A tale of four National Plans
The process of reading these different plans is fascinating, and if you have the time I encourage you to delve into each of these documents for yourself. Here though, I am going to do a quick headline comparison of them to highlight some similarities and differences.
In each plan there is a clear vision statement, but the approach to these is somewhat different across the nations. Scotland has taken a ‘big picture’ approach to its vision: ‘Scotland as a place where the transformative potential of music is valued, nurtured, and experienced by all.’ I really like this statement because it does not try to pin down exactly what music is or should look like; instead it just encourages us to value music as a concept and ensure that everyone can experience it. Wales also starts off with a big-picture statement ‘Experiencing the joy of music, in all its forms, should be at the heart of every school and setting,’ but swiftly becomes more focused on specific types of music making in specific settings, ‘We want children and young people from across Wales to have opportunities to play, sing, take part in and create music, in our schools and settings, as well as in our communities’, before broadening back out again into a bigger picture focus: ‘Music and well-being are so intertwined and we want our children to cherish and celebrate music in our ‘Land of Song’.’ (This is followed by further statements giving operational detail of how the vision will be achieved). I wonder if this vision statement would have more impact if the middle sentence was removed? ‘Experiencing the joy of music in all its forms, should be at the heart of every school and setting / Music and well-being are so intertwined and we want our children to cherish and celebrate music in our ‘Land of Song’’?
Ironically, despite being called ‘The Power of Music to change lives’, the English plan does not have quite the same feel as Scotland and Wales in its vision statement, which focuses on skills development and progression, and comes across as more didactic as a result: ‘To enable all children and young people to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music together, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents, including professionally.’ This statement is then followed by a list of bullet points which explains in more detail what the vision means operationally, and a further section of bullet points on inclusion. Interestingly these inclusion statements are in normal type whereas almost all of the rest of the vision statement and bullet points are in bold – which intentionally or not gives the inclusion section a feeling of being of less importance. For me, the information in this vision statement is the ‘how’ when it should be the ‘why’; it is operational rather than strategic, and it therefore runs the risk that the plan will be distilled down into how many children have learnt an instrument or learnt to sing during its lifetime.
After the vision statement, Scotland’s plan follows up with a one-line mission statement ‘To realise music’s potential to transform life chances’. I really like the simplicity and the boldness of this statement, and the choice to start the whole plan with a succinct statement of purpose in my view gives it instant clarity. I think this will be incredibly helpful to those delivering the plan, as when they inevitably get bogged down in all the detail of projects (as anyone working on any kind of strategic plan always does at some point) they can return to this simple statement as a checking process to make sure they have not strayed too far from the plan’s original intent.
Each of these plans also has a list of priorities (Wales), aims (Scotland) or goals (England), all of which follow on from the vision/mission statement. Scotland’s first aim is ‘To promote equality of access to music provision’ which chimes well with Wales’ priority of ‘Promoting equality of access for all learners to play, sing, take part, progress and create music’. England’s third goal sits in an adjacent area ‘All children and young people with musical interests and talents have the opportunity to progress, including professionally,’ but again here the wording suggests that the focus is on progression more strongly than inclusion.
Scotland’s second aim ‘To foster quality learning experiences’ could be set against Wales’ priority of ‘Supporting schools and settings’ and England’s first goal ‘All children and young people to receive a high-quality music education in the early years and in schools.’ It’s interesting to me that the Scottish aim is so broad, whereas the Welsh and English statements are specific to activity in schools. This I suspect is reflective of the non-government status of the Scottish document (which has to embrace and value the activities of all of its MEPG sector members), and the fact that the Welsh and English plans are government documents, and the only place governments can control education is within schools!
At this point, the documents diverge rather more. England’s other goal is that ‘All music educators work in partnership, with children and young people’s needs and interests at their heart’ which sounds surprisingly big-picture when you consider what has gone before; but perhaps so much as to render it meaningless from a strategic point of view. When you read the chapter on this goal it is clear that this clunky wording doesn’t actually express what is intended – the chapter itself is called ‘Working in partnership through Music Hubs’ and perhaps it would have been better if the goal was rephrased to something similar to make it clear that this part of the plan is the music hubs strand.
Scotland’s one remaining aim ‘To improve perceptions of the value of music education’ is another interesting choice, and again one that I am sure is driven by this being a sector-created document. Perhaps the reason that there is no matching statement in the Welsh or English plans is because the very existence of a National Plan in these countries automatically gives music education greater status?
Wales goes all out on its priorities at this point, with lots of additional statements which embrace a wider definition of music education than either of the other two plans’ headline statements do. Wales’ ambitions include ‘Building stronger music learning communities’, ‘Improving health and wellbeing through music’ and ‘Connecting music industry with higher education and lifelong learning.’ Some similar work is implicit in the Scottish plan when you look at the list of organisations involved, and there is some similarity in the English plan under the progression strand with regard to HE. However, the Welsh plan is alone in articulating these as key priority areas.
The one remaining priority for Wales is one of the most important intentions found in any of these documents ‘Increasing diversity and representation in music education workforce.’ I have written before about why I think this is so important, and I think it’s a real shame that this hasn’t been more of a focus particularly in the government-created plan for England.
This would turn into a very long read if I were to continue comparing every little detail of the remainder of these documents, and doubtless some will say that this analysis does not reflect the full picture of these plans. However, from looking at the vision and aims/priorities/goals of these plans, we can gain an interesting picture of the approach to music education across these different countries, and one which I hope will prove useful.
But wait, didn’t I say four national plans? Well, yes I did, and that is because I am currently involved in working on one for another country! The process of undertaking this has been rewardingly collaborative and consultative. There has been meaningful input from teachers at every stage; including most importantly primary non-specialists who, making up the majority of the teaching workforce, are those on whose shoulders the success of the plan rests. The existing national plans were consulted and debated when formulating this new plan and unsurprisingly there is some content crossover, but the format and structure of this new plan is very different, in what we hope is quite an exciting way! Until the plan is launched in mid-2023 there is not a lot of detail that I can share, so all I can say is watch this space…!
Dr Liz Stafford, November 2022. Copyright © 2022 Music Education Solutions Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Further information and support:
Click here to read more blogs about music in Wales
Click here to read more blogs about music in Scotland
Click here to find out about our services for schools in England, Wales and Scotland
Click here to find out more about our services for Music Hubs and Instrumental Teaching Services
