RCM MEd Column: Making music masters

The Royal College of Music (RCM) master of education programme is an advanced taught degree programme with research elements that develops students’ vocational skills by building on their music educational experience out in the profession. The programme aims to develop knowledge, skills and understanding in music education at an advanced level through deep critical reflection on students’ own practice, exploration of current issues in music education and the way they impact upon students’ practice.

The course is offered as a part-time option (over two or three years) or a full-time option (over one year), usually for international students. The programme has been designed to fit around working professional lives, and as such there is a compulsory intensive study block during each academic term. In addition, students are expected to undertake independent study to prepare and follow up learning tasks and classes and complete the associated learning activities through RCM's virtual learning environment.

The students

Of the seven students enrolled on the course, five have chosen a part-time route, with two studying on a full-time basis. A few have kindly offered their thoughts, attributed here using their first names. Hannah says that she ‘loved the depth of discussion in the group – the students (and our teachers) have arrived here from diverse careers and backgrounds, which makes for interesting interactions.’

We certainly are a diverse group of students, hailing from as far afield as Denmark, Malta, Iran and Italy, as well as the UK. We are all currently involved in music education in different roles, including a primary and early years music specialist, a music and creative arts lecturer in a prison helping offenders develop employability through music, and a director of a piano school. Our existing qualifications are as varied as our instruments, featuring a degree in popular music performance, conservatoire performance degrees and PGCE. And our circuitous routes to the course are equally fascinating, including careers in portfolio performance, recording and teaching careers, and even a distinctly un-musical ten-year career in management consultancy.

Study Block 1: October 2018

Study Block 1 took place in October 2018, with programme leader Jennie Henley and module leaders Dave Camlin and Jessica Pitt. Over three days, the students were introduced to two core modules: Ideas in Music Education, and Research in Practice. Natalie found the first study block ‘exciting, especially the prospect of collaborating with the other learners on the course, who will be able to offer a different perspective on teaching music’.

Ideas in music education

Under the direction of Henley, we explored philosophical perspectives in music education, sociocultural theory and inclusion, and inclusive pedagogy. Getting a handle on Deweyan philosophy and its application to music education as an art of life was a suitably thought-provoking opening to the course and set the tone for the challenges yet to come. Exploring the dichotomies that create tensions in education leading to music education as a ‘really impossible profession’ prompted us all to examine our own thoughts on what we teach and how we teach it. Regarding the content, Hannah says: ‘I feel like my mind and heart have been opened up to an understanding of not only where music education belongs in the grand scheme of things but also why we think and act the way we do and how we arrived at this quite mad point in time!’

As we settled into the third day, an exploration of inclusion and inclusive pedagogy created lively debate around the synergy between ‘excellence’ and ‘inclusion’. Anna says that such discourse has inspired her to research ways of optimizing inclusivity in her classroom music practice. She adds: ‘Being introduced to the IPAA framework has been enlightening, as it provides points of reference to align with when planning student-led, practical music activities.’

Research in practice

Researching practice is new to many of us and Camlin guided us through a range of commonly used research terms (ontology, epistemology, theoretical perspectives, methodology and methods) to develop a general view of the field of research. During our second session we learned how to compile a bibliography and conduct a literature review. As a group, we brainstormed to identify research topics and problem statements, which threw up a broad range of topics and sparked some new ideas. For Liz, ‘the overriding theme emerging from the first intensive study block is that there's a lot I don't know yet! There's a long list of reading and thinking to be done over the next few months and I'll be putting the guidance on cataloguing readings and ideas to good use.’

Making music

Despite the theoretical focus of the programme, there were plenty of creative opportunities, including musical activities to keep us energised (‘Mississippi Mud Slap’ being a particular favourite) and an evening improvisation session featuring an eclectic mix of voices, violin, cello, trumpet, saxophone, flute, bassoon, bass guitar, piano (and wine).

Making progress

By the end of this term we will all have completed the first literature review and started a literature search and bibliography in our individual and specific fields of interest, which range from inclusion and accessibility in primary school music classes to professional development for instrumental teachers. Those of us who are completing the personal portfolio this year will have submitted the first video of our teaching in action, reviewed it with our mentor, and completed a self-evaluation.

rcm.ac.uk/courses/postgraduate/med