Leadership

Whole Class Ensemble Teaching Research Report

This research by Birmingham City University reveals that almost 460,000 school children learnt how to play a musical instrument for the first-time last year, following a recent boost in government funding. Leadership Briefing 12.05 (137)

The research highlights an issue with converting musical opportunities into longer-term musical learning – something the sector will need to monitor and act upon in the coming years. The researchers also found that the majority of musical learning takes place in Key Stage 2 of primary school and Key Stage 3 of secondary school.

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      string(249) "This NFER report on the 2014/15 school year looks at Music education hubs (MEHs) and concludes that MEHs have continued to deliver on their core roles and worked with an increased number of schools and pupils.
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      string(321) "... worked with 18,811 schools in 2014/15, representing 86.0 per cent of thestate-funded schools in their areas. ■ Music education hubs provided Whole Class Ensemble Teaching (WCET) to over 631,000 pupilsin 2014/15 representing an increase of 42,177 pupils in Years 1-9 since the ..."
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      string(4388) "Leadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.KEY DATA ON MUSIC EDUCATION HUBS 2015KeywordsMusic EducationHubs, schools,pupils,quantitativeevidence,instrument,music tuition,CPD,  teachers,choral eventsSummaryThis NFER report on the 2014/15 school year looks at Music education hubs (MEHs) andconcludes that MEHs have continued to deliver on their core roles and worked with anincreased number of schools and pupils.Music education hubs (MEHs) were created to provide access, opportunities and excellence in musiceducation for all children and young people in England. A total of 123 MEHs were established andstarted work in 2012.This report provides quantitative evidence on the extent of MEH activity in 2014/15.Main Points: ■ The findings from this survey show that MEHs have continued to deliver on their core roles andworked with an increased number of schools and pupils in 2014/15. ■ This  survey results show that MEHs worked with 18,811 schools this year, representing 86.0 percent of the state-funded schools in their areas. They were focusing their efforts on reaching theremaining schools, and using a variety of approaches to engage with schools against a backdropof increasing academisation and competing priorities. ■ Music education hubs provided WCET to over 631,000 pupils in 2014/15 and also represents a0.6 per cent increase in the proportion of the school population in those year groups receivingWCET. Music education hubs also provided individual or group tuition as well as providingopportunities for pupils to play and sing in a wide range of ensembles and groups. However,the number of ensembles provided by MEHs and schools reduced by 8.1 percentage points thisyear. ■ Music education hubs provided a range of support for singing in 2014/15, through organising anddelivering over 2,700 choirs and vocal groups, as well as supporting school singing strategiesthrough embedding singing within their WCET, providing CPD for teachers and organising arange of choral events. ■ Over a quarter of pupils who had received WCET in 2013/14 continued to learn an instrumentthrough the MEH partnership in 2014/15. ■ The majority of pupils receiving tuition from MEHs and their partners (77.4 per cent) were at entrylevel, with fewer at higher levels. This represents a higher proportion of pupils at entry levelWeek Commencing 17th October 2016https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/MEHE01/MEHE01.pdfLeadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.compared with the previous year. ■ The characteristics of pupils engaging with MEH provision appears to indicate that participation inWCET and ensembles is broadly representative of the population as a whole in terms of ethnicbackground and deprivation. ■ In financial terms, overall MEHs experienced a drop in income in the 2014-15 financial year, whichreduced the income available from September 2014 – March 2015 (winter and spring terms) untila rise in hub income from April to July 2015 (summer term). Yet despite the challenging financialclimate, parental and school contributions remained at the same level and MEHs increased theirincome generation from other sources.Key Findings: ■ Music education hubs worked with 18,811 schools in 2014/15, representing 86.0 per cent of thestate-funded schools in their areas. ■ Music education hubs provided Whole Class Ensemble Teaching (WCET) to over 631,000 pupilsin 2014/15 representing an increase of 42,177 pupils in Years 1-9 since the previous year. ■ Over a quarter of pupils who had received WCET in 2013/14 continued to learn an instrumentthrough their MEH partnerships in 2014/15. ■ Participation in WCET and ensembles was broadly representative of the population as a whole interms of ethnic background and deprivation. However, pupils with SEN were considerably under-represented, as were boys.WEB LINKKey Data On Music Education Hubs 2015https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/MEHE01/MEHE01.pdf"
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Leadership

Key Data On Music Education Hubs 2015

13 Oct 2016

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      string(356) "... of teacher-pupil interaction on which much learning depends has shown little sign of improvement and there is some evidence of decline.· The amount of whole class teaching has increased but without changes to the dominant didactic form of interaction.· The primary curriculum has become narrowly focused on literacy and ..."
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Folder: Leadership Briefings Issue 3.04 (28)"
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      string(5739) "ResourcePOLICY FRAMEWORKS FOR ENGLISH PRIMARY EDUCATIONOriginal DocumentGovernance, Funding, Reform and Quality Assurance – Policy Frameworks for English Primary Education. The Primary Review is an independent inquiry which is looking at 10 major themes before publishing final recommendations in October 2008. This briefing provides an overview of the latest four Primary Review Research Reports published in February 2008 which suggest that the effects of an increasing government control of the curriculum between 1988 and 2007 has led to a narrowing of the curriculum and a decrease in the quality of English primary schooling.KeywordsPrimary Review, Governance, Funding, Reform, Quality Assurance, Policy Frameworks, English Primary EducationSummaryThe four reports:Research Survey 3/2: The Trajectory and Impact of National Reform: curriculum and assessment in English primary schools (Dominic Wyse, Elaine McCreery and Harry Torrance)3/2 reportResearch Survey 4/3: Quality Assurance in English Primary Education (Peter Cunningham and Philip Raymont)4/3 reportResearch Survey 10/1: The Funding of English Primary Education (Philip Noden and Anne West)10/1 reportResearch Survey 10/2: The Governance and Administration of English Primary Education (Maria Balarin and Hugh Lauder)10/2 reportWhat links these four reports is their concern with the framework of policy and legislation within which contemporary primary schooling is set. Three of the reports note the relatively tight degree of control, compared with many other countries, which the UK government exerts over the day-to-day work of English primary schools.In England, government policy does not merely frame or facilitate educational practice so much as seek actively to shape it via national initiatives, strategies, curricula, tests, teacher training standards and inspection arrangements. Therefore, the decisions of ministers and the national agencies are in their way no less important than those of teachers themselves. This raises important questions about accountability, culpability and justice in the apportioning of credit and blame for what goes on in the nation’s primary schools.Primary Review Research Report 3/2: The trajectory and impact of national reform: curriculum and assessment in English primary schools.Main Findings:· Government control of the curriculum and its assessment strongly increased during the period from 1988 to 2007, especially after 1997.· The quality of teacher-pupil interaction on which much learning depends has shown little sign of improvement and there is some evidence of decline.· The amount of whole class teaching has increased but without changes to the dominant didactic form of interaction.· The primary curriculum has become narrowly focused on literacy and numeracy at the expense of the broader curriculum; even time devoted to science, which was one of the success stories of the post-1988 national curriculum, seems to be in marginal decline since 1997.· The high stakes testing system has had a narrowing effect on the curriculum and has also adversely affected the quality of teacher-pupil interaction.  International research from other systems including the USA also demonstrates these effects of high stakes testing.Primary Review Research Report 4/3: Quality Assurance in English Primary Education.Main Findings:· Constant change in quality assurance procedures has proved a great burden and cause for complaint by schools and teachers. While some change is inevitable, to meet shifting cultural and political expectations, the degree and pace of change has been exceptionally great in the last fifteen years.· National inspection monitors the schools, and generates data, but less overtly effects change by influencing curriculum and teaching methods.  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Leadership

Policy Frameworks for English Primary Education

7 Mar 2008

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Leadership Briefing 9.09(105)"
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      string(339) "... their areas. Core roles forMEHs were:1. Ensure that every child aged 5-18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument (otherthan voice) through whole-class ensemble teaching programmes for ideally a year (but for aminimum of a term) of weekly tuition on the same instrument.2. Provide opportunities ..."
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      string(321) "Music Education Hubs were created to provide opportunities in music education for children and young people. This Arts Council England study published by NFER concludes that the hubs appear to be fulfilling their core purpose, and supporting young people to progress with their music-making.
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      string(5349) "Leadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.KEY DATA ON MUSIC EDUCATION HUBS 2014KeywordsMusic EducationHubs, musiceducation,children,young people,progressionroutes, state-funded schoolsSummaryMusic Education Hubs were created to provide opportunities in music education for childrenand young people. This Arts Council England study published by NFER concludes that thehubs appear to be fulfilling their core purpose, and supporting young people to progress withtheir music-making.Music Education Hubs (MEHs) were created to provide access, opportunities and excellence in musiceducation for all children and young people. A total of 123 MEHs were established and started work in2012. NFER carried out secondary analysis of a survey conducted by Arts Council England in Autumn2014.The study concludes that hubs appear to be fulfilling their core roles and there are signs of progresssince 2012/13, with hubs providing WCET to a larger number of pupils and providing/supporting alarger number and range of ensembles. Hubs have also increased provision for singing. The mainissues concern the participation of pupils with SEN in ensembles and the need to help secureprogression routes so that children and young people can make good progress with their music-making.Conclusions: ■ This report provides evidence that music education hubs are addressing their core roles and areworking with the majority (83.8 per cent) of state-funded schools in their areas. Core roles forMEHs were:1. Ensure that every child aged 5-18 has the opportunity to learn a musical instrument (otherthan voice) through whole-class ensemble teaching programmes for ideally a year (but for aminimum of a term) of weekly tuition on the same instrument.2. Provide opportunities to play in ensembles and to perform from an early stage.3. Ensure that clear progression routes are available and affordable to all young people.4. Develop a singing strategy to ensure that every pupil sings regularly and that choirs andother vocal ensembles are available in the area. ■ Hubs are providing many pupils with opportunities to play and sing in ensembles, with a wide-range of different types of ensembles and groups provided in schools and at area level. Mostensembles are provided independently by schools. ■ Ensembles are available to pupils from an early age, with the majority of attendees aged between7 and 11 years old. However, it is difficult to know whether these ensembles offer sufficientWeek Commencing 7th April 2015http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/Music_Education_Hubs_2014_Report_final_March_2015.pdfhttps://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/359483/DFE-RR286_-_Are_free_schools_using_innovative_approaches.pdfLeadership BriefingLeadership Briefing – www.teachingtimes.comReports Summaries – a weeklyservice of essential summaries,in-depth reports and criticalanalysis that’s new and relevantto education, linked to originalsource documents.opportunities all pupils to take part in group music making. ■ Just under a third of pupils continued to learn an instrument after receiving WCET in the previousyear. Clearly, this continuation rate is influenced by a number of factors, including the willingnessof schools and parents to encourage, support and pay for children’s instrumental learning. ■ Primary-aged pupils predominate among ensemble players (and this may lead to a drop out aschildren make the transition from primary to secondary school). ■ In terms of standards, three-quarters (73.0 per cent) of pupils are currently performing at ‘entrylevel’. ■ WCET provision is serving an ethnically diverse population, with a slightly higher proportion ofpupils eligible for the Pupil Premium in the schools and year groups receiving WCET than in thenational population. ■ Pupils with SEN are considerably under-represented among those participating in ensembles andchoirs, as are boys. ■ There would seem to be potential for hubs to increase their engagement with special schools andother schools with higher than average proportions of SEN pupils in order to share good practiceand enable more pupils with SEN to take part in ensembles and choirs. There is also potential forhubs to consider what more could be done to encourage boys to take part in ensembles. ■ Hubs worked with most of the state-funded schools in their areas and provided Whole ClassEnsemble Teaching (WCET) to over half a million pupils in 2013/2014. ■ Hubs are addressing the aspiration to provide every child aged 5-18 with the opportunity to learn amusical instrument largely by targeting pupils in primary school. They are reaching 39.7 per centof pupils in Year 4. ■ Just under a third of pupils continued to learn an instrument in 2013/14 after receiving WCET inthe previous year. ■ Hubs’ total income in was £187,822,222, most of which came from the MEH grant and schoolcontributions.WEB LINKKey Data on Music Education Hubs 2014http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/Music_Education_Hubs_2014_Report_final_March_2015.pdf"
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Leadership

Key Data on Music Education Hubs 2014

1 Apr 2015

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      string(361) "... beacceptable. I have mixed feelings about this. SometimesI believe that we make our lessons too complicated. Theplanning becomes so detailed that there is no real whole-class teaching structure to it.What didn’t surprise me from the research is the level offormulaic teaching that is taking place. There is ..."
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      string(5765) "RepoRting23Issue 14 • primaryleadershipTODAYtheir philosophy of teaching is.  We ask teachers if theythink they are ‘formative’ teachers. We have been askedright back, ‘what does that mean, I have never heard ofthat before?’ Only a short time into this research we arewondering if teachers in 2008 need a philosophy. Theycertainly don’t think they do.They have ‘Strategies’ for most of the important thingsie numeracy, literacy, AfL, and they have ’Frameworks’to plan to and from and they have centrally suppliedschemes of work to save the ‘tedium’ of matchingteaching material to developmental or interest levels.Above all, as they are quick to tell us, if they follow theseformulae they are ‘safe’ and ‘secure’ in the accountabilityand auditing processes conducted by their own SeniorLeadership Team. So, ‘Why did I become a teacher inthe first place?’ (Palmer 1999) To explain our use of theword definition in the title of this section of our report, itis based on our belief that teachers need to understandand to embrace what formative teaching is, how itshould not respond to the klaxon of the summative bellbut instead to the learning needs of the child, involvingthe child centrally in the origination and the movementof his/her learning.DepthDepth of learning: this equates with the immersion of theteacher and the child in the teaching and learning process.Our search is to identify through our observations ofteaching and in conversations with children, teachersand LA officers, their priorities in planning for teachingand learning. How is an independent and lifelong learnerdeveloped? Is there a relationship between the intrinsicdevelopment of engagement, self-motivation, interest,research skills at an early stage of a child’s education andcurrent pedagogical practice?   Is the current observedparadigm of controlling teacher/passive recipient movingat pace through a prescribed programme going todevelop a generation of ‘deep and reflective thinkers’and lifelong learners?DemythologisingAlready AfL has collected too much ‘clutter’ ofterminology; it is pre-occupied by gimmicks (WILFs,WALTs, TIBs and OLIs) rather than focusing on thespecific understanding and practical application offormative assessment (FA), assessment for learning(AfL), continuous assessment (CA) and teacherassessment (TA). This relates to a scant understandingof the works of the original thinkers, misrepresentedor ‘popularised’ by the travelling consultants who seea buck or two to be made from the centre-peripherytraining model for AfL.Is there a pack? we were asked by one teacher,misunderstanding both the purpose of our visit andthe purpose of formative assessment. If there isn’t a‘pack’ do not expect it to be done because that waylies experimentation (to be frowned upon by SLT), thatway lies deviation (to be frowned on by everybody!) butthat way lies successful (and deep) formative teachingand learning.❛ In conversation with teachers we raise theword ‘differentiation’ and the shuffling ofembarrassment begins  ❜primaryleadershipTODAY • Issue 1424Assessment, RecoRding And RepoRtingIn a nutshell…Bill Boyle and Marie Charles are in the middle of a majorresearch report into the effectiveness of the AfL strategy. Theydescribe here some interim findings from their research. Itprovides a worrying view of the flimsy nature of AfL practicein our schools. They describe their impressions to date whichinclude a view of teachers following a formula  and beingreluctant to deviate due to the expectations of their seniorleadership teams. In this article they make reference to:a lack of genuine differentiation in classteaching to a formatreliance upon strategies and frameworkslack of depth in teaching and learninglack of real understanding about what AfL isThey challenge our readership to provide honest examplesof AfL in practice.●●●●●CommentA strongly expressed and worrying article. Some of itsurprised me whilst other sections didn’t. Firstly I wassurprised to read about the lack of differentiation. Certainlyas a school, our level of differentiation is high and simplyreferring to differentiation by outcome would not beacceptable. I have mixed feelings about this. SometimesI believe that we make our lessons too complicated. Theplanning becomes so detailed that there is no real whole-class teaching structure to it.What didn’t surprise me from the research is the level offormulaic teaching that is taking place. There is a veryprescribed menu of what should be included in a lesson inexistence. I believe this is constraining teachers enormouslyand allowing us to lose sight of what is actually good teaching.Good teaching is being responsive to our children. If weare spending too much time thinking about what we haveand haven’t included our intuitive response is undermined.What do you think?ProfileMarie Charles has recently left a 12 year career of teachingin Early Years and KS1 classrooms to join the CFAS teamat Manchester working  on formative assessment research.Marie has a deep interest in emerging literacy research andhas developed a formative analysis and  reporting systemto counterbalance the focus on summative reporting ofchildren’s achievement.Bill Boyle is Professor of Educational Assessment andDirector of the Centre for Formative Assessment Studies(CFAS). He has been in the School of Education since 1997.Previously he was  a primary teacher and LEA Adviser.  Muchof his work involves working with teachers in exploringways of linking teaching, learning and assessment"
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        string(5) "whole"
        [1]=>
        string(5) "class"
        [2]=>
        string(8) "teaching"
        [3]=>
        string(8) "research"
        [4]=>
        string(6) "report"
      }
    }
    ["categories"]=>
    array(1) {
      [0]=>
      array(3) {
        ["value"]=>
        string(10) "Leadership"
        ["matchLevel"]=>
        string(4) "none"
        ["matchedWords"]=>
        array(0) {
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Leadership

Are we doing it right?

28 Sep 2015