Editorial

Hot topics

Where to start in an attempt to summarise the current concerns of music educators? ‘Burning Issues’, the running title of the one-day conferences organised by the Federation of Music Services (FMS), seems particularly appropriate at the moment. The positive results of initiatives aimed at extending access to music and provision of instrumental and vocal tuition are just becoming apparent, yet the desire to build on those successes is inhibited by the possibility of a change of government combined with the ongoing financial crisis. As revealed by Professor Anne Bamford’s report for the FMS on the impact of Wider Opportunities, Wow, it’s music next, those children who have taken part in the best Key Stage 2 tuition programmes have seen music in a completely different light (see ‘Feel the benefit’, p17). ‘I feel excited when it is music day. I more want to come to school,’ said one. ‘The look on her face afterwards was worth millions,’ said a teaching assistant after a performance by another. And teachers have seen participating pupils in a different light too: ‘The kids are more disciplined in that lesson than anywhere else’; ‘A child with ADHD is in another world in music; it was a revelation’; ‘learning to concentrate for that length of time transfers across to other musical activities and outside of music’ are some of the comments quoted in the report. Overwhelmingly, schools acknowledged the benefits of WO and in the majority of cases wanted the programme to continue, often asking for resources to be dedicated to enabling it to continue into secondary school. Readers of MT will be aware from the articles and letters we have published over the past year that not every school or instrumental tutor has such a positive view of WO. But the areas of concern expressed by our writers have been noted by Richard Hallam and others and are being addressed. This process too will need time and funds. Yet when MT took advantage of a recent Guardian education supplement e-forum to ask schools secretary Ed Balls if he could guarantee continued financial and strategic support for the music education initiatives that he has launched with such enthusiasm in the event of Labour’s re-election, his response was neither a yea, a nay, nor a ‘we’ll try’, but an evasive statement of his belief that ‘schools are places where the talents of all children should be developed to the full, whether that's in maths, languages, sport or music’, and his aspiration that all children should have the chance that he did to learn to play an instrument. So that’ll be a no, then. Meanwhile, music continues to be mentioned only in passing on the website of shadow education secretary Michael Gove and in the LibDems’ education policy statement.

While the issues surrounding music tuition in schools may be of limited relevance to some MT readers, the new Vetting and Barring Scheme affects anyone who works with children – although it is a curious anomaly that private tutors are not required to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority, on the grounds that they are chosen by parents who are able to make personal judgments on their suitability. On page 22 Matt Dean unravels the complexities of the legislation. This will be followed by a short series of articles in future issues exploring some of the issues that are involved in safeguarding both children and adults. We would welcome contributions from readers on this subject, whether you feel the scheme is an improvement on the previous situation, or whether you are finding the new rules difficult to interpret. You can write to us on this or any other topic about which you feel strongly at the London address on the left or email  music.teacher@rhinegold.co.uk

Clare Stevens - Editor
From the current issue of Music Teacher