Jonathan Savage

MMU students might consider the above question in preparation for the sessions we are running next week. My colleague Miikka has written a very interesting piece about this on his blog. He raises some of the thornier issues about the term ‘digital native’ which I’ve written about on a previous occasion. The link in that post to the Prensky’s article is also worth a visit. So, what are you? A digital native or a digital immigrant? Or something else?

Just a quick note to those students starting their PGCE at MMU next week. Welcome! We’ll see you on Monday at the Didsbury campus of MMU. From Tuesday, the teaching moves to the RNCM. You’ll be pleased to know that Manchester is (apparently) the second most happiest place in the UK. What’s the most happiest place? Powys (but they don’t run a PGCE in Music like this there). Welcome anyway. Get ready for a tough but enjoyable year.

For all of you starting your teaching careers in September, here is a link to the new arrangements regarding your induction year. Some of the ‘highlights’ include prescriptions that you are not allowed to teach more than a 90% timetable, there is no limit on the amount of time that elapses between gaining QTS and completing your induction year (although you might want to consider ‘refresher training’ if there is a long gap) and you can’t complete induction in schools outside of the UK (even in ‘British’ schools). I’ve sent an email to ask about the position of music services in all these arrangements and I’m waiting on a response.

Next Tuesday is the final exam board for the 2 year PGCE in Music with Specialist Strings Teaching. I’ve prepared a formal statement for the board about the course and its impact over the last 15 years on music education in this country (and around the world). I thought I’d share it here as a way of publicly thanking all the staff that have contributed to this course over its long and prestigious history.

This exam board marks the closure of the two-year PGCE in Music with Specialist Strings Teaching. Over the last 15 years, this course has produced numerous talented string players and teachers that have, literally, gone all over the world to teach the next generation of pupils about music through an innovative mix of string-based and more general musical pedagogies. Over this period, the course has received critical acclaim from other universities and conservatoires around the world. It has also received significant awards, including a Queens Award for Higher Education and the Thorn EMI prize for innovation in music teacher training. This trend of innovation has continued in the PGCE in Music with Specialist Instrumental Teaching, currently reaching the end of its second year, and the BMus with QTS performer/teacher pathway – delivered by MMU as part of the RNCM BMus degree programme.

I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank all staff, both here at MMU and at the RNCM, who have contributed to this course over the years. I, and many of my MMU colleagues, highly value the strong collaboration we have with the RNCM and look forward to future developments in this field as our partnership continues to strengthen. Please consider coming to celebrate this collaboration at a concert, to be given by the final group of students from the 2 year PGCE course, to be held at the RNCM on Thursday 19th June at 7pm. Thank you.

Comprehensive guidance to accompany the revised Standards for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and Requirements for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) is now live on the TDA website.

The non-statutory guidance is designed to help everyone involved in ITT, including teacher trainees, to understand the scope and expectations of the standards and requirements. It will support ITT providers in recruiting trainees, and in the design, delivery and quality assurance of their programmes. It will support teacher trainees throughout their training as they endeavour to meet the QTS standards. The guidance will be kept under review and updated regularly.

The new web pages are fully interactive, user friendly, and provide a rationale, scope, questions to consider and comprehensive links to further information for each of the standards and requirements.

In addition, guidance to each of the standards has a link to the Teacher Training Resource Bank taking users to the relevant pages and highlighting more useful resources, links and downloads.

Apologies for the lack of posts over the  last month. The blog is feeling neglected.

It’s that time of year again when MMU tutors are out and about visiting students in schools across the north west of England. It is one of the best parts of my job. It is a real privilege to visit music departments and see some of the outstanding work that is going on with pupils at Key Stages 3 and 4. The majority of our students get a fantastic introduction to music teaching in these schools. They will all be teaching whole classes by now, making loads of mistakes and, hopefully, learning from them.

It is always instructive watching someone else teach isn’t it? Sure, we can spot the basic errors and misunderstandings and it is so easy to be critical. But it also makes you question your own teaching practice and think about how you do things. Many of our students begin teaching in the model in which they were taught. This often involves a lot of talking and explanation rather than getting the pupils doing things. University teaching is particularly bad in this respect. It is a challenge for all of us to practise what we preach about the art of teaching – walk the walk as well as talk the talk!

And don’t forget it’s December 1st tomorrow. 24 days and counting …

There is a nice article in the Independent on Sunday about the RNCM and the recent innovations that have been going on. You can read it here. Our new PGCE in Music with Specialist Instrumental Teaching gets a mention although they missed a trick in not talking about the new QTS pathway that is part of the RNCM’s BMus degree programme this year.

Had a phone call from the MMU publicity office. They wanted a photo of a student and me for the website and a newsletter article about the new BMus with QTS course that we are running this year at the RNCM. The lady said, ” Find me a photogenic student”. I said, “What about finding a photogenic lecturer?” You haven’t seen what I look like!” To which she replied, “Oh, don’t worry about that, we can always blur you out in the background a bit!” Great. Anyway, thanks to Philippa for choosing Helen from the PGCE in Music with Specialist Strings Teaching who came along and was photogenic. I didn’t get too blurred out either (but I did have my hair cut (what hair?!) specially and wore a suit). I’ll post a link to the article in due course but here is the photo:

Monday sees the arrival of 64 or so new students onto the two PGCE courses that we run at the Institute of Education, MMU. A warm welcome to you all!

There are a number of changes this year. Firstly, after a couple of days at our Didsbury campus all the teaching for these courses will take place at the Royal Northern College of Music. What are jokingly referred to as our ‘specialist teaching spaces’ on the Didsbury campus are being demolished for a new shining building in which little or no musical activity is allowed. So, it looks like our move to the RNCM is permanent. We have mixed feelings about that but are looking forward to the challenges it brings.

Secondly, we are developing a Moodle site for the PGCE courses. Our students will have access to all the teaching resources for the PGCE online and the site is open-access to anyone else too. Please visit the site here. You’ll need to register but its free and there is plenty of other stuff there too, including summaries of music education research, materials that focus on music and ICT, helpful guides to pieces of software, etc.

We have chosen to use Moodle rather than the university’s WebCT because we want our students to become part of an ongoing virtual music education community, not just during their ITT year but also beyond into their teaching careers. Also, Moodle is increasingly the VLE of choice for enlightened schools and universities. Recent research conducted by the British Educational Suppliers Association, shows that Moodle, the open-source virtual learning environment (which was not featured in the learning platform purchase framework conducted by Government ICT agency Becta), is emerging as a leading VLE in English schools. Read Merlin John’s recent post about this here, and the response to his post from a LA ICT advisor is also worth reading here.

So, all change on the physical and virtual fronts. But we look forward to meeting you all and trust that you are ready for a hard but rewarding year’s work!

At long last (and apologies for the delay), the UCan.tv Moodle site is up and running. Please visit it and register to obtain access to the various free courses and resources. The educational resources which are currently on the UCan.tv site will slowly be moved across to this new Moodle site. We hope to have this done for the beginning of September.