Article Gold Open Access 2025

Incidental professional development in music education for generalist teaching staff through supporting pupils in expert-led authentic music projects

British Journal of Music Education
Journal · Vol. 42 · Issue 1 · pp. 4-17
Abstract

The need for effective continuing professional development (CPD) in music education is outlined and literature on CPD for generalist teachers and teaching assistants is reviewed. A small qualitative study is then presented that took advantage of a music-making project led by folk musicians in six special schools in England. This study focused on the generalist teaching staff who actively supported their pupils to participate. The staff reported that their own confidence in working musically had increased, as had their awareness of the importance of music for children. It is suggested that these outcomes were achieved through incidental CPD, potentially paving the way for further, deliberate CPD. © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Keywords

Author Keywords

education continuing professional development generalist incidental learning music

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business, Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
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