Teachers’ and students’ music preferences for secondary school music lessons: reasons and implications

ABSTRACT

This paper is based on the data collected from a longitudinal study of seven maintained, secondary schools in England that have adopted Musical Futures as an approach to teaching music. The research had a particular focus on key stage 3 (11–14). For the purposes of this paper, data gained from 18 music staff and 325 student interview transcriptions were reviewed to answer research questions about the music preferences of teachers and students in the context of school music lessons. The data indicated that when teachers chose music they were particularly conscious of difficulty whereas student choices, when permitted, were based solely on liking. Teachers’ choices were often informed by inclusion and feasibility. The music students enjoyed depended on how it was incorporated into the lesson rather than purely on style. Some implications of how music is categorised and chosen are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Music teaching
• genre
• musical styles
• music preferences
• Musical Futures

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for funding the research. We are very grateful to the participating schools for accommodating the research over the three phases and for the thoughtful contributions of students and staff.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Hilary McQueen is a teacher educator at UCL Institute of Education. Although working on a generic Initial Teacher Education course, her teaching specialisms are music and psychology. Her research interests include both philosophical and practical aspects of teaching and learning. She has authored or co-authored a number of publications including journal articles, reports, book chapters and, most recently, a monograph, Roles, Rights and Responsibilities in UK Education: Tensions and Inequalities (2014). Hilary also tutors for the Open University on psychology and education courses. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a graduate member of the British Psychological Society. In addition, she is a piano teacher and accompanist.

Professor Susan Hallam (MBE) is Emerita Professor of Education and Music Psychology at UCL Institute of Education. She has received research funding from a wide range of funders for projects relating to attendance at school, exclusion from school, behaviour improvement, school–home links, ability grouping, the evaluation of various educational initiatives, homework, learning in music and the effects of music on behaviour and studying. She is the author and editor of numerous books on education and music psychology including Here Today, Here Tomorrow: Helping Schools to Promote Attendance (1995) (with C. Roaf); Improving School Attendance (1996); Ability Grouping in Education (2001) (with J. Ireson); Ability Grouping in Schools: A Literature Review (2002); Effective Pupil Grouping in the Primary School – A Practical Guide (2002) (with J. Ireson and J. Davies); Homework: The Evidence (2004) and Improving Behaviour and Attendance at School (2008) (with L. Rogers) and in the region of 200 other publications.

Dr Andrea Creech is about to take up the post of Professor of Music Education at Université Laval, Canada. Following an international career in performance and instrumental teaching, Andrea was awarded a Ph.D. in Psychology in Education. Since then, in her former role as Reader in Education at UCL Institute of Education, she has led extensive funded research concerned with musical learning and participation across the lifespan, including the Music for Life Project, funded by the UK Research Councils and winner of the Royal Society for Public Health’s award for research in Arts and Health, 2014. Andrea has presented and published widely on topics concerned with musical development and lifelong learning in the arts. She is Chair of the Sistema Special Interest Group in the International Society for Music Education, External Examiner for the Royal Academy of Dance, Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and Graduate Member of the British Psychological Association. Andrea is co-author of Active Ageing with Music and co-editor of Music Education in the Twenty-First Century in the UK.