Despite the long-established move towards the inclusion of composition as an element of music in schools, many teachers continue to be wary of it. Lack of confidence amongst women music teachers in their own abilities as composers may be a key to this situation. It is suggested that this arises as a result of rarely seeing music by women composers played and studied with the same attention afforded to music written by men. The popular mythology that only men have the ability to compose is challenged, and an argument is made for the inclusion of music by women composers (past and present) in the curriculum of schools and colleges. Practical suggestions are made as to how this can be achieved despite the current lack of resources.

As rumours of a new method of teaching music introduced in Hungary by Zoltán Kodály began to spread early in the 1960s a few uncertain attempts were made to introduce it in English schools. Progress was impeded by language problems: the provision of English song texts to fit Hungarian rhythms and a scarcity of background information in English both proved handicaps. The appearance in translation of F. Sándor's compendium, Music Education in Hungary, in 1966 eventually extended our knowledge of the new method; and the details of the origin of the Kodály Concept it contained were naturally accepted as authentic.

This article examines those claims – since found to be based on questionable evidence – and urges publication of a more reliable account.

The Music, Gender and Education Conference was organised jointly by Women in Music and Bristol University and held as a weekend event with contributors from a wide field of working contexts and interests in music education. The group of papers which follows is indicative of the breadth of standpoints and approaches to research which were represented.

After working with many groups that have been culturally displaced, from victims of the holocaust to black teenagers from the ghetto, Reuven Feuerstein, an Israeli psychologist, has come to the conclusion that we learn everything through cultural transmission. Without a common value system young people do not have the necessary tools to connect with mainstream education. From this starting point Feuerstein believes learning has to be ‘modelled’ and mediated by the teacher to ensure understanding and progression. Above all, Feuerstein sees knowledge and skills as transferable, so that children who develop skills in one activity should be able to examine what they've accomplished and apply this in other areas of activity. Feuerstein's ideas have been seen to be universally applicable in education as a whole, and these principles have much to offer the class music teacher.

Compulsory classroom music in Upper Schools is often not only ineffective but occasionally counterproductive. The enthusiastic young musician may be deterred from pursuing and enjoying the subject on account of the apathy or hostility of his or her contemporaries.

By permitting the motivated children to choose to study music, in other words to ‘opt in’, their interest and general musical education is greatly enriched. They are being taught in the company of like-minded enthusiasts.

Extra-curricular activities, which the author regards as a pinnacle of music making in the Upper School, receive enhanced status because of the standing of the subject in the school at classroom level.

How do we channel teenagers' interest in music? What guides our music teaching today, and what possibilities are there for development and change? These questions have given me occasion to take a closer look at the situation of music teaching today.

Many teachers have asked themselves how we in the comprehensive school and the music school can look after the zest and creative power which are often exhibited by teenagers when they perform music freely, not under the direct control of a teacher. I have also, on quite a number of occasions during lessons, registered resignation and tedium on the part of pupils.

The consequence has been drop-out from music school – sometimes experienced as a relief both by teacher and pupil. Despite the fact that the educational orientation has been based on a ‘musical encounter’ between teacher and pupil, this encounter has not occurred (or has sometimes occurred with a difference which certainly might have been corrected). But the pupil's great interest in music has not diminished – great interest, that is, in music as the pupil understands the term!

‘Improvisation’ is a provocative word. For some the word is synonymous with lack of discipline, absence of intellectual rigour and anti-musical randomness; for others, it embodies life-giving qualities of freedom, spontaneity and natural expression. The polarisation is equally evident in music education circles: those who regard the process in terms of training and appreciation perhaps favouring the former view, while those who tend towards the notion of education through music doubtless endorsing the latter.

This paper is an attempt to see whether lofty ideals of sound education are being achieved in primary education since music is a sine qua non. It defines primary school in Nigeria and the general objectives of primary education. It reflects on the type of education the Nigerian child received both in the traditional society and in the colonial era, and the methods used. What role did music play? Furthermore, it looks at the state of music now, and how things went wrong in the middle. It underscores the importance of music in the primary school curriculum and makes recommendations on improvement.

It can be argued that Swanwick’s research and scholarship established the field of music education as an area of interdisciplinary study in the United Kingdom. A significant and seminal publication in this legacy is Swanwick’s work with Tillman on the sequence of musical development based on Tillman’s empirical study of children’s compositions. This paper will aim to place the resulting ‘spiral’ in the wider context of Swanwick’s meta-theory of music education and to understand some of the critical issues surrounding it. The paper will conclude with an appraisal of Swanwick’s impact on the theory and practice of music education.

The purpose of this service-learning action research study was to develop and investigate after-school individualised vocal lessons for secondary students aged 14–18 years (n = 15) taught by preservice music educators (PMEs) (n = 12) in the United States. In service learning, all parties should benefit from the experience while addressing curricular and community needs. Therefore, our intentions were to: (a) improve secondary student preparedness for solo experiences, (b) provide an authentic teaching experience to improve the quality of instruction given by PMEs, and (c) develop a mutually beneficial and collaborative service-learning experience. The following themes emerged from the data: (a) perceptions of teaching disposition – such as confidence, interpersonal skills and enthusiasm; (b) perceptions of teaching skills – such as student engagement, questioning techniques and responsive teaching; and (c) perceptions of pedagogical content knowledge – such as vocal anatomy, physiology and pedagogy.

This study aims to increase understanding of the values and outcomes of teacher action research in conservatoire education. Teacher action research has been found to stimulate both professional development and improvement of teaching practice. A multiple-case study design was employed to examine teachers’ activities and their perceptions of the value of action research. Findings from the cross-case analysis include teachers’ perceptions of action research as a way to stimulate the advancement of both their teaching practice and their professional development. Constructive collaborations and self-reflections related to teacher action research were found to reinforce their learning and teaching.

This article presents some arguments in favour of a student-centred learning and teaching approach for higher music education (HME), with specific reference to conservatoire settings in the United Kingdom. In support of student-centred pedagogy, theoretical modelling is undertaken to offer a model of motivation accounting for both individual and group learning environments, thus drawing together diverse pedagogical research into learner “self-efficacy,” “distributive” classroom agency and partnership models of learning and teaching. Based on the author’s own teaching practice with MA Music students at Leeds Conservatoire, two student-centred classroom strategies are outlined: Critical Response Process (CRP) and practice as research. These strategies are evaluated via theoretical and, in the case of CRP, primary research data from a questionnaire presented to MA Music students reflecting on their experience. Finally, an overarching student-centred framework for HME course design is proposed, cross-mapping different learning activities, knowledge paradigms and forms of motivation based on the previous discussion.

In the present case study, we used observation and interviews to investigate the musical experience of a group of children of 3–4 years old. We look into the uniqueness of music in the child’s environment which belongs to the media, family and school contexts. The present study allows us to understand some implications of musical experiences for building social identity and the need to link formal music learning processes with those taking place in non-formal and informal spaces. Through this paper, we provide a vicarious experience that will enable the reader to understand our findings and raise new questions and interpretations.

Fifteen-sixteen years old Fenno–Swedish compulsory school pupils' written descriptions of ‘strong’ experiences were used for comparing (a) the frequency of experiences related to music and to other aesthetic areas (literature, drama etc.) and (b) the frequencies of music experiences related to different basic modes of confronting music: receptively (listening to live or technically reproduced music) or by productive activities (performing etc). In at least moderately urbanised regions, music was the art area most frequently evoking experiences. The ‘non-art’ area of nature was also important especially in some female and rural subgroups. Most music experiences related to listening, but a fifth involved performance activities. Among other things, attention was directed to the role of the school in preparing its pupils for music experiences, to the importance of productive activities, and to some problems regarding the efficiency of audiovisual media to evoke music experiences.