News | Monday, 7th December 2020

Keeping the beat: how music education adapted under COVID

Tuition moved online and new resources were created for teachers

By Dr Jonathan Savage, Reader in Education, Faculty of Education, Manchester Metropolitan University

As any teacher will know, the ways in which we educate our children are constantly changing in light of the technologies that become available.

From the first digital calculators in the classroom to today’s tech-enhanced teaching, each new tool brings new opportunities.

But the last few months have seen a dramatic increase in the pace of the use of technologies as much of children’s education across the globe shifted online as educators sought to find solutions to the ways in which they interact with students in light of the global pandemic.

This was particularly acute for music education which often benefits from in-person teaching where students can see and hear up close how instruments are played, or to be able to sing in unison during a choir practice.

But music education managed to adapt – and continues to do so.

Large amounts of traditional schooling have at some point during the last year been delivered through online platforms. As a music education specialist, I was particularly focused on how this impacted pupils’ learning of music and in many respects, it was no different.

Schools and music organisations adapted to the new way of working to make sure children were able to continue their musical education – whether it was collective learning more typically associated with the classroom or the one-to-one tuition many will recognise with learning an instrument.

Hubs

The locations within which music education takes place vary across the country, but it is the work of schools and music education hubs that are a cornerstone of this provision.

I work closely with many of these and the adaption of these services has allowed – and continues to support – pupils on their musical journey.

One local music education hub, the Love Music Trust (LMT) based in Sandbach in Cheshire, has been particularly innovative in how it has responded to this unexpected situation.

The LMT supported schools in such a way that many education settings continued with their service, albeit in a newly imagined and delivered format. Following training and the creation of bespoke online Key Stage 1 and 2 classroom lessons for children of key workers, virtual lessons were delivered via Zoom from early April.

Additionally, it created weekly video lessons and a daily ‘Big Sing’ for children to access from home, distributed by primary schools. As a result of these, 86% of primary schools in Cheshire East – the local education authority – continued their engagement with these music education programmes.

During the summer term, the LMT made access to its choirs and musical ensembles free as groups moved online. In some cases, the groups attracted new members seeking an outlet to engage and perform in addition to the welcome opportunity to embrace musical making in an online community.

New resources

During the recent lockdown, the Department for Education guidance allowed instrumental tutors to continue engaging with schools, delivering face-to-face lessons and whole class music sessions. The LMT has remained open to support schools and tutors while instruments can be collected in a COVID-secure manner.

My not-for-profit company UCan Play has devised a set of training resources and a free mentoring offer for musicians who want to relocate their musical activities into an online environment.

Funded by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, musicians can access the free materials via the Interface:Response website and can also request free mentor support as they grapple with new approaches to rehearsing, teaching or creating music online. It has been created as a direct response to the obstacles of music education under COVID.

But the challenges facing musicians generally, as well as those who spend much of their time teaching, are acute. The music and the creative industries continue to find new ways to educate and entertain, but many difficulties remain.

As music educators, it's key we find new and innovative ways to ensure young people can continue their musical education.