The significant Paul Hamlyn Foundation investment enabled a year of consultation followed by the rigorous testing of models and approaches over two years through ‘Pathfinder’ action research projects in Nottingham, Leeds and Hertfordshire involving classroom teachers, Local Authority Music Services, universities and music education sector experts.

The background research, pathfinder projects and the work in schools in those areas that followed, culminated in the publication of Musical Futures Pamphlets and a Musical Futures 1st Edition Teacher Pack that outlined the original pedagogy, research, projects and impact of the Musical Futures approach in the early 2000’s – all of which were made available free of charge. If you are not already familiar with Musical Futures, these are a good place to start.

Continuing support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation for the Musical Futures Special Initiative allowed the continuation of a professional development training offer and resources to support classroom teaching for the increasingly growing community of practitioners.

The publication of Musical Futures: An Approach To Teaching and Learning 2nd Edition Teacher Pack in 2008, as a follow up to the Paul Hamlyn Musical Futures Special Initiative, sought to build on the experiences of those teachers who had adopted Musical Futures within their classroom practice. Whilst many aspects of this second edition are similar to the first edition, the advice and guidance was updated to reflect how teachers and practitioners developed Musical Futures in practice.  It is still the definitive guide to informal learning, classroom workshopping and how to apply these approaches and includes resource materials, case studies and other contributions from these teachers.

This publication, along with a growing professional development programme, was instrumental in the expanding reach of Musical Futures to many more secondary schools, both in the UK and across the world.