take on pupils perspectives Help pupils achieve the objectives they set for themselves

Formal

Donor / recipient model of teaching

Learning activities are separately specialised

(listening, performing, composing)

Music teacher/conductor

Lessons

Learning through notation or written/verbal instruction

Learning is sequential

Technique as a pre-requisite to repertoire

Non-formal & Informal

Teacher is co-learner, teaching is distributed

Activities are integrated

Music leader/coach

Projects

Learning by aural means (playing by ear, copyingand trial-anderror)

Learning is often haphazard

Technique acquired through repertoire

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Learning to learnAttention to informal learning practices within music education could offerpupils a level of autonomy from their teachers, which would increase theircapacity to carry on their learning independently, and thus to participatefurther in both formal and informal music-making beyond the school.Lucy Green (2005)

A vital element to learning to learn has been the central importance ofmotivation. Indeed it could be argued that no deep learning can take place

without it. Students whose sole motivation is to pass exams will retain enoughknowledge, for just long enough, and then dispense with it at the firstopportunity. In all three Pathfinders we have seen students persuading theirparents to buy instruments, requesting instrumental tuition, and arriving beforeschool starts to practice their parts. Teachers have been astonished at theimprovement in behaviour during Musical Futures classes, since studentshave been working with high levels of motivation, close supervision has notbeen needed.

There appears to be a direct corollary between motivation and theauthenticity of the learning activity. Enhancing student voice and choice has,in both Hertfordshire and Nottingham schools, immediately made the tasks

more real. This is further supported by the introduction of real-worldinstruments and practitioners. Frame this within a project format (rather than aseries of disconnected exercises) and the net result is that students end upfeeling better about their competence, not just their knowledge about.

Hertfordshire students comments suggest that their Musical Futures projectsare developing their meta-cognitive skills, in enabling them to become moreindependent learners and reflect upon, and evaluate their own learning:Ive learnt that if you havent got any goals set for you, youve got to findsome yourself.You can learn more by yourself; you can experiment; theres no-one telling youits wrong; you cant do nothing wrong.It teaches you that you can learn music on your own, you dont need a teachertelling you what to do.

Mentoring and coachingIt could be said that mentoring and coaching lies at the heart of theHertfordshire framework. Teachers unanimously agreed that shedding theirmore didactic role for that of a coach has been the most challenging,unnerving, though eventually liberating, aspect of the project. As a result oftheir experiences, the four advanced skills teachers who first introduced theproject now mentor the teachers who joined in phase two. Furthermore, 13 ofthe 17 current schools have identified bands of advanced student musicians(from Year 10 and above) who are now being mentored by peripatetic tutorsfrom the music service, so that they can also act as coaches in subsequentyears. More than 100 young musicians are currently taking part in the Studentsas Musical Leaders scheme.

In fulfilling the potential for significant growth in musical participation, whichundoubtedly exists, the development of peer coaching is integral to achievingthe holy grail of sustainability. Dave Perrett, from Estover Community College,has been developing peer tutors for over ten years, and can vouch for theirlong-term impact:

I began by inviting a couple ofadvanced steel pan players into mybeginners band rehearsals. They werehappy to help out and begansupporting players within the groupwhilst I ran rehearsals. As they grewin confidence they were able to takesmall groups for sectional rehearsals

and give advice not just to thebeginners, but also to me. Ten yearson Im confident that this approachreally does have a significant impacton our music activities. We use groupsand individuals from all years inregular outreach music projects andhave older students working regularlywith rock bands, steel bands, Africanmusic groups and singers.D. Perrett (2005)

In Leeds, the Writers Unblockedproject has shown how quickly, givenstrong support from a range of adultmusic leaders, students can assimilatethe skills needed to take control oftheir learning and help their peerslearn. In the first phase of theproject, three full-day trainingsessions were provided (withon-line support in between); by theend of phase two (eight weekly two-hour sessions) half of the students feltthey now had the capacity to leadothers; Phase three is now seeingstudents run the project with no adultinput (unless needed). Two skilledmusic A-level students now coordinatetwo teams of six Year 9/10 mentors,running weekly workshops for Year 7/8students. The project has become sopopular that a waiting list has nowbeen introduced.

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Challenging preconceptionsThe question of motivation currently occupies the minds of those artists andeducators who are concerned at the apparent decline in interest for lessfamiliar musical genres, most notably, the western classical music tradition.This becomes more problematic in light of the length of the learning journey(learning to read music, adopting correct fingering techniques, practisingscales, developing dynamic range, etc) deemed necessary to realise some levelof competence.

Our experiments in Hertfordshire took students on an alternative route. Aselection of familiar pieces, taken from TV and film though not labelledclassical, were offered for students to copy using the informal learningapproach detailed above. No notation was used and students were encouragedto tailor the arrangement of the piece to their own tastes. Purists might havebeen horrified with some of the interpretations, but within 2-3 weeks groupswere performing passable renditions of their chosen pieces. Although resistantat first, it seems clear that their motivation lay, not with the genre, or eventhe piece, but in the learning process involved. As with other stages, theexperience of socially-mediated, independent, learning also improved theirlistening skills and their interest in the genre, as these studentquotes demonstrate:

Now Ive listened to a bit more I see that it takes a lot more work to try anddo classical music than it does like the pop music. Cause most of the pop musictheyve all got like the same drum beat and things like that, where classicalmusic is totally different.

Before we did this I didnt really like classical music. Id still listen to it butnot for a long time. And like, as, I think my views have changed because like Ican have a little bit of joy in playing it now that I know like how to do stuff.

Matthew: Its boring when you dont know how to play the tunes, butonce you know how to play the tunes its like

Bobby: Its good.

David: Its cool.Matthew: Cause you can actually get on.Bobby: I wouldnt say its as cool as like normal music.David: Nah, it aint as street as like rap or hip hop.Matthew: Before I thought it was rubbish because our grandparents listen

to it.Researcher: So whats changed?Bobby: Well weve learnt to play it kind of thing.Matthew: Weve added our own sort of new bits in it.Bobby: And made it better.

Head of Music: I never thought Id hear them playing Brahms!

Questions:How audible is the student voice in the work you do? Can you think of exampleswhere listening to student voice led to change?

How often are you able to utilise other kinds of music leaders (teachers,freelance musicians, trainees)? When you do work in more distributed forms ofleadership what challenges/benefits are present?

Do you agree with the connection between personalising music learning and lessformal ways of music learning?

The personalising learning components listed at the start of this chapter grewout of a drive for school improvement. In your experience which of them alsoapply to out-of-school learning?

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Before we did thisI didnt really like

classical music. Idstill listen to it but

not for a longtime. And like, as,

I think my viewshave changed

because like I canhave a little bit ofjoy in playing it

now that I knowlike how to

do stuff.

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Calling the tuneMusic organisations (whether workingin or out of school) have importantroles to play in all aspects ofpersonalising music learning. Meetingindividual learner needs has alwaysbeen a priority in the non-formal

sector, not least since music learnersinvariably vote with their feet whenthe experience on offer no longermeets their needs or interests. Butfor many non-formal sector musicorganisations the instability of fundingoften understandably distorts theirprime responsibility, away from theirstudents and towards their funders.Others have been reluctant tocollaborate, either with theircompetitors or acrosseducation/non-educational divides.There is widespread agreement thatfunding structures in this sector areboth complex and confusing. Reducingthe number of differing fundingapplications needed to stay afloat,it is argued, could enable suchorganisations to focus more upon theneeds of young peoples progression.

In this chapter, we highlight the threeremaining gateways where non-formalorganisations have particular

strengths: new technologies,assessment for learning and adviceand guidance.

New technologies are supportive of allother gateways to personalisinglearning, but their application inmusic learning in and of itself isparticularly important. Almostinevitably, traditional music providersare adapting to these technologiesrather more slowly than theirend-users. As we noted in the first

pamphlet, young people now enjoy aplethora of alternative routes tomusic learning, largely throughelectronic media. Nowhere is thismore apparent than in the networksand online communities which youngpeople create for themselves.MySpace.com, for example, has, in aremarkably short space of time,become a global meeting place foryoung people with their musicalinterests as a central focus. Almost

overnight, it has become a means ofunsigned bands reaching an audience,often bypassing the need for a recordcompany. Rupert Murdochs recentacquisition of the site indicates howseriously such sites are being viewed.

Chapter Three: Personalising Music Learning outside the classroom

Is it my space or yours?One of the challenging lessons learned in Leeds was the well-intentioned butthus far unsuccessful attempt to mould the Musical Futures website asprimarily a space for young people. Leeds original plan was for support andresources to be responsive to students stated needs. Not surprisingly, adultvoices and their needs resulted in a site that has been successful when used asa tool that practitioners direct students towards, but which has limited appeal

to the more informal ownership which Leeds had originally intended. Thelessons learned are currently being integrated into the continuing developmentof the site.

It seems that not only the possession, but also the origination, of such facilitiesmay well be best left to young people themselves, as this online discussionbetween bands involved in a Musical Futures performance project suggests:

> I dont think this site would be able to promote the gig as well as our ownwould. If you log onto this you have to fiddle about searching through eachnews section and it isnt linked very well, whereas on our own site youcould click and be instantly listening to one of the bands also it would bea more slick design and attractive to our audience than this one is.

> Does everyone have a MySpace account?> The MySpace idea is a good one but if we set up our own site that thats

even better, anyone good at building sites?> I can get a site built for 10 including a .info domain nameAll we need

to do is think of a domain name... Everybody put forward some ideas, thenwell pick the best and get it bought Each band should prepare what theywant to go on the site, a bio of each member, some history, a couple oftracks and a load of photos and logos.

Computer based music production, remixing and working with samples, canmotivate those young people who have limited instrumental or notation readingskills, and can open up musical participation to young people for the first time.

The Musical Futures website7 contains many examples of this, one of the mostrecent is the Beats and Pieces project. Here, community musician Andy Pennyhas created a bank of music samples, from which participants create a re-mix,with at least one additional vocal or instrumental sample of their own making.Young people are asked to share their work and to invite peers to add anothermusical section. This can be done on the website, face-face or emailingbetween colleagues. They are encouraged to keep a log of their activities whichcan count towards the Young Peoples Arts Award8. The project will also havean area where young people can provide critical feedback on theirpeers compositions.

The importance of new technologies in supporting young musicians can hardlybe overstated and we shall return to it in a future pamphlet.

Assessment for learning is often confused with assessment of learning. Thelatter is often a summative, grade-oriented process, usually done to thestudent. Feedback is given but rarely owned by the learner. Assessment forlearning seeks to work with the learner in developing their own understandingof their performance or competence, so that they can plan their own progressand improvement strong emphasis is placed upon how what they have learnedcan be built upon and further developed. Student self-assessment is clearlyintegral to assessment for learning.

In order to become personalised, assessment for learning has to recognise the

differing learning styles and speeds of students, as well as their preferredlearning environments and readiness to learn. The outcome is often thecreation and implementation of an individual learning pathway for eachstudent, no minor task in busy school departments. For Peter Stedman, Directorof Music at Callington Community College, it has been worth the effort.

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Through a detailed tutorial system, students in Key Stage 4 are able to assesstheir strengths and weaknesses and develop a termly learning scheme, allowingthem to work at their own pace in their own space, be it the Music ICT roomor at home (Callington has now created a virtual learning environment wherestudents can access the curriculum via the college website). For many studentsthis leads to accelerated learning, and students and staff jointly decide whenstudents sit a range of examinations, of which GCSE is but one option. ForStedman the result is that we know our students needs and aspirations betterthan ever before.9

Interconnected pathwaysA particular strength of non-formal sector music organisations is often inassessing and advising young people who have either withdrawn, or beenexcluded, from schooling. Many are working with schools to deliver alternativecurricula with young people. One such example is Lifeforce Productions inLeeds. Here our researcher observed young people whose behaviour at schoolhad been considered unacceptable, who struggle with concentration for anylength of time, work for several hours at a time on their own musical interests.Many of these young people on the edge of traditional schooling oftenexpressed frustration at not being understood. As one interviewee remarked:Teachers dont listen. They should listen to your opinions instead of changing

your opinions and you want to be believed, not have them think youre lying.The answer, for Lifeforce, seems to lie in creating an informal environmentwhere regular informative assessment allows the young person to be listenedto, and an appropriate set of goals, challenges and risks to be agreed upon. Thispersonalisation enables a return to active learning, and often leads to a returnto formal accredited achievement.

With the possible exception of sport, music has an unrivalled capacity tore-engage at risk young people, yet many of the organisations who providemuch needed routes back into society, feel isolated from, and under-valued by,mainstream music education. With more funds being devolved directly toschools, there will be a growing need for brokerage between these small buteffective organisations and the formal sector, to ensure further growth and

stability of funding.

But the creation of flexible musical pathways would benefit all young people,not just those at risk. Might there be frameworks created whereby studentsprogress in non-formal music projects, music service provision and indeed theirown unsupervised informal work may be equally valued and assessed for furtherdevelopment? If so, where should responsibility lie for tracking an individualsprogress? We shall return to the question of how cross-sector collaboration isneeded in organising the diverse musical routes young people follow in the nextpamphlet. For now, it is sufficient to note that while many exciting examples ofassessment for learning are now emerging in the non-formal sector,10 theco-ordination of support across school, community and music service, remains a

significant obstacle.

Advice and guidanceIf the goal of personalising music learning is to improve the voice and choice ofthe learners, then it follows that effective advice and guidance will be neededto support young peoples ability to choose wisely. This is especially pertinent inthe non-formal sector, where there has been a significant increase in the rangeof participation opportunities in the last five years. Curiously, despite suchgrowth many young people are still unaware of music projects in their locality.Even when they do become aware, they often require more information andguidance before committing themselves. There has been considerable nationaldiscussion recently on the most appropriate source of such information, advice

and guidance. Since schools are seen to have a captive audience of youngpeople, with music a compulsory subject until the age of 14, they would seemto be the likeliest guide to further learning opportunities. Whilst it seemsunreasonable to expect busy teachers who are tracking learning in school to dothe same for students external options, it is surely in the interest of

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7 www.musicalfutures.org.uk8 The Young Peoples Arts Award was

launched in 2005 to recogniseachievement outside school and accreditit within the National QualificationsFramework. More information at:www.artsaward.org.uk/site/

9 Stedman, P Individualised Learning andChoice (2005)

10For example the first BTEC programme inAsian Music in the UK was developed, notby a school or college, but by the MultiAsian Arts Centre in Rochdale

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schools promoting personalisation to encourage such support structures, managed either through learning mentors, orexternal agencies such as music services or Youth Music Action Zones.

Humphry Davy School in Penzance (which also houses Penwith Community Music Centre) recently co-funded theappointment of a Music Development Officer, whose remit is to bridge opportunities available in school and community. Itwill be important to follow the progress of this initiative, since it fills (at least partially) the brokerage role many think isneeded, without additionally burdening teaching staff.

Regional Youth Music Action Zones have demonstrated great success in organising projects for young people indisadvantaged areas. They have always provided advice and guidance, though usually on an ad-hoc basis. Musical Futuresis funding Sound Connections, who manage the London Youth Music Action Zone, to provide a more structured advice andguidance service through Musical Routes. In addition to an online searchable database of non-formal projects availablein their area, young people can be guided by learning advisors, based in Tower Hamlets, Lewisham and Hackney. Thescheme is in its early stages but if successful it is hoped to be made available to all young people in London. This couldbe an important future role for Youth Music Action Zones, particularly if networks can be established with local musicservices and youth services.

Participation and collaborationA single teacher in front of a class of thirty children cannot personalise learning.12

Earlier we suggested that new paradigms were needed for both schools, and music organisations and federations, in order

to bring their structures and services more in line with 21st century consumer demands. Such changes enable theconsumer to participate in the decisions taken, and services required, on their behalf. It is here that the link betweenparticipation and collaboration occurs. Indeed, our experiences in Musical Futures so far could be summarised as:

In The Shape of Things to Come: Personalised Learning Through Collaboration Charles Leadbeater argues thatpersonalising learning can only be made effective through collaboration. Unfortunately, the examples he cites are school-to-school(s) collaborations, omitting the impact that non-educational agencies can bring. Perhaps the arts are unusualamong secondary subjects in the diversity of agencies and organisations who offer parallel experiences to young people?

In chapter one we looked at the principles by which schools are being encouraged to create a new enterprise logic.

These principles, slightly reworded, could also be applied to achieve better collaboration between non-formal andformal agencies: The music participant is the most important unit of organisation, not the classroom, nor the music organisation Organisations cannot achieve transformation by acting alone they need to join networks to share knowledge,

address problems and pool resources Networks should involve individuals, agencies, institutions across public/private and educational/non-educational

divides New ways to allocate resources are needed to support this transformation

The national organisations signed up to the Music Manifesto have the potential to develop their own enterprise logic.Instead of occasional collaborations with schools and each other, it ought to be possible to build robust andcomprehensible federations, based around each young persons need, and not each organisations historical territory. In

itself this is no small task, since it demands a substantial re-engineering of structures, services and resources. Howeverwe have seen (admittedly in micro-scale) in all three Musical Futures pathfinders that such cross-sector networks cantransform the musical lives of young people.

Questions:How have digital technologies helped you to respond better to young peoples individual needs?

Is there a readily available source of information, advice and guidance for the young people you work with?

Is your work with young people assessed (formally or non-formally) for learning? To what extent is this process owned byyoung people?

1 1 P E R S O N A L I S I N G M U S I C L E A R N I N G

Consultation + Collaboration = Consolidation of Participation(with young people) (of education providers) (of young peoples music-making)

12Leadbeater, C (2005) p 1213There is much to be learned here from the more developed non-formal/formal collaborations being constructed in school sports

partnerships (for more information see: www.youthsporttrust.org/subpage/education/index.html)

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In Leeds, a number of successful out-of-hours projects are planning tocontinue after Musical Futures funding ends, for example:

Breaking The Mould - an eclectic improvisational ensemble for those not yetready to join a conventional ensemble. Jane Carr, Head of Music at RodillianSchool is receiving training from community musicians in composition and

improvisation. She says:These ideas can now be used and adapted for both classroom teaching andextra-curricular activities across all age ranges.the intention is to continuedeveloping an improvisation-based workshop as a weekly session at Rodillian,using techniques and ideas introduced by visiting artists;

Mu-Fuse Combo a transition ensemble for all-comers of anystandard. The school technician is a participant and will lead the ensemble withsupport from 6th form musicians by the third term of the project;

Writers Unblocked - Song-writing,re-mixing, using technology to create music/videos, plus online tutoring. Year12 13 music-tech peer-mentors are supporting year 8 10 students from

Allerton Grange School, with support from community musicians and the Headof Music .

In truth, it is possibly too soon for us to say, but there are some early indicatorswhich are borne out by those schools leading the personalising learning agendamore generally.

Firstly, more than finding additional resources, or introducing new practices,personalising music learning is primarily about a mindset shift. This shift is awayfrom the concept of schools and music education agencies requiring students toadjust to their long-established infrastructures and operational scripts, towarda new view of the learner, requiring deep support 13 as David Hargreaves

noted deep learning demands deep support . Such support determines that welisten to, advise, and involve the young person in all aspects of their musiclearning and find ways to create structures around these processes.

In the piloting of the Whole Curriculum Approach in Nottingham, Henry MellishSchool were unable to accommodate the multi-ensemble playing in theirdedicated music spaces. Alternative spaces (Including the school library!) wereshared with rock band rehearsals as a short-term solution. This year the musicdepartment successfully put their case for additional accommodation, dueto student enthusiasm for the experience. Similarly, Big Wood School iscommissioning the design-and-build of a new performing arts block, to enableMusical Futures work to be consolidated in future years.

Secondly, once this mindset shift has occurred, we have noticed that teachers,tutors and freelance musicians have demonstrated great resourcefulness inresponding to the challenges which arise when young people are co-directingtheir learning. What dedicated professional would not want to react positivelyto more young people becoming excited about their music-making?

I would say that Musical Futures hasbeen one of the main factors inchanging the ethos of the school toone where the kids collaborate witheach other, and it has changed theperception of the school into a place

where resources are made availablefor them to do activities which theyfind interesting and value. On thatbasis I would recommend it to aschool anywhere in the country.Tony Bond, Deputy HeadteacherHenry Mellish School, Nottingham

In this final chapter we examine thebenefits, challenges and potentiallimits of personalising music learning,based primarily upon the knowledgeemerging from Musical Futuresactivities. Tony Bonds enthusiasm forreplicating the model developed inNottingham is undeniable, but thedeeply-enriched curriculum which hisschool enjoys is being funded by thePaul Hamlyn Foundation, and for alimited time only. How manysuccessful innovations are sustainablein Henry Mellish School or replicableelsewhere, without such financialsupport?

How can the extra-curricular projectsdeveloped in Leeds becomemainstreamed into music serviceprovision and made morewidely available?

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personalising musiclearning is primarily

about a mindset shift.

Chapter Four:Can personal become universal?

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Thirdly, personalising music learning invariably unearths the most importantresource music educators have at their disposal: young people themselves.Many young people taking part in Musical Futures have shown the leadership,team-working, affinity and emotional intelligence skills which can be built uponin future. School managers were hitherto unaware of these qualities in theirstudents, simply because they had never had the opportunity to display them.

In Hertfordshire, many pupils who had not previously excelled or cooperated inmusic classes surprised their teachers by showing themselves to be able andwilling musicians, or to possess previously hidden leadership qualities.I was completely gob-smacked to see Scott singing in front of the whole class. Iwouldnt have got that. I mean, Ive got boys in my choir, but, you know,theyre not that kind of Year 9 kid who will just not have a care and just sing.We were really thrilled with that actually. Head of Music

Luke is a disaffected kid. Im going to show you his report from last year, Ivegot a copy for you. He got nothing but Ds and Es. This year hes got A all theway through for effort and achievement. Head of Music

I think my behaviour grade has gone up. Because like when youre in theclassroom just doing like written and stuff, you get bored and you just muckaround and stuff. But when youre doing this you cant get bored. Year 9 pupil

We were kind of silly at first and then we realised by ourselves that we had toget on with it. Year 9 pupil

None of the above examples involve additional resourcing but they do presentsignificant personal and professional challenges, as change inevitably does.

It is an inescapable conclusion that most of the successful innovations we havewitnessed in Musical Futures have come about when a number of cross-sectorprofessionals come together in a response to young peoples needs. Usually thisis a liberating experience for all involved and one which schools frequently wishto alter from occasional to structural. Such collegiate approaches to learning

need time to develop, careful planning, the mutual trust of all involved(including learners) and a long-term commitment to partnership working, withall its strengths and stresses. To introduce new collaborative ways of workingwill invariably require additional management and administration costs, at leastto begin with. As a result, such long-term partnership building can often beseen as prohibitive, and may be less feasible in rural or remote communities.

Nevertheless, opportunities exist in two realms which can be harnessed tofacillitate a new enterprise logic of music education. The first is the growingfreedom for schools to have self-determination over their own budgets14. Thesecond lies within the consensus (referred to earlier) among non-statutoryorganisations and music services that more coordinated frameworks need tobe created. The dash-for-cash mentality and the reality of the glut/shortage

picture of regional provision do not always sit well with a need to work towardsa more universal, personalised range of opportunities. The mindset shift couldalso apply to programme managers and a change from competition tocollaboration. This is easier where organisations have long-term funding stability.


13The Governments Extended Schools programmes, Every Child Matters and YouthMatters initiatives all offer significant opportunities if a coherent advocacy strategy isrealised for more embedded collaborations.14Hargreaves, D (2005)

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Practical steps to personalisationWhether in or out of school, perhaps the most significantincentive to create more personalised music learning is inknowing, firstly, that the potential benefits warrant therisk/effort and, secondly, what conditions need to bepresent to make sure the innovation is an effective andenjoyable one for all concerned.

Through listening to the experiences of school

leaders the SSAT Schools Trust pamphletshave identified six core themes of successfulpersonalisation: Engagement Responsibility Independence Confidence Maturity Co-construction (of teaching and learning)14.

In our own introductory pamphlet, we identified a mixtureof capacities and conditions which, in our experience, were

likely to enhance the capacity for personalisation:

Capacities: The capacity to encourage self-generated learning to

lessen the reliance on the lesson The capacity to increase students voice in

co-managing their learning The capacity to enable student choice in where, when

and with whom learning happens The capacity to assess and accredit learning in all three

sectors (formal, non-formal and informal)

Conditions: That young people have genuine ownership of the

learning materials and mechanisms That learning offers an effectively managed

combination of challenge and risk, and that youngpeople are positively encouraged to take risks

In our experience the key determinant, the spark whichignites personalised learning, is the commitment bythe school, music service or organisation, and theirpractitioners, to the co-construction of the learningprogramme(s). For many adults this is the most difficultstep on the journey, often confounding ones instincts andprofessional training. Once this exists, however, youngpeople invariably become engaged in their music learningand a virtuous spiral begins. Bringing our own experiencesto the six core themes, this spiral (with co-constructionat its foundation) has generally been seen in thechart opposite:

Continued Co-constructionof teaching, learning

and assessment

Maturity in relationships anddeveloping mutual respect

with staff and peers

Co-construction by staff andstudents of the design of

teaching and learning

Independence in continuinglearning in and out of school

Confidence in ones ability toaccept challenge and risk

Responsibility in managinglearning and behaviour

Engagement in learning

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References and furtherreadingCaldwell, B (2005) The NewEnterprise Logic of Schools,Specialist Schools Trust

Green, L (2005) How PopularMusicians Learn: A Way Ahead ForMusic Education, London and New

York: Ashgate PressHargreaves, D (2004-2006)Personalising Learning PamphletSeries, Specialist Schools andAcademics Trust

Holt, J (1967) How Children Learn,Penguin (Revised edition)

Holt, J (1964) How Children Fail ,Penguin (Revised Edition)

Leadbeater, C (2005) The Shape ofThings to Come: personalised learning

through collaboration, DfESPublications

Leadbeater, C (2004) Learning AboutPersonalisation: how can we put thelearner at the heart of the educationsystem? DfES Publications

Perrett, D (2005) Peer Education inMusic, (Unpublished paper)

Price, D (2005) Musical Futures: AnEmerging Vision, Paul HamlynFoundation

Price, D (2005) Transforming MusicalLeadership, Paul Hamlyn Foundation

Stedman, P (2005) IndividualisedLearning and Choice (in Rites ofPassage: Effective Transition andCurriculum Continuity in MusicEducation), NAME Publications

Zuboff, S, and Maxmin, J. (2002) TheSupport Economy: Why CorporationsAre Failing Individuals and the NextEpisode of Capitalism, Penguin

In conclusion, how might the impact of more personalised music learning beseen within those schools and organisations seeking to innovate? Although onlymid-way through their second year, Musical Futures pathfinders report a numberof early indicators: All pathfinder schools note the emergence of peer tutors and group leaders

in students previously labelled disengaged or with behavioural difficulties Within last years Hertfordshire schools, 27% of young people are now

studying GCSE Music and all schools have noted a significant increase indemand for instrumental tuition; in Nottingham, 47% of students expect totake GSCE in future (national average is 7-8%)

63% of students in Nottingham Musical Futures schools now enjoy theirmusic lessons very much, a further 28% had quite enjoyed the musiclessons 91% of students are positive about their music learning

In Big Wood School, Nottingham, demand for instrumental tuition hasquadrupled in the two years Musical Futures has been running

When asked 99% of Hertfordshire students preferred the Musical Futuresinformal model of learning to their previous experience in school

As we said at the outset, good practitioners have been personalising musiclearning for years. However, the opportunities which now exist for collaborationmake it essential for such innovations to be spread through networks of musiceducation practitioners, from all sectors. In an earlier pamphlet we discussed

the importance of sharing knowledge freely and easily, modelled upon opensource principles which flourish among digital software developers and thehacker community. For our part, all Musical Futures outputs are available atno cost and copyright-free we are compiling a series of practical guides forsecondary teachers and music services to accompany this pamphlet. We hopethey may encourage practitioners to personalise their practices, or challengehabitual thinking.

The challenges for all involved in music learning is perhaps best summarisedthrough a series of directed questions, which we end with. We invite all thoseinterested in personalising music learning to continue the discussion through ourwebsite: www.musicalfutures.org.uk

Questions:Headteachers and Learning ManagersIs your school engaged in personalising learning? Is this reflected in music?Do some of the organisational, structural and resource challenges highlightedearlier apply to youre your school? If so, how might these be overcome?

Classroom Music Teachers and Instrumental TutorsAre your young people co-constructors of their learning? If not, how might theirvoice and choice become more evident? Is there scope to informalise thelearning processes through, for example, peer tutoring, project-basedlearning models?

Community and Freelance MusiciansHow do you music projects complement students learning at school? What isthe extent of collaboration with formal/non-formal deliverers in your work?

Music Service and Music Organisation LeadersDo the arguments for a new enterprise logic have relevance in your area ofactivity? How might collaborative projects become more widely available?Are there local resources (human and financial) which could be pooled moreeffectively to make such projects mainstream?


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Acknowledgements:The Musical Futures project is dedicated to the memory of Jane Attenborough,who died tragically in the Asian Tsunami. Jane was the arts manager at the PaulHamlyn Foundation who, along with the project Chair, Lord Moser, gave shapeto the project from the PHF trustees original aspirations. Without her, therewould have been no project, and whatever we achieve through the project isdue in large part to her diligence and support.Thanks are due to: The Musical Futures Pathfinders, hosted by music services in Leeds,

Nottingham and Hertfordshire; The Musical Futures Research and Development projects the Guildhall

School of Music and Dramas CONNECT project and Peter Renshawsassociated report, and Sound Connections (the London Youth Music ActionZone) for integrating the projects ideas and research questions within theiroverall activities and for giving us practical demonstrations of the ideascontained within this pamphlet.

The Musical Futures Steering and Advisory groups for their comments andcontributions to the progressive drafts of this pamphlet.

For this pamphlet we are especially grateful to Prof. David Hargreaves, theprojects consultant, in sharing with us his illuminating thoughts, writings and

leadership on Personalising Learning. We are also indebted to Duncan SonesAssociates for their work in managing the Musical Futures outputs, including thispamphlet, and SYNERGY.TV for the website.

Open access. Some rights reserved.As the publisher of this work, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation has an open accesspolicy which enables anyone to access our content electronically withoutcharge. We want to encourage the circulation of our work as widely as possiblewithout affecting the ownership of the copyright, which remains with thecopyright holder.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs License.The following are some of the conditions imposed by the licence: Musical Futures and the author is credited; The Musical Futures website address (www.musicalfutures.org.uk) is

published together with a copy of this policy statement in a prominentposition;

The text is not altered and is used in full (the use of extracts under existingfair usage rights is not affected by this condition);

The work is not resold; A copy of the work or link to its use online is sent to the Paul Hamlyn

Foundation for our archive.

(To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.5/)

Musical Futures Advisers:

Norinne BetjemannArts Council England

Colin Brackley-JonesFederation of Music Services

Stefan Burkey

Teacher Training AgencyRgis Cochefert*Programme Manager, PHF

Christina Coker*Youth Music

Ben ColeYouth Music

Robert Dufton*Director, PHF

Richard HallamOxfordshire Music Service

Jane Hamlyn*Chair, PHF

Valerie HannonDfES Innovation Unit

David Hargreaves*Project Consultant

Marc JaffreyMusic Manifesto

Richard JonesSpecialist Schools andAcademies Trust

Nicholas KenyonBBC Proms

Margaret Martin-Griffiths

OFSTEDLord Moser*Chairman, Musical Futures

Angela OveringtonDfES

David PriceProject Leader, Musical Futures

Philippa StaffDCMS

David SulkinYouth Music

* Denotes Steering Group Member

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musical futures

paul hamlyn foundationspecial project

Section 1 Personalising MusicLearning pamphlet

Section 2 Classroom Resource forInformal Music Learningat Key Stage 3(with complementarynotes, CD-ROM, 2 audioCDs and pupil evaluationsheet)

Section 3 The Whole CurriculumApproach - InclusiveMusic Practice at Year 8(with complementarynotes and DVD-ROM)

Section 4 A Guide to PersonalisingExtra-curricular Music -

Activities for 11-18year olds

Teachers Pack Contents

Musical Futures(www.musicalfutures.org.uk)is a national project fundedby The Paul HamlynFoundation that aims todevise new and imaginativeways of engaging youngpeople aged 1119 in music.

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