The Policy Context of Music in English Primary Schools: How Politics Didn't Help Music

Abstract

This article discusses the influence of political discourse on the context of English primary school teachers in relation to National Curriculum music. A teacher's classroom context is defined by the layered policies of school and Local Education Authority, which are in turn derived from national government policy. The 1988 Education Reform Act and its attendant monitoring systems clearly link teachers in their classrooms to the imperatives of national policies, which have their source in contemporary social discourse. The paper describes the genesis, birth and early years of National Curriculum music in primary schools (English Key Stages 1 and 2). It suggests that the ascendancy of the political discourse of accountability and an economically-justified standards agenda have not helped the cause of classroom curricular music.