Health & Wellbeing

Mental health and wellbeing column: decolonising the SQA music curriculum

Efforts to improve wellbeing in the classroom often focus on providing spaces for pupils to express concerns. But, as recent Royal Conservatoire of Scotland BEd student Anya Galloway argues, the curriculum should be the first port of call
Classroom teaching on the RCS's BEd programme
Classroom teaching on the RCS's BEd programme - Robbie McFadzean /RCS

Enabling young people to see representation of their own identities contributes profoundly towards positive wellbeing. It reduces prejudice, bullying, stereotyping and micro-aggressions that are often fed by misinformation and colonial perspectives within the curriculums that permeate schools. US educator Beatriz Ilari observes that ‘an important aspect of social identity that has received little attention from music education research is ethnic identity’. Conversations within pedagogy are not only important for those young people whose identities are underrepresented or misrepresented; they are also important for those of a majority ethnicity, as ‘experiences with different cultures … are directly linked to … the ways we make sense of, and position ourselves, in relationship to others, based on both our similarities and differences’. The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) policy for registered teachers in Scotland holds ‘social justice’ at the heart of its standards. Social justice includes a commitment to ‘fair, transparent, inclusive, and sustainable policies and practices in relation to protected characteristics’. It is evident, however, that the resources for teachers to commit to this are not obviously supported within the national curriculum.

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