Language and Music Teaching: the use of Personal Construct Theory to investigate teachers’ responses to young people's music compositions

The research investigates the increasing disparity between the effectiveness of music teaching in English secondary schools (where music is taught by teachers with a specialist training in music) and in primary schools (where music has traditionally been taught by generalist, non‐specialist teachers). The paper takes up issues raised in the first volume of this journal and focuses on the language used by specialist and ‘novice’ teachers of music to appraise children's compositions. The approach uses techniques from Personal Construct Theory to elicit verbal constructs which are analysed in both qualitative and quantitative ways. The findings suggest that a way forward for music teaching might be to step back from the model of the expert who perceives and values music in technical terms. Instead, we should take the lead from ‘novice’ music teachers who have retained their intuitive edge, as a means of recapturing and reinstating the feeling for the personal value of music and connecting more closely with young people.