Music Education, Cultural Value and Social Change: A Case Study of the Nottingham Music Service

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Music is an undervalued and disappearing subject in UK schools. The conversion of many schools to academies and the introduction of the English Baccalaureate Certificate have contributed to the subject's decline, as schools decrease access to Music in favour of STEM subjects or remove it from the corriculum altogether. Music hubs, such as Nottingham Music Service (NMS), have responded to these academic changes by providing weekly class ensemble teaching in primary schools under the 'National Plan for Music Education# (2011). Since 2002, NMS has reached 77% of Nottingham's classrooms with its provisions. Much of the work takes place within disadvantaged communities, a demographic considered the most liable to benefit from musical engagement yet the least liekly to gain access. Evidence of these benefits, however, are primarily anecdotal in relation to disadvantaged children. Additionally, due to music not being a compulsory part of the National Curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4, engagement with the subject drops significantly at secondary school level. My research will address these issues, utilising ethnographic methods in order to offer insights into the impact of musicl engagement and critically question music education's decline.