Is classical music 'dying out' in schools?

There has been much huffing, puffing and hand-wringing of late across social media – some of which was picked up and amplified by some broadsheet newspapers – suggesting that classical music is ‘dying out’ in schools. This opinion is most often broadcast by people who are not teachers or engaged in regular education work themselves; it is expressed by those who, when challenged, will cite one example of a parent that they know who believes that the particular school that their children attend offers no classical music, or even ‘no music at all’. (Something which I like to call the ‘my sister’s-husband’s-cousin’s-girlfriend’s-dog’ justification, mainly because if I didn’t laugh, the unsubstantiated claims of strangers on the internet would drive me mad!)

Personal experience

Those of us who work regularly in and with schools may instantly feel our hackles rise when told that schools aren’t teaching classical music, since we know this to be false. Anecdotal though it may be, our evidence for this is based on our own more relevant (and usually more wide-ranging) experience of music education. From my own experience, I have yet to meet a primary school which doesn’t, at the very least, play classical music in assembly, and I’m well aware that through the NPMEs in both England and Wales, and the free instrumental tuition scheme in Scotland, children have access to classical instrumental teaching (even if in some cases, due to funding issues, this is sometimes limited to whole-class experiences without long-term continuity).

In addition, I’ve reviewed and developed education materials for multiple orchestras and classical music ensembles; materials which only exist because they are commercially viable or meet fundraising criteria – there must be demand from schools for purchasing/using these, otherwise they wouldn’t be created. I’ve been to many packed-out classical music schools performances at venues right across the UK. This includes a recent schools matinee at the Royal Opera House, which I know is massively oversubscribed, with a huge waiting list of schools hoping to get tickets. Let me tell you, if you haven’t seen 1750 kids go nuts over The Magic Flute, you haven’t lived!

However, despite the fact that I am much more immersed in the music education world than some of the people who hold forth about what schools do or do not do, I cannot really criticise the other side for having no evidential basis without bringing a solid one of my own into play. So, I set out to discover once and for all – is classical music ‘dead’ in our schools?

What’s the evidence?

In order to answer this question as reliably as possible, I went to the horses’ mouths – primary and secondary music curriculum leads. Seventy-seven music leads were surveyed in person at the Curriculum Music Conference (the national annual event exploring music in the curriculum); a further 50 from the Music Education Solutions mailing list were surveyed online; and I posted some polls on Facebook groups for primary and secondary music teachers, 280 of whom responded (this last data set being less reliable than the others, as people self-opt into these groups and may not all be teachers, or could be based outside the UK).

For Facebook, I provided a single poll for ‘Our music curriculum uses classical music…’ with the options being ‘Exclusively’, ‘Mostly (the majority of the curriculum)’, ‘Moderately (an overall balance with other styles)’, ‘Infrequently’ or ‘Never’. The results were almost exactly as I had suspected, with 85% of respondents in both groups stating that their curriculum included classical music ‘Moderately’, in an overall balance with other styles. Only 1% of primary respondents, and 0% of secondary, stated that they ‘Never’ included classical music. So far, this was not a great indicator for the ‘death’ of classical music in schools!

For the conference delegates and mailing-list members, I developed a fuller survey to see what more I could find out about how classical music is used in schools. The first question was identical to that posed in the Facebook groups, and had similar results with an 82.5% score for ‘Moderate’ use of classical music in the curriculum, and 0% for ‘Never’. I then asked across in which skill and knowledge areas was classical music used: 100% said listening, 95% the history of music, 60% notation, 55% performing and 45% composing. Again, this was as I would expect, as it is much easier to listen to and learn facts about classical music than it is to perform or compose it, particularly at primary level, especially in non-specialist provision. The ‘notation’ score was really interesting though, as of course staff notation is a Western classical tradition, so one would expect a response rate of 100%. Perhaps this is because some schools do not realise that notation is inherently classical, or it could possibly be that they aren’t teaching notation at all, but we’ll never know because I had not the foresight to provide follow-up questions in this regard!

Beyond the curriculum

I then wanted to find out about the wider use of classical music, so asked questions about extracurricular provision and other areas of school life. For the former, the picture was much more mixed, with 40% saying they included classical music ‘Moderately’ and 42.5% ‘Infrequently’. (I think this is where the crux of the matter lies, but more on this later!) For other areas of school life, 72.5% stated they used classical music and in terms of when, the most frequent answer was ‘in assembly’. But many also used it to accompany and explore other subjects; for example, classical music was used to enhance topic-based work or provide a stimulus for writing, as well as for wellbeing and as a method of classroom control! Many teachers cited the ‘calming’ influence of classical music (which will be news to the councils who want to play it in carparks to discourage people from sleeping there!).

Takeaways

So, from a sample of 407 teachers, what have we learnt about classical music in schools? Well, I think it’s safe to say that it is not dying – unless I have managed to find the only 407 teachers in Britain whose schools are still teaching it, which I suppose is theoretically possible, but unlikely! What exactly is the issue which is causing so many classical music commentators to throw their hands up in horror?

From the results of this research, and from my own experience, it appears that what schools are doing is treating classical music as one part of a balanced musical offer. This is exactly what the national curriculum requires them to do and is also the most sensible approach to ensure that all children will find something that they can engage with, and therefore learn from. But what many commentators appear to want is an exclusive diet of classical music in schools to the detriment of all other styles, genres and traditions, due to the still annoyingly pervasive opinion that classical music is ‘the best’ or ‘the highest form of art’ and therefore the only way to achieve cultural capital in music. To take such an approach would be contrary to our national curriculum, and to the commitment to diversity and inclusion which underpins our education system. We should absolutely introduce children to classical music, but not teach them that it is inherently ‘better’ than other forms of music.

A secondary issue is that many people erroneously conflate music education in schools with ‘learning to play an instrument’. In fact, learning to play an instrument in any meaningful way often sits outside statutory provision in the realm of extracurricular provision, which we have seen from the survey results is an area where the number of schools providing classical music provision is lower. Because of this misunderstanding, people can interpret the fact that a school does not have an orchestra (nor dozens of Grade 8 violinists) as evidence that they are ‘not doing’ classical music, but as we have seen from the results above, this is simply not the case.

The fundamental problem seems to be the belief that the purpose of music education in schools is to create classical music audiences and performers of the future. These can indeed be by-products of a music education for some pupils, but others can and should be encouraged to choose their own path. The true purpose of education is to help children grow and develop the skills and knowledge they need to pursue their passions. Indeed, if the classical music industry needs the education system to force children into studying classical music in order for it to survive, then perhaps the problem isn’t schools at all…