ISM Column: Curriculum and assessment

There are many complex issues surrounding curriculum and assessment in classroom music education across primary and secondary education. As university academics involved in music education, including research, initial teacher education and CPD, we have been concerned for a while that there is not a great deal of high-quality material available to support the work of the busy classroom-based music educator. As a result of this, we have worked with the ISM Trust to produce a range of materials that we hope will be useful.

So far we have produced three documents, one aimed at primary schools, another at the lower secondary school, and one that explains the research principles and theories behind the practical guidance. The practical application documents are designed to help teachers thinks about their music curriculum, its associated pedagogies and the assessments that result from it. We believe strongly that assessment needs to be rooted in the curriculum, and that each individual classroom teacher is in the best position to know what will work for them, in their school, with their pupils. We know that some imposed whole-school systems do not necessarily serve music very well.