Interviews with Peter Casswell and
Maureen Cain
Peter Casswell is a retired person manager who used to work in a manufacturing
industry and is now a school governor. A school governor is not a teacher, he or
she is a “critical friend” of the school and works voluntarily. He or she is not
employed by or paid by the school. Maureen Cain works as head teacher and has
worked as a primary teacher.
For many years the Government attitude was that music was not essential but was
desirable. To keep taxes low the schools got less money and could not afford to
have expensive educated music teachers. It is starting to change now but most
schools still do not have music teachers because they are expensive, but some
schools do have special music teachers. In primary schools the teachers have all
the subjects with the students, including music. The education the children get
in music depends on the interest and skills of their teacher. Some teachers turn
on the cd- player for the children to listen to and sometimes sing along. Other
teachers are more skilled and can therefore teach the children more music. They
can learn scales, notes, compose songs etc. Sometimes the more skilled teachers
can teach music in other classes. However Maureen thought there could be a risk
of music not being taught if you were not skilled, if you suddenly had to teach
music you wouldn’t be experienced and couldn’t develop in that subject.
Peter and Maureen said that English schools can hire a peripatetic. Peripatetic
means “wondering around” and a person working as a peripatetic goes to different
schools and can teach music in whole classes and in smaller groups. If the
parents want the children to learn how to play an instrument they can also hire
the peripatetic after school hours.
Children can play the recorder with a teacher at school and play at lunch time.
It is not possible at all schools but at Peter’s school children can have a
lesson for about 30 minutes. Some teachers set up clubs for different subjects
for example music and play or computers after school for the children at primary
school before the parents collect them. Parents pay a fee for the children to
learn how to play an instrument.
Maureen told us about her view of music education
today and most of all she thought it was not prioritised by the schools and they
often trust the classroom teacher to be enthusiastic about playing and teaching
it. Often teachers don’t play themselves and it is not necessary in British
Universities to learn that because the primary teachers’ education is very wide.
If there are cuts in the budget she believed music education was among the first
to be effected. The solution would be funding it with money for instruments and
educated teachers just like in secondary school but it has not happened. Nor
have they worked in teams with teachers teaching special subjects that they swap
between them in many classes, because of the teachers’ need for wider teaching
practice and expertise. Some teachers have tried to work in teams but that has
only very recently appeared at her school. Music teachers are expensive to hire
so instead they turn to peripatetics who are musicians that are privately hired
to help with bigger organisations like orchestras or choirs and they spend one
or a couple afternoons in the school for that purpose. In some cases they have
all the children and all the music classes at the school. Sometimes they help
children to learn an instrument but the parents have to pay a fee.
She wants the children to compose in 4th grade and be able to set poems to music
or paint or write stories to music. That is a sort of mixture of subjects but
there is nothing on the schedule that says they have to mix different subjects.
It is more spontaneous and is used when they can fit it into the lesson plan.
They play both pop and classical music and they all have to learn pitches and
notes. They can learn how to play an instrument if they want to and have
concerts and performances during the year. The performances can be a concert
that the parents and other classes in the school can listen to or short
performances at school assemblies. Music is compulsory at her school but it does
not have to be that way in Great Britain.
In Manchester there are two private schools that are on the highest level among
schools in Great Britain called Royal Northern School of Music and Chethams
School’s junior department. These are for very gifted children and require an
audition and a lot of effort from the children in learning to play. Some are
funded or have scholarships.