What's Wrong With School Music?

This paper examines the tradition of ‘teaching’ in the arts, taking, as a case in point, recent attempts by music educators to make school music more appealing to students. Research is cited which would seem to call into question the effectiveness of years of so-called curriculum development in music, and the point is made that the reforms may not have been sufficiently radical. By reference to the writings of R. G. Collingwood and H.-G. Gadamer an argument is developed around the notion that the arts cannot in fact be ‘taught’ and that the troubles connected with, in this case, school music, arise from the failure of music teachers at all levels to acknowledge this fundamental intuition. The paper follows Collingwood further in suggesting an account of arts teaching which sees the arts as a way of having ideas, and the purpose of an education in the arts as helping someone find their authentic, expressive voice.