ACCEPTANCE

From: International Journal of Community Music. 11.1, 2018

From: International Journal of Community Music [mailto:ijcm@yorksj.ac.uk] Sent: 09 August 2017 11:03To: Charles Byrne; mrk.sheridan@uhi.ac.ukSubject: IJCM240 - resubmission

Dear Charles and Mark

Your revised submission has now been accepted for the IJCM and will most probably be included in issue 11.1 with a publication of early 2018.

Best wishes

Sue

Sue Morecroft

Administrator

International Journal of Community Music

Transformations and cultural change in Scottish music education: historical

perspectives and contemporary solutions.

1

Mark Sheridan, Reader in Music and Creativity, University of the Highlands and Islands

Charles Byrne, Senior Lecturer, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

                                         

Political and social transformations impact on educational provision, and nowhere has that

been more evident than in Scotland in the 20th Century: a period dominated by the expansion

and then ultimate collapse of heavy engineering, shipbuilding and mining in the post-war

decline of western domination of these markets in the 1960s and 1970s (Devine, 2000). What

is quite remarkably evident in Scotland is how both political and cultural changes have

transformed music education in both formal and non- formal education across all age ranges

and groups.

These transformational historical factors impacted on the fabric of communities in cities and

towns across the country and during the 1960s and 70s the Scottish Education Department

and the Scottish Examination Board acted on behalf of government to address the urgent

requirements to reframe an education system that was designed for a post-colonial industrial

state where the majority of youngsters were being prepared for unemployment – or lowgrade,

unskilled work. This transformation was not achieved over night, and while significant

improvements have been made to create a more equitable and meaningful education system

Scotland is, arguably, still working hard to overcome some of the remnants of industrial

decline and the resultant difficulties in social welfare, health and educational isolation of a

significant sector or our society.

A number of changes were presented in the ‘Munn and Dunning’ proposals ( Scottish

Education Department, 1977a, 1977b) on secondary school provision which swept away the

old order of a selective, discriminatory system to a more egalitarian and inclusive curriculum.

Designed and defined in the 1970s a series of major government reports including the

seminal ‘Curriculum Paper 16’ (SED, 1978) brought transformations which culminated in the

‘Music for All’ campaign (Scottish Curriculum Development Service, 1984) which

introduced a practical music making, multi-genre curriculum which raised the status of the

‘comprehensive musician’ for all pupils – performing, inventing and listening –were

promoted equally to encourage the concept of the ‘rounded musician’ (1984).

‘Significant and effective change came in 1978 with the publication by the Scottish

Education Department of the highly controversial Curriculum Paper 16, Music in

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Scottish Schools. This was the dividing line between past practices and future

developments which radically changed the way in which music was taught and which

clearly focused music teachers' and educators' energies and ideas. It encapsulated

many of the ideas and innovations which had been forming in Britain through the

work of Paynter and Aston (1970), Witkin (1974) and in the USA since the 1960s

(Choksy et al., 1986) and placed them into a Scottish context’ (Sheridan and Byrne,

2003, p. 575).

Both formal and non-formal learning were transformed in the country during the last twenty

years of the 20th Century with the advent in schools of rock, pop and jazz music as well as

classical, and a thriving traditional music provision in the community. Prior to the publication

of Music in Scottish Schools (SED, 1978), that ‘dividing line between past practices and

future developments’ (Sheridan and Byrne, 2003, p. 575), the old Ordinary Grade, (SEB

National Certification at year 4) had catered for the type of young person who was probably

learning a musical instrument outside of school and for whom the ‘O’ grade was a welcome

additional qualification. Across the country, the uptake was very low with few young people

opting to specialise in music with a view to perhaps following in the footsteps of their music

teachers. ‘In fact, the faint echo of children’s feet could be heard heading in the opposite

direction (Byrne and Sheridan, 1998, p. 297). As pupils in the 1970s, the authors attended a

high school in which the standard fare for all was ‘class-singing, sol-fa deciphering and

music appreciation in classes of forty pupils’ (Byrne and Sheridan, 1998, p.296). In our case,

this would have involved singing the sea shanty ‘On Board of the Arethusa’, learning to sing

the ‘Farandole’ from Bizet’s ‘L’ Arlésienne’ to sol-fa and listening to our music teacher

perform the ‘Minuet ‘from Mozart’s ‘Symphony No. 38’ on the piano. It may therefore not

have been a surprise that only one student per year opted to study music at certificate level.

The changes in Music Education in Scotland brought about by the introduction of Standard

Grade Music in the 1988 had a significant impact on the health and state of music in our

secondary schools and offered all young people an opportunity to engage in performing,

composing and listening to music with a philosophy that these ‘skills complement and inform

one another, and support the development of each’ (Byrne, 2005, p.302).

Transformations and revival of traditional music

3

While the formal education sector responded to change in the post-war period on the late 20th

century, traditional music has had a longer period of gestation and revival. Like many

European nations Scotland has made gains and losses in social, political and economic

fortune in the last few hundred years. One significant result being that the traditional music of

Scotland suffered badly from the erosion of cultural capital and traditional ways of life in the

Highlands and Islands, brought about by massive migration and loss of communities driven

largely by economic factors outwith the control of ordinary people.

‘During the late 18th and 19th centuries, there was a steep decline in the social and

economic fabric of these communities during the period of the infamous ‘Highland

Clearances’ (Bumstead, 1982; Devine, 2000; Hunter, 1994; Prebble, 1962; Richards,

2002). During this period, the clanship system of family support, which provided

security of land use for farming and dwelling places, was swept aside in favour of a

more business- and market-oriented approach….Craig and Paterson, 2004; Devine&

Mitchison, 1988) Tens of thousands of highlanders were dispossessed of their land

and homes and had to migrate to the lowland industrial centres of Scotland or abroad

to North America, Australia and New Zealand (Fry, 2001; Hunter, 1994)’ (Sheridan

and Byrne, 2008, p. 148).

This well documented diaspora undermined the sustainability, vibrant traditions and oral

transmission of music and folk-lore for numerous generations – and was further hampered by

the ‘Victorianisation’ of Scottish Culture towards the latter 19th century (Devine, 2000)1. Post

World War II saw the emergence of a slow revival and renaissance of Gaelic and the

traditional folk culture of Scotland led in part by collectors such as Hamish Henderson and

the creation of the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University in 1951. This was also

paralleled by an increased desire for political and social change.

1 Victorianisation refers to the way in which Queen Victoria and Prince Albert adopted Balmoral as a refuge from London in the mid 19thC and promoted Tartan, Scottish baronial lifestyle, deer hunting and the wilds of the Highlands as cultural trends and pastimes to the gentry and upper class business sector of the establishment. To a large extent Sir Walter Scott and other writers pandered to these 'invented' or contrived conventions to promote a misty eyed, heroic, wild vision of Scotland, when in fact the wearing of tartan, Gaelic language and other cultural mores were proscribed in the late 1740s after the failed Jacobite rebellion led by Charles Stuart in 1745.

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‘This folk revival cannot be underestimated for its impact on Scottish culture and

education and it was partly inspired by the arrival of Alan Lomax when he visited

Scotland in 1950 to collect material for the World Library of Folk and Primitive

Music (Lomax, 1998):

He met Ewan MacColl and Hamish Henderson, and with the latter made two

collecting tours the following summer … Henderson introduced him to Gaelic

Poet Sorley Maclean, to master piper John Burgess, to singer piper Calum

Johnston and to Gaelic singer Flora MacNeil (Munro, 1996, p. 27).

The folk revival had a deep and lasting effect on the place of traditional music in

Scotland, raising the profile of Gaelic and Scots song and instrumental music in

regular folk club sessions, festivals and recordings and on radio and TV in the 1960s’

(Sheridan, MacDonald & Byrne, 2011, p. 173).

In significant grass-roots community innovations since 1983 the work of Fèisean Nan

Gàidheal and other agencies, brought the teaching of traditional music to many thousands of

young people and has heralded a vibrant music industry in traditional music since the 1990s.  

‘Fèisean Nan Gàidheal (Fèis or Gaelic festival) and the Traditional Music and Song

Association of Scotland (TMSA)… have championed the teaching of traditional

music to many thousands of young people over the last 25 years or more. These

teaching courses across the country include study of fiddle, whistles, clarsach (harp),

bodhran (hand drum), melodeon (accordion), Gaelic song and step-dance in week

long courses or regular sessions. This process took an exponential leap in the 1980s

when the Gaelic communities in the Islands took the sustainability of their language

and cultural inheritance into their own hands and set up Fèisean – learning and

sharing festivals – for young people to learn the indigenous arts and language of their

peoples in informal settings (Matarraso, 1996).’ (Sheridan and Byrne, 2008, p.151)

Formal and non-formal education play equal roles in the transformation of music in Scottish

contemporary education and in society. It is worth clarifying terminology to avoid confusion

which may arise in discussions on popular, traditional or jazz music (Virkula, 2016) –

particularly in relation to non-formal education and experience -

Formal education: The hierarchically structured, chronologically graded 'education

system', running from primary school through the university ….

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Informal education: The truly lifelong process whereby every individual acquires

attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience ….

Non-formal education: Any organised educational activity outside the established

formal system - whether operating separately or as an important feature of some

broader activity…

(Coombs, Prosser and Ahmed (1973) cited in Infed, (2016)).

In Scotland the boundaries between formal and non-formal have also blurred in the last

twenty years with overlap in classrooms, studios, community halls and remote locations

where musician gather for sessions. The authors have previously commented on the

similarities in methodology or learning approaches in these divergent scenarios. Having

identified ‘Powerful Learning Environments’ as a potent methodology in the formal music

classroom (DeCorte, 1990; Byrne, 2005) strong similarities were observed in traditional

music interactions and sessions in both informal and non-formal contexts. ‘Ceilidh Culture’

provided the background to this phenomenon. Based on an analysis of traditional oral

transmission in the rural highland family context and cotemporary processes in the Feisean

Nan Gaidheal programmes the authors pointed to convergence of practices with formal

school education…

‘The Cèilidh culture is a very practical and potent means for both novices and experts

to meet together to share music in relaxed and convivial settings such as clubs and

pubs… The learning process is integral to the ‘sharing’ process – an indistinguishable

merger of both facets of the culture. This method of transmission of music, essentially

an informal intuitive learning process, may be compared with a more formal

structured pedagogical approach. In addition to the benefits of social interaction and

enjoyment, relationships between the cèilidh culture and an established learning

theory such as powerful learning environments are worthy of study (Byrne and

Sheridan, 2000; DeCorte, 1990). Modelling, coaching, scaffolding and fading are

observable stages of learning within the cèilidh culture in much the same way as they

are within, say, a mathematics classroom…’ (Sheridan and Byrne, 2008, p.150).

6

Transformations in the formal curriculum

A typical Music department in a Scottish secondary school in the 1990s would have benefited

from the blurring of formal and non-formal approaches, embracing the Music for All

philosophy through attracting all types of young aspiring musicians to the varied activities on

offer. Pop and Rock musicians would rub shoulders with traditional and classically trained

orchestral musicians. There were opportunities for young people to learn the instruments

associated with these genres, and of course, to learn to play the drums. In (Byrne and

Sheridan, 2000), we described an imaginary visit to this typical department:

As you approach the music department you begin to hear the strains of ‘ I Try’ by

Macy Gray (1999) in the distance although, as you turn the corner, a boy and girl are

strumming guitars, using chords that are very familiar. You cannot quite place the

song; ’It’s Oasis, Sir!’. You thank them and compliment them on playing by ear. The

Principal Teacher of Music greets you and welcomes you into the Music Base which

is spacious, fairly comfortable and equipped with two computer workstations running

the latest sequencing software and editing package. Each computer is connected to a

mid-range polyphonic synthesiser. There are four other such workstations throughout

the department, two in small practice rooms and one in each of the main teaching

rooms. In a small ante-room a group of fifth and sixth year pupils are working on the

Macy Gray hit while in the ensemble room a second year class has just completed

learning Yellow Submarine and are now busy organising instruments and music.

Some are setting up bass guitars, small amplifiers and headphones while a drummer

rehearses a shuffle-like pattern for the chorus. Six acoustic guitars are being checked

for tuning by one of the class while the other guitarists are working on the fingerings

for the chord of D minor (Byrne and Sheridan, 2000, p.46).

Inclusion, diversity and equality were the underpinning foundations of these new provisions

over the last thirty years and the primacy of the learner – the truly student centred approach –

is now enshrined in the ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ national framework (Scottish Executive,

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2006). All subjects, including music are expected to engage young people in developing the

‘four capacities’: successful learners , confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective

contributors, as well as providing ‘opportunities for developing skills for learning, skills for

life and skills for work with a continuous focus on literacy, numeracy and health and

wellbeing’ (The Scottish Government, 2008, p.5). The qualities of music participation and

performance which have always existed since the 1980s are now reflected in the curriculum,

with cooperative and collaborative learning in group performing and composing projects as

well as achievement in musical performance contributing to the development of the ‘effective

contributor’ and ‘successful learner’ capacities. It might be argued that solo performance

exams would also help to develop the ‘confident individual’ and that many related non-

musical activities such as organising rehearsal schedules or recording sessions, and

performing in local old people’s homes and hospitals and charity fundraising events, will

doubtless help foster the ‘responsible citizen’.

In 1985, just over 2,500 (2,582) young people were presented for ‘O’ Grade Music, with a

further 1,083 taking Higher Music. Change was clearly required if Music was not to face a

broadly similar fate to that of Classics by being phased out of the curriculum due to such low

uptake that it might well have been taught in every second school to three men and a dug

(Scottish colloquialism for a small audience)! The new Standard Grade Music (SEB, 1988),

which ‘clearly reflected the aspirations of Music in Scottish Schools’ (Scottish Education

Department (1978) cited in Byrne and Sheridan, 1998, p. 297) and was egalitarian in its

appeal to all types of musicians, traditional and jazz, classically trained and aspiring rock and

pop guitarist, drummers, bassists, keyboard and glockenspiel players.

How did these changes impact on young people’s perception and uptake of music? In 1998,

ten years after the introduction of the new syllabus, we published a paper entitled, ‘Music: a

source of deep imaginative satisfaction’ in which we observed that the new standard grade

curriculum saw 8,456 candidates being presented for the certificate in 1996, of whom more

than half achieved the highest or credit level award. This upward trend continued for several

years from 1997 onwards, reaching a high point in 2007 with around 13,696 young people

gaining awards at roughly equivalent levels to Standard Grade. Today, the total uptake

numbers are somewhat masked by the sheer variety of possible awards that candidates can

opt for, from Access and Intermediate courses, to the new National Qualifications which have

been designed to articulate with Curriculum for Excellence. It is safe to say that around

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20,000 young people in Scotland are now studying music at one certificate level or another, a

major achievement given the endangered state of music in schools of three decades before.

It is significant that our research in the early 2000s, (along with Raymond MacDonald and

Lana Carlton) focused on that phenomenon which we had observed as teachers but had not

yet identified as the feeling of effortless involvement in a task, being fully absorbed in an

activity while deriving immense pleasure, reward and ‘deep imaginative satisfaction’ which

Munn (SED, 1977a) had described. ‘Flow’ or ‘Optimal Experience’ (Csikszentmihalyi,

1992) was clearly, in our experience, what children, young people and adults derived from

engagement in creative and rewarding musical learning and it is encouraging to know that so

many young people are now potentially experiencing Flow as they prepare for practical

performances and engage in creative music making. This also links with our work which

made connections between Powerful Learning Environments (DeCorte, 1990) and effective

communication in the music classroom which has also informed our work as teacher

educators (Byrne, 2005).

We pointed out in 1998 (Byrne and Sheridan) that assessment appeared to be all pervasive

and was in danger of driving the curriculum. We championed creative musical engagement as

a means of experiencing high quality learning (Byrne and Sheridan, 2001) and even

suggested that the Flow paradigm could be used as an alternative and more light touch

approach to assessment (Sheridan and Byrne, 2002). Have things changed? Alas, anecdotal

evidence from some schools suggests that assessment is perhaps driving the curriculum - as

spreadsheets of exact timings of musical performances, with and without repeats, and interim

assessment grades are now seemingly regarded as more important than the actual music being

performed. The need to perform for an external examiner is no longer required for the

National 4 Music exam although this is retained for the more demanding National 5, and so

the pressure of musical performance is reduced for some when compared with the old

Standard Grade, which it replaced. Interestingly, this has been perceived by some music

teachers as giving lower status to the ‘Nat 4’ which still retains an element of internal, school

based assessment. It seems that we have to place our candidates in situations where their

ability to overcome nerves, upset stomachs, sweaty, shaking hands and blotches on the skin

are just as important as the accuracy, and expressive and communicative qualities of the

music being performed.

Classroom Practice

9

However we must acknowledge that there is still a worry that some schools have managed to

distil the complete musical education of their young people into a guaranteed method of

passing the listening and performance exams as teachers become more familiar with the new

assessment procedures and ‘teach to the exam’. Standards need to be seen to be improving

and we continue to assess, in music, what is relatively straightforward to assess. Music

educators in Scotland need to resist the need to adhere to examination orientated learning at

the expense of meaningful engagement with the joy and wonder of musical performance and

creative engagement. In the pioneering days of the late 1980s when Standard Grade Music

(SEB, 1988) was being introduced, an integrated approach to teaching and learning in music

was evident, with young people listening as they performed in group or solo, and performed

and listened to each other’s compositions and improvisations. Solo and group performance,

along with Listening and Inventing (Composing, Improvisation and Arranging) had equal

weight in in the curriculum and in the assessment system. Adapted from the Comprehensive

Musicianship approach (Choksy et al, 1986), this learning through doing has much in

common with the Musical Futures (D’Amore, n.d.) approach established first in England and

spreading to Scotland, Australia and Canada, with an emphasis on the ways popular

musicians learn (Green, 2002). The idea that learning can be, and often is, messy, not

proceeding in neat, organised steps, is one of the key principles of Musical Futures and this

resonates with the classroom music making ideas of ourselves and other teachers. In fact, the

emphasis on informal learning and non-formal teaching has much in common with the way

our traditional musicians learn and the ways in which our young people in schools should

learn. Anxious that attainment figures continue to improve, it may be that teachers almost

pre-select the pupils who will opt for the study of music in the Senior Phase by ensuring that

much of the content of the examination syllabus is covered during the first three years of the

secondary school. This is possibly further compounded by issues around the new

qualifications and the constraints of the breadth of choices. This is at a time when pupils

should be enjoying music as part of their Broad General Education (Scottish Government,

2008). This focus on content learning in the early years of the secondary school (the Broad

General Education of the CfE,) which caters only for those, as yet, unknown young people

who may elect to study music in the senior phase is quite different from the egalitarian,

Music for All approach which so excited us in the late 1980s. What if the faint echo of many

footsteps were to be heard running in the opposite direction, again?

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How can we ensure that our young people experience a meaningful and worthwhile

introduction to music during their school years which also provides ‘opportunities to develop

skills for learning (and) skills for life’ (Scottish Government, 2008, p.5)? How can schools

take advantage of and benefit from the types of learning that are clearly evident in the non-

formal sector and which provide further opportunities to experience Flow? How to build

skills and progression with continuity of provision throughout the learner’s school life and

beyond?

These are possibly questions that could be addressed by Curriculum planning seminars at

school and local authority level and Continuing Professional Development courses. Teachers

are required by the GTCS (General Teaching Council for Scotland) to reflect on practice and

to develop their methodologies through research and scholarship and to engage in regular

review of this activity.

Professional Practice in Traditional Music

The rapid expansion over the last twenty years of traditional music learning in non-formal

contexts in various Feisean and through other agencies such as the Glasgow Fiddle

Workshop, Adult Learning Programme, Edinburgh Youth Gaitherin’, Tolbooth Trad music

workshops and so on has raised the issue of tutor training, quality assurance and

sustainability of programmes across the country. Many thousands of young people and adults

engage with traditional music learning in non-formal contexts, and agencies and musicians

engaged in this provision have raised questions on issues around pedagogical models,

professional practice and implementation of effective participation, engagement and

progression, health and safety and so forth. This a wholly legitimate focus for development –

and while there are agency specific tutor training and development programmes – there is not

as yet a national standard process to ensure quality of provision for all participants and value

for investment from agencies, Local Government and bodies such as Youth Music Initiative

through Creative Scotland (Creative Scotland, 2016).

Various conversations and seminars have addressed areas around this – and during 2014 the

Traditional Music Forum (TMF) worked with Artworks Scotland and the Scottish Mentoring

Network as part of its commitment to supporting participation and learning in traditional

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music. Following on from earlier discussion and reflection, the Traditional Music Forum

organised professional development sessions in Glasgow in 2014 and 2015.

The meetings involved senior tutors within the non-formal teaching organisations and a

cross-section of experienced freelancers in Scotland to consider where the TMF can best

direct support and resources for freelance musicians and the organisations they work for. The

groups examined approaches to teaching and learning including a range of methodologies,

techniques and philosophical approaches. These included current approaches in traditional

music and oral transmission. As part of the discussion the participants were invited to share

experiences in the teaching and to compare with other approaches in music education.

In addition the group considered an overarching framework for community engagement

developed in European countries in the last decade. This approach, based on an analysis of

effective engagement, sets out a series of principles which have been tested in a recent

European Commission Grundtvig Project (Sheridan et al, 2013). The focus on this project lay

in community music in non-formal settings involving individuals and groups in active,

participatory, democratic and inspirational and creative activities. Community music is

designed to engage the mind, the body and the emotions in purposeful, structured workshops

settings and performances (Stige & Aaro, 2012). Individuals in such scenarios are encouraged

to develop skills and knowledge of musical dimensions and to express ideas and imaginative

responses in group activities. Community music goals are: ‘to prepare the client to participate

in community functions and become a valued member of the community; and to prepare the

community to accept and embrace the clients by helping its members understand and interact

with clients’ (Bruscia, 1998, p.237).

Recent research (Andsell, 2010; Clarke, Dibben and Pitts, 2010; Edwards, 2007; MacDonald,

Kreutz & Mitchell, 2012; Stige & Aaro, 2012) and activity in community music defines the

integrity of the process and its benefits. The framework proposed by Stige and Aaro (2012)

is known as PREPARE and enshrines the following principles in community engagement:

Participation and inclusion are central to the approach;

The work of groups is always designed around the Resources available within the

group/family/community such as personal strengths, relationships and local spaces

and places;

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The work should always strive to be Ecological in that it is based on the macro-

system of the existing community relationships - individuals, groups and

organisations;

Activities aim to be Performance oriented to promote human development through

action and relationships;

And facilitators should be mindful that the process is Activist in that it seeks to

address problems and seeks to create change;

Professional facilitators should be Reflective through robust evaluation and critique

And all programmes should be Ethical in that it is both responsive and responsible

This approach offers an effective framework for appraisal of learning needs, planning and

implementation and evaluation and reflection for practitioners. It has been piloted by staff

working with Traditional Music Forum during a weekend event with young people from

across Scotland (September 2015, Dalguise, Perthshire, Scotland). ‘Monster Trad’(2015)

brought together over 20 young people and a team of staff to engage in ensemble activity,

student centered creative projects and performance. The model has also been adopted by Feis

Rois and UHI Applied Music curriculum as a baseline foundation for engagement with

community learning activities. Incidentally it has also been introduced as a planning and

evaluation tool for arts activities in palliative care for children, young people and families for

the Children’s Hospice Association for Scotland. (Scott et al, 2016).

The quest for quality assurance, standards and effective learning and progression, creative

and inspirational experiences for aspiring musicians also raises questions about the expertise,

proficiency and skills set of facilitators. Recent research focusing on music programmes for

older people highlighted issues around the experience, training and expertise of facilitators in

this area (Hallam, et al, 2016). The Grundtvig project also addressed the issue around skills

and attributes of facilitators.

Summative reflection on all the evidence gathered in the project: through partner case

studies, expert contributions and pilot interviews - enabled greater clarity in defining the core

musical and professional competency required to be a music facilitator, and then the specific

knowledge, skills and attributes of the music trainer that they should demonstrate through

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their professional practice. In order to undertake professional activities, facilitators are

expected to have the following musical knowledge and expertise:

A high level of performance skills and ability to work within a diverse range of

musical genre;

Multi-instrumental ability;

Creative skills including composition, improvisation and arranging;

Ability to link, in an informed way key elements such as an understanding of music in

its social and cultural context to creative skills, performance and community music

therapy;

Technological aptitude utilising existing technologies to enhance the learning

experience;

Professionally flexible, agile and mobile in response to need and opportunity,

In addition it is expected that the facilitators would have sufficient business acumen to

manage their affairs as self-employed.

Both the PREPARE model and the findings proposed by Grundtvig project (Sheridan et al,

2013) offer perspectives on the approaches facilitators should embrace for effective

engagement and the skills and attributes required to implement and deliver activities

appropriate to the participants in any given scenario in non-formal scenarios.

Pedagogical styles, oral transmission and contemporary challenges

The authors previously discussed the challenges of provision for traditional music in Higher

Education and other formal learning situations where classical music methodologies have

been prevalent for over centuries (Creech et al, 2008). Setting aside the subtle, perhaps

unwitting discrimination of music genres ‘other than classical’ in ‘Commonality and

diversity among classical and non-classical musicians’, Creech et al (2008) did raise

important issues about teaching and learning, environment and artistic freedom and choice

for students of traditional music, jazz and rock with which Scottish institutions such as the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the University of the Highlands and Islands have to

contend. Practitioner- teachers and approaches to learning which encourage traditional

methods are the key:

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‘… Gaelic language, history and culture, musical integrity, emotional power, the sense of

identity and place, replacement and renewal, and continuity – should be promoted as central

to the pedagogy of traditional music study in HE. This does raise issues surrounding the

model of provision and the status of the traditional Gaelic culture in relationship to the values

promoted in classical music: technical virtuosity, harmonic complexity, pitch and

temperament, written notation, adherence to the score, the dominance of the composer,

elitism, and so forth (Hill, 2009). Engagement with an oral transmission system demands

regular and lively interaction with other learners and experts in a convivial environment and

this is key to establishing good practice in this genre – but it is arguably expensive and

difficult to manage given geographical considerations’ (Sheridan, MacDonald and Byrne,

2011, p.186).

Debate and conversation across the academic community around these issues will aid clarity

and convergent thinking and acceptance of the rare and beautiful traditional music in our

midst which can be eclipsed by ill-informed elitist approaches fostered by the dominance of

classical music in western European academia.

The concepts of love, inspiration, affection and wonder do not sit well with Key Performance

Indicators and the assessment rigours of contemporary education – but we must find space to

value and reward such assets and attributes. One of the interviews for our research article

(Sheridan, MacDonald and Byrne, 2011) was with the great icon of Gaelic song of the 20th

century, Flora MacNeil. A singer of immense integrity and charm, she was one of the greatest

advocates of our indigenous culture. Her experiences as a young girl inspired her and

enchanted her, listening to the singing of her mother and her aunt Mary. Flora died in May

2015 and it would be a fitting legacy to her work and memory if we found time and space in

our work to embrace her sense of awe and wonder captured in these recollections of songs

….

…. ‘I was hearing them being sung by people who loved to sing. My aunt Mary: didn’t

matter what she was doing, she would drop it [slap hands!] and, especially if once she

realized that I wanted to listen and to hear the songs she would drop it [slap] and sing – she

had reams of songs, reams!

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And she would go and she would forget – get carried away. She’d get carried away. And it

was wonderful. Och well, and they are all gone … Mary was quite a character. Everything

she said was quite poetic in things she said. There was nothing straightforward. She would

always answer you in a poetic … even the weather. That’s the sort of life I was surrounded

with’ (Sheridan, MacDonald & Byrne, 2011, p.181).

Andsell, G. (2010). Belonging through Musicking; Explorations of Musical Community. In:

B. Stige, G. Andsell, C. Elefant and M. Pavlicevic (Eds). Where music helps. Community

Music Therapy in Action and Reflection. Aldershot: Ashgate.

Bruscia, K. (1998). Defining Music Therapy. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona.

Byrne, C. (2005). Pedagogical communication in the music classroom. In D.Miell, R.

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