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Musical elements and subject knowledge in primary school student teachers: lessons from a five-year longitudinal study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2010

Gary Beauchamp
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Abstract

The introduction of a National Curriculum to England and Wales in 1988 provided the first compulsory framework for music education. Writing in 1996, Mills suggested that in ten years time the impact of this change would result in primary school student teachers needing refreshment, and not development, of their musical knowledge. This five-year study examines primary school student teacher's knowledge of the musical elements as they entered the one year Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course in one institution. The results suggest that some elements as defined by the relevant national curricula (duration, pace, pitch and silence) do indeed need only refreshment, but others (timbre, texture, dynamics, structure) need significant development in schools and in training courses.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 27 , Issue 3 , November 2010 , pp. 305 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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