Initial Teacher Educators have a vital role to play in terms of preparing students for the wide range of teaching and learning strategies that Musical Futures requires of teachers.
There is a misconception that teachers/trainee teachers need to be fully skilled in and knowledgeable about rock, popular and urban styles of music to be able to run Musical Futures. However, teachers who have had success with Musical Futures come from a wide range of backgrounds, and have often received a fairly formal training themselves. Style and genre of music is not the focus with Musical Futures, rather the approach to teaching and learning.
Musical Futures teachers/practitioners should:
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Be willing to help students pick up music by ear
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Be willing to work across a broad range of styles, genres and instruments
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Be willing to learn alongside students
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Have a good relationship with students, and be able to create an environment of trust and respect
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Be open to modelling, guiding and facilitating as part of their teaching style
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Be able to respond to individual students' needs, even if this means lessons/projects have unexpected outcomes
Independent research carried out on Musical Futures by the Institute of Education (click here for the full report) revealed that teachers who had implemented Musical Futures consistently reported that they:
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Felt more confident about facilitating student learning in a range of musical genres, and teaching a range of instrumental skills
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Found teaching music more enjoyable
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Considered themselves more effective teachers
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Engaged in more personalised teaching
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Adopted a more practical approach in the classroom
