Curriculum planning

Some of the issues that may need to be discussed as part of the school's planning for music include the following:

The purpose and nature of music in the school

A useful starting point for discussion is to consider the nature of music itself, the purpose it fulfils as part of the broader, child-centred curriculum, and how it contributes to the full and harmonious development of the child and the recognition of his/her range of intelligences. The way in which music is defined affects the decisions surrounding the content of the curriculum, the approaches to teaching and assessing, the allocation of time and the use of resources.

The strands, strand units and sub-units of the music curriculum:

Listening and responding

• Exploring sounds
• environmental
• vocal
• body percussion
• instrumental
• Listening and responding to music

Performing

• Song singing
• unison singing
• simple part singing
• Literacy
• rhythm
• pitch
• rhythm and pitch
• Playing instruments
  

Composing

• Improvising and creating
• Talking about and recording compositions

The final stages of curriculum planning should ensure that the following aspects are given due attention:

• breadth, balance and coherence
• time
• approaches to teaching
• health and safety aspects
• integration
• assessment.

A broad, balanced and coherent curriculum

As the music curriculum allows considerable flexibility for the school in teaching approaches and content suggestions, planning will address the individual needs of the school, the teachers and the pupils. It should ensure that the music curriculum (in listening and responding, performing and composing) at all levels encompasses

• the three strands of the curriculum
  The aims and objectives contained within the three strands set out in the curriculum statement -- Listening and responding, Performing, and Composing -- will provide the framework for curriculum planning. Issues to be addressed for each class level will include: the range of listening excerpts, the repertoire of songs, games and instrumental music, the extent of composing projects, and recording techniques.
• the musical elements
  The development of understanding of the musical elements at each class level (pulse, duration, tempo, pitch, dynamics, structure, timbre, texture and style) should form an equally important aspect of planning, closely linked with the strand units, as outlined in the curriculum.
• the needs of the children
  Given a systematic music education from junior infants, by first class some children will be singing in tune reasonably well, handling percussion instruments with confidence, beginning to express themselves as young composers and even reading music a little. However, where children have had fewer musical experiences over an extended period, their needs will be quite different.
• sequence of progression and continuity
  Curriculum sequence refers to the process of building and expanding upon the strands and elements in the curriculum. It ensures that each new learning experience uses previous knowledge as the basis for the elaboration and progressive development of more complex skills, concepts or attitudes. For instance, sequence in music involves ensuring that music literacy in third class builds on music literacy from first and second class level; simple songs learned in infant classes can be recalled for exploring rhythmic and melodic features in senior classes. Continuity refers to the reinforcement of common curriculum concepts or approaches throughout the curriculum. For instance, at all levels children should have opportunities to listen to familiar pieces of music from time to time, as a backdrop to new listening experiences.
• selection within the strands
  While the objectives stated in the three strands form the basis of the curriculum at each level, the exemplars given in italic type throughout the document allow the teacher to choose those (or others not listed) that he/she believes best achieve or illustrate a specific learning outcome. From a methodological point of view, the teacher may wish to rely on an approach that has worked successfully in the past or, alternatively, may choose a newer approach to invigorate his/her teaching. The degree of freedom afforded to each teacher, as well as the amount of uniformity of content or method, should form a significant part of the school plan.

The amount of time for the subject

As many worthwhile activities can take place in a relatively short space of time, what is of greater importance in any music lesson is the quality of the learning experience, rather than the quantity of time allocated to it. For this reason, planning plays a critical role in the allocation of time for musical activity. Given that an integrated approach will be widely used at all levels of the primary school, it is more useful to consider the time allocated to music and other arts areas over the course of a fairly longer period, such as a month or a term, and to identify opportunities for integration well in advance.

Teachers may also decide to concentrate the available periods on one aspect of arts education at a time. For instance, the concentration of the work for two or three weeks might be on dance, with a focus on listening to music, to be followed by a period in which the focus would be largely on visual arts (for example making percussion instruments) or on drama (for instance composing and presenting music that tells a story).

Approaches to teaching

Approaches to teaching music can vary greatly from school to school and from class to class. Children benefit enormously from the different strengths of particular teachers, for example mastering tunes on the tin whistle or acquiring an appreciation of a particular genre of music recordings. School planning should take into consideration the range of approaches to teaching music within the school, to ensure continuity where valuable work has begun and to provide support when weaknesses emerge.

Agreement should be reached at wholeschool level on the type of approaches to be taken in critical areas such as:

• music literacy (for example the type of notation to be used in the school)
• instrumental work (for example the type of melodic instrument to be chosen and the optimum class level for its introduction)
• appropriate singing and listening material.

Health and safety aspects

When planning for music in the school, the following health and safety issues should be considered:

• the hidden dangers posed by unstable furniture or equipment if children are moving around a classroom
• the storage facilities for equipment, as well as access to and transport of that equipment
• ventilation of the classrooms
• the amount of space available for children to sit or stand (for example when doing choral or instrumental work).

Integration

Engaging children in activity that encompasses a number of objectives from different subject areas is an effective means of teaching and an important principle of the curriculum. Integrated themes can be highly motivating and satisfying for the children and are particularly useful in multi-class situations in small schools.

Planning for integrated learning should ensure that

• the music component is meaningful and consistent with the curriculum. For instance, in choosing a song to fit a theme the teacher should ensure that the range of notes and words of the song are also appropriate for the children
• a manageable number of strands or subject areas is included.

Integration can occur in a number of ways. In the curriculum statement, links within music itself are referred to as linkage while connections that occur between music and other subject areas are described as integration.

Linkage within music

The interrelated nature of the three strands of the curriculum -- Listening and responding, Performing, and Composing -- lend themselves readily to integrated learning and are positively enhanced by it. For instance, the strand unit 'Exploring sounds' in the Listening and responding strand may lead directly to improvising in the Composing strand, while the 'Literacy' strand unit is complemented by work at the recording stage of Composing. Similarly, a single recording of vocal music may provide a stimulus for listening, a stimulus for responding and performing by singing along, and a stimulus for composing by creating new music using the same structure or theme.

Integration with other arts areas

Many of the expressive and imaginative aspects of the other arts areas can be supplemented by creative work in music. In addition, the exploration of concepts can be enhanced by aural stimuli. Concepts such as line, shape and pattern in visual arts can be illustrated through music, since music, like line, can be jumpy, wavy, smooth, or broken. Similarly, musical concepts such as tempo or dynamics can be conveyed through long or short lines, or through dark and light lines or shapes, respectively. The development of a personal schema, a system of representing the world in pictures and symbols in the visual arts, could be linked with the development of graphic symbols in composing. Music can also convey different images to different children, and opportunities to illustrate responses to music through visual arts are found in the Listening and responding strand.

Themes in music, especially in composing areas, may be explored through dance, drama and gymnastics. Warm-up activities in physical education may involve the use of familiar music from the listening programme, while a selection of folk songs or campfire songs can complement outdoor activities.

Integration with other subject areas

Language

All levels of the music curriculum require the child to listen and respond to music in a variety of ways. Oral descriptions will be a regular feature, and the teacher can take the opportunity to expand both the musical vocabulary and the child's vocabulary in other areas when responding to music. Songs provide the child with instant access to new words and phrases, especially songs in Irish or in modern languages. The child's descriptions of the composing process, either oral or written, provide additional opportunities for language development.

Gaeilge

Is féidir an Ghaeilge a chomhtháthú go nádúrtha leis an gceol trí amhráin Ghaeilge agus ceol Gaelach a mhúineadh i gcuraclam an cheoil. Is féidir coincheapanna an cheoil a shníomh isteach i nGaeilge chomh maith le Béarla, mar shampla fada nó gearr (rithim); go tapa, go mall (luas). D'fhéadfadh an múinteoir céimniú a dhéanamh ar an méid Gaeilge a úsáidtear sna ceachtanna ó rang go rang. Is fiú go mór na páistí a spreagadh chun Gaeilge a labhairt eatarthu féin agus iad ag imirt cluichí ceoil, ag cleachtadh nó ag cumadh ceoil ar uirlisí éagsúla.

Is féidir

• bainisteoireacht ranga a dhéanamh trí Ghaeilge
• gnáthorduithe a chloisteáil agus a leanúint
• ceisteanna a fhreagairt
• na huirlisí ceoil a ainmniú i nGaeilge

D'fhéadfadh an múinteoir treoracha do struchtúir amhráin (le canadh nó le seinm) a thabhairt i nGaeilge ó am go ham, mar shampla, Ón tus. Tríd síos. Sin é.

SESE

Through music the children may gain insights into other cultures. In order to fully comprehend the source of a piece of music, the children should have some understanding of the time, the place and the people to whom it belongs. Recognising the purposes of music, for example to inspire courage, fear, joy, or sadness, links naturally with the skills, concepts and attitudes in the history programme at a local, national and international level.

Music links with science through the exploration of sound. In music, sound is the raw material that prompts listening, making and inventing in an artistic way. In science, sound is a form of energy for investigation and explanation. Control of sound is needed in both areas in order to mould it, to use it expressively and to use it as a form of interaction.

Mathematics

Many aspects of the music programme link with mathematical activity. In working with sounds in music, in patterning and ordering, children engage in mathematical processes, just as they do when they work with beads, blocks and other objects. Both listening and recording activities can help develop one-to-one correspondence. The introduction of simple rhythm skills can also lead to a subconscious understanding of fractions in infant classes (full beats and half beats), while in senior classes, more complex combinations of patterns and values in rhythm complement work in fractions, decimals and number.

Integration throughout class levels

The music programme can serve the needs of multi-level teaching in a number of ways. In the area of performing, older children can provide support for younger children as they learn to use their singing voices, develop a sense of pitch or handle classroom instruments. This in turn can lead directly into the exploration of the rhythmic and melodic elements contained in the songs or accompanying patterns by the older children. Both younger and older groups of children can act as active audience members for each other's performances, listening with interest to their singing, playing or improvisations and offering positive responses, suggestions and encouragement.

Integrated themes

Themes based on a story, a novel or an aspect of SESE can be chosen for integration in a number of ways. A theme such as 'flight' or 'journeys' can include elements from many different subject areas. This approach is very useful in junior classes, especially when a whole school adopts a particular theme for a number of weeks.

Suggested themes for junior and senior classes are given in the following pages.

EXEMPLAR 1 - Integrated theme for junior classes

EXEMPLAR 2 - Integrated theme for senior classes

Developing an assessment policy

Musicians of all kinds constantly assess. They listen critically to their own performances and the performances of others, seeking ways to improve the technical or expressive qualities of their work. Classroom music making involves assessing as a natural part of the teaching and learning process as teachers and pupils seek to refine their knowledge, skill and understanding of music processes and products. Discussing and clarifying how pupil progress in music may be observed, recorded and communicated will contribute greatly to the overall policy on assessment. In turn, this will lead to a fuller understanding of the approaches, purposes and issues surrounding assessment in music, and indeed in other areas of the curriculum.

The purposes of assessment

Assessment can serve many functions, but predominantly it is needed to determine where adjustments are needed in instruction and whether the child is adequately prepared for the introduction of the next unit or a higher level. More precisely, assessment in music aims to fulfil the following purposes:

• to meet the needs of the pupils, building on their expertise and understanding and developing their musical potential
• to identify shortcomings in pupil achievement in music
• to inform future teaching
• to summarise what has been achieved so far
• to observe and guide participation in and emerging attitudes towards music and music making
• to provide a basis for reporting and communicating pupil progress to parents and to other professionals
• to guide the decisions regarding the development or effectiveness of the curriculum.

A range of assessment tools

The purposes of assessment may be easily achieved through the employment of a range of assessment tools that are particularly suited to arts activities. Those recommended in the content statement include:

Teacher observation

Observing the children thinking and behaving musically is a fundamental means of access to their learning. Observation will be based on:

• watching their behaviour as they sing, play an instrument or create their own music, and
• listening to the children as they talk about the music they have listened to.

Teacher-designed tasks and tests

These include the many tasks, informal check tests and learning targets that the teacher sets for the children in everyday teaching. They can be used to provide summative information of achievement in music at the end of a unit of work.

Work samples and portfolios

Portfolios can be used to save all work samples, tests and products of musical learning accumulated over a specific time. They can be presented as documentary evidence or showcase examples of the work achieved. The child can share in the responsibility for his/her own learning and assessment by selecting work samples, reflections and self-assessments to be contained in the portfolio.

Projects

Projects provide opportunities for children to work in collaboration with each other, especially on large-scale schemes. They are useful in the assessment of integrated musical processes.

Curriculum profiles

Curriculum profiles are records of pupil achievement that are primarily based on objectives in the curriculum. They may be used by the teacher to make informal judgements of pupil achievement in music.

Assessment and the aims and objectives of the curriculum

The approaches to assessment will embrace the aims and objectives of the curriculum within the three strands, and the integrated musical elements. While the teacher will observe the children engaging in musical activities, individually, in groups or as a class, in keeping with the philosophy of the child-centred curriculum he/she will record such observations for each child individually.

A common understanding of assessment criteria

Most teachers have little difficulty in rating or ranking the work of the pupils in their class. Those with considerable experience at a particular class level may have developed a personal 'standard' or set of expectations for an age group. Defining assessment criteria, setting standards (or moderating) and sharing work samples, portfolios and projects can demand an added commitment from a group of cooperating teachers. However, the benefits gained can include a heightened understanding of pupils' work and the communication of more useful feedback to the children and their parents.

Recording and reporting: continuity and progression

An adequate system of recording and reporting the work achieved in the classroom is required so that the child's valuable musical experiences will be maintained. Parents and other teachers need to be informed of the progress of the child in all areas of the curriculum, and music is no exception.

Manageability of assessment

Given that all children will be assessed, the teacher will need to develop a simple system for noting progress and achievement, keeping onerous recording to a minimum. Ideally, it should be done 'on the job', where it will have most relevance to both the teacher and the child. The pupils' own collections of work samples, portfolios, projects and self-assessments, together with curriculum profiles, will greatly facilitate the organisation of this task.