5.3.13 Music

5.3.13 Music

Teaching, learning and assessment in Music were of a very high

standard overall

The Junior Cycle Music curriculum comprises three interconnected strands: procedural knowledge; innovate and ideate; and culture and context. The curriculum focuses on giving students the opportunity to develop their musical knowledge, skills and cultural awareness through practical and cognitive engagement with music. At Leaving Certificate level, the course promotes an awareness of music through the development of listening, performing and composing skills. The course also promotes the use of school and community resources to facilitate the exploration of music in a manner that is both meaningful and relevant to students. Data from state examinations in the 2016 to 2020 period indicates that there was a small increase in the numbers of students studying music in Junior Cycle and Senior Cycle (Table 5.28). While the uptake of higher level Music in the Junior Certificate remained steady, there was a small increase in the uptake of higher level Music in Senior Cycle.

Inspection findings on the quality of teaching and learning in Music were very positive. Inspectors found the overall quality of teaching, learning and assessment to be good or very good in all schools in which a subject inspection of Music took place.

Students engaged regularly in practical music-making activities and the repertoire chosen for performance was age and ability appropriate, while the approaches chosen contributed to the quality of learning. In most cases, subject provision and whole-school support were found to be very good, and students had access to a variety of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities related to Music.

Table 5.28: Numbers of students taking Music examination in Leaving Certificate and in Junior Certificate: 2016-2020

	Leaving Certificate			Junior Certificate
Year	Higher level	Ordinary level	Total candidates	Higher level	Ordinary level	Total candidates
2020	93.8%	6.2%	6,936	N/A*	N/A	N/A
2019	93.6%	6.4%	6,659	83.8%	16.2%	10,828
2018	92.8%	7.2%	6,383	84.5%	15.5%	10,562
2017	93.0%	7.0%	6,519	84.8%	15.2%	10,932
2016	91.6%	8.4%	6,597	84.0%	16.0%	10,778

Source: State Examinations Commission * As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Junior Cycle 2020 examinations were cancelled.

Music Generation, a national partnership programme, complements the music curriculum in participating schools

Music is studied by approximately 25% of students in first year. This drops off to around 17% in second and third year. The higher proportion of students studying Music in first year is likely to be a result of schools offering taster programmes in a range of subjects on entry to first year. At Senior Cycle, approximately 11% of students study Music. To complement the curriculum, schools have the option of participating in Music Generation, a national partnership programme that is partly funded by the Department. Through this partnership, Music Generation creates rich and diverse ways for children and young people to engage in vocal and instrumental tuition delivered by skilled professional musicians, across all musical genres and styles.

Significant strengths in approaches to teaching Music exist; more integration of musical components is required in lessons

Teaching approaches were found to be good or very good in 92% of lessons observed during subject inspections of Music. Student engagement was good or very good in 95% of lessons, and there was very good teacher-student rapport. Students’ expertise and talents were often embedded in the learning process, allowing the teacher to easily occupy the role of facilitator and enabler of learning. In many lessons, the wide range of student ability was catered for through well-structured and varied activities, carefully thought-out resources and effective questioning strategies.

A recommendation in a number of inspections was that students should experience the three components of Music in an integrated manner in lessons. It was also recommended that teachers should ensure that performing and listening were integrated into composing to help students develop their knowledge and understanding of the composing process further. Another frequent recommendation was for teachers to use the ‘sound before symbol’ methodology consistently in lessons, where teachers ensure that when introducing notation, students hear the sound of each note before being introduced to the theory.

COVID-19 curtailed the delivery of aspects of the music curriculum

The need for schools to implement social-distancing because of COVID-19 curtailed their delivery of aspects of the music specifications during the September to December 2020 period. In line with public health advice, the Department advised schools that singing indoors and the playing of wind and brass instruments should be minimised due to the additional risk of infection. It also advised schools that larger extra-curricular school groups, such as choirs and wind and brass ensembles, be avoided. In terms of developing performance skills, schools were advised that it may be necessary for teachers to demonstrate and model a skill which students would then practise at home, record their efforts and submit them to their teacher online.