This article first appeared in Investigations in University Teaching and Learning Vol 1, No 2, Winter 2003, London Metropolitan University. Thanks to the Author and London Metropolitan University for permission to reprint this article electronically.
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Introduction
This paper examines issues involved in designing an assessment process to develop musical performance skills in first-year BA/PGCE Music Education students at London Metropolitan University, so as to prepare them to meet the academic and professional challenges of the course.
The standard of performing skills necessary for a classroom teacher is not prescribed. While the Teacher Training Agency (TTA, 2002) specifies that students must demonstrate a secure knowledge of their subject(s), it is possible to obtain a degree with musicological knowledge and understanding but few musical skills. In general terms, an indication of the level of skill appropriate to this stage of the course is contained in guidelines issued by the Southern England Consortium for Credit accumulation and Transfer (SEEC, 2002, p. 7) for practical skills at Level 5 (equivalent to HE level 2). The learner should evidence:
- "Application of skills: can operate in situations of varying complexity and predictability requiring application of a wide range of techniques;
- Autonomy in skill use: able to act with increasing autonomy, with reduced need for supervision and direction, within defined guidelines".
In music education, however, this could be taken to apply to classroom skills as distinct from musical skills. Even so, this points to an expectation of sophisticated technique and developing autonomous performance.
Musical skills, as defined by the National Curriculum for Music, consist of composing, performing and appraising. These skills generate the process of musical activity in which music is formed, performed and listened to. Music derives its meaning through the act of performance; it is at the heart of musical experience and musical experience should be at the core of music education - as Swanwick (1999, p. 2) suggests:
"I want to argue that music persists in all cultures…because it is a symbolic form. It is a mode of discourse as old as the human race, a medium in which ideas about ourselves and others are articulated in sonorous shapes".
Similarly, Odam's (1995) central concern is that the pupil learns music primarily through musical experiences as opposed to learning about music by other means. He also considers that it is important that children experience live music. Recorded music is an essential component in understanding the breadth of what the world has to offer, but it does not demand attention and engagement in the same way that a live performer does.
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