Instrumental and vocal teachers in the United Kingdom: demographic characteristics, educational pathways, and beliefs about qualification requirements

ABSTRACT

Instrumental and vocal tuition is an important part of music education but relatively little is known about musicians who participate in this profession or their views on what makes someone ‘qualified’ to do so. An online survey was completed by 496 musicians teaching instrumental or vocal pupils in the UK. Findings focus on respondents’ educational pathways and beliefs about necessary qualifications with contextual information relating to their characteristics and activities. School music qualifications, theory and performance certificates, and bachelor’s degrees were common; in contrast, few had undertaken pedagogical qualifications or training. Respondents’ beliefs about qualifications focused on the need for those who teach instrumental and vocal lessons to have certain qualifications, skills, attributes or experience, and/or engagement in performance activities. Teachers’ perspectives on vital knowledge, skills, and attributes should be considered when developing music education and supporting those who work in this field. Findings will be of interest to teachers, teacher educators, researchers, providers of pedagogical resources, and policy-makers.

KEYWORDS:

• Instrumental and vocal teaching
• music education
• pedagogy
• qualifications and training
• demographic characteristics

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank all of the teachers who took part in and supported this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Naomi Norton completed her doctoral studies, entitled ‘Health Promotion in Instrumental and Vocal Lessons: The Teacher’s Perspective’, at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2016. She previously completed a Master of Music in the Applied Psychology of Music and a Bachelor of Arts (Music), both at the University of Leeds. Naomi is now working as Associate Lecturer in Music Education at the University of York. She also does consultancy work with the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM) and teaches private instrumental pupils.

Jane Ginsborg has held the position of Associate Director of Research since 2009 and fulfils the roles of and Director of the Centre for Music Performance Research, where she was appointed Research Fellow in 2005, and Programme Leader for Research Degrees. Between 2012 and 2015 she served as President of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences of Music (ESCOM); she is currently Editor-in-Chief of Musicae Scientiae.

Alinka Greasley is Associate Professor in Music Psychology in the School of Music at the University of Leeds where she teaches music psychology at all levels, and leads the MA Applied Psychology of Music. Her expertise lies in social and applied music psychology, in which she uses different theoretical approaches and research methodologies to explore people’s everyday musical behaviour, and she is an on-going contributor to the Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology on the topics of musical preferences and listening behaviour. She is Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a member of the Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research.

ORCID

Naomi Norton http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8802-8467

Jane Ginsborg http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0297-1751

Alinka Greasley http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6262-2655

Notes

1 The Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) unit bank closed in October 2015 and a new Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) was introduced with effect from 1 October 2015. Music qualifications referred to in this article are categorised at the same levels for the RQF and the QCF. Level 6 is equivalent to a bachelor’s degree and level 7 is equivalent to a master’s degree, including a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE).

2 The Certificate for Music Educators award consists of six units and is not designed to replace formal teacher training. Entry requirements include having suitable skills and experience in music practice but a formal qualification in music is not required. The award is not mandatory but Arts Council England hopes that it will become a recognised industry standard.

3 Examples of PG music education courses: MA Music Education: Instrumental and Vocal Teaching offered by the University of York, PGCE with Specialist Instrumental Teaching offered by RNCM in association with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), PGCE for Musicians in Education offered by Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Master of Arts (MA) in Performance and Pedagogy offered by Birmingham Conservatoire, MA Education (Music Education) offered by the University of Reading, and Music Education MA offered by the Institute of Education.

4 Examples of residential courses: The Certificate of Teaching (CT) offered by the ABRSM or the Piano Teacher’s Course (PPTC) offered by the European Piano Teachers’ Association (EPTA) at the Purcell School of Music.

5 Examples of music education diplomas: I/V Teaching or Music Direction at the following diploma levels: DipABRSM, LRSM and FRSM.

6 Examples of bachelor’s music education courses: Four year BMus (Hons) course in vocal teaching at the University of Chichester or the four year BA Music Education course at the University of Sheffield in association with Sheffield Music Hub. Programmes such as the First String Experience at the Royal Academy of Music provide undergraduate and PG students with an opportunity to gain practical experience of teaching as part of a structured module in their degree programmes (see www.fsefriends.com/what-is-fse for more details).

7 Examples of CPD courses: ABRSM short courses including ‘Introduction to instrumental and vocal teaching’, ‘Theory matters’, ‘Preparing for performance’, ‘Developing jazz techniques’, ‘Teaching music effectively’ and ‘Being an effective teacher’.

Additional information

Funding

This research was part of a doctoral project that was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.