If anyone knows the challenges facing music education, it is professor Martin Fautley. After more than 40 years as a practitioner, researcher and teacher trainer – which led to his receiving the Music & Drama Education Award for Lifetime Achievement 2025 – he is uniquely placed to observe and comment on the fluctuating fortunes of the subject. He talks candidly to Maggie Hamilton
Courtesy Martin Fautley

MF: I started as a classroom music teacher in Birmingham in 1978. I did an in-service Master's in Music Education because there was more that I wanted to think about. This was mainly taught, but there was also some research, and I got the research bug. Through a combination of circumstances, I got the opportunity to go to Cambridge to do a PhD in music teaching, looking at composing and assessment. I completed the PhD and, rather than find answers, came up with better questions. From then on I worked in higher education, teaching on PGCE courses and gradually doing more and more research.

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