Growing Musicians in English secondary schools at Key Stage 3 (age 11-14)

The National Curriculum for Music in England at Key Stage 3 (KS3; age 11-14) declares its purpose that
pupils should be inspired to “develop a love of music and their talent as musicians” (DfE, 2013: KS3
Music). The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) have criticised secondary schools for a lack of
progress in the musical development of pupils (e.g. Ofsted, 2009; 2012). This paper reports on an
exploratory study into how far class music lessons at KS3 provide for the development of the musician
and the relationship between the musical values of music teachers and classroom practice. The research
centres on an investigation into the place of musical competencies in music learning and the contexts
within which musicianship can develop. It concludes that classroom music lessons have a tendency to
focus more on presenting pupils with a range of ‘taster’ musical experiences than in the development of
musicians.