Since 2011, the ideology that informs much of the current party of government's approach to education comes from one E. D. Hirsch, a controversial American educator. His pedagogy prioritises rote learning and an endless memorisation of facts in the pursuit of what he terms ‘Core Knowledge’. Someone lacking ‘Core Knowledge’ is not ‘culturally literate’, a phrase he uses to refer to an individual's ability to participate in the culture they find themselves in. His ideas were brought over to the UK by Core Knowledge UK, a group set up by Civitas in 2010.
While presented as a benign and objective approach to education, in practice it reinforces rigid social structures, presided over by those who get to decide what knowledge is important. It results in cultural hegemony and an education hierarchy which lacks nuance and is ill-equipped to deal with variations that arise as a result of individual's background, such as their gender, disability, race, culture, or class. The organisation claims that it is ‘not prescriptive in its implementation’ yet publishes a book series titled What Your Child Needs to Know.1
So why should this matter to music teachers? Well, as an example, Core Knowledge UK's music curriculum for Year 3 lists the ‘many kinds of music’ that children at that age should be listening to, followed by a list of exactly three genres: patriotic music; folk music; and Classical music.2 Given that the think tank once told its trustees that ‘immigration has weakened our national culture’, it's curious that its syllabus follows up that brief list by recommending Vivaldi, Bach and Beethoven.3
This narrowing of education cannot continue and reducing young people to empty vessels which educators must fill with prescribed facts is damaging to both students and teachers alike. It removes nuance, discourages creativity and turns the teacher into a mouthpiece instead of a companion on a mutual journey of discovery. Each exam season, I read many stories detailing increased rates of mental health issues among young people, with some even turning to suicide in the face of examinations. For the sake of these young people, we need to keep fighting for change and continue to celebrate the joy and diversity that can be found in music.
Most of us have a voice and in this issue we'll be looking at some interesting ways to use it. From Be Charlotte's pop tour of schools across Scotland (page 16) to the Longborough Festival Opera (page 26), and from barbershop (page 34) to the Bach Choir (page 21), you're sure to find something in here that's within range.
