Abstract Assessment is a contested term in school conceptualisation and practices. Assessment in music education has a variety of meanings, and complexities can arise from music teacher and school leader understandings of the term. Using an activity theory conceptual framework and Q methodology, this longitudinal research project sought to develop conceptualisations of assessment in music teacher practices in English and Singaporean secondary schools. This was achieved through sorting activities in two different surveys using Q Assessor software (Singapore) and Q‐sort Touch software (England). There were 69 and 65 music teacher participants from England and 49 and 45 music teacher participants from Singapore for each p‐set, respectively. Data were interpreted through Q Assessor and PQ Method (version 2.35), respectively, before being theorised into a discussion of music teacher assessment beliefs, to enable an international comparison of music teacher assessment perspectives. Findings, realised as activity systems, reveal complex and multiple influences and perspectives, indicating that teachers' approaches to musical assessment are guided by hidden signature assessment philosophies, which influence their assessment deployment into forms they consider to be meaningful. Content and implications Rational of this study: Assessment in music education is a complex area, as evaluating musical development can be challenging to quantify. How music teachers think about and interpret musical assessments is important, as this impacts the access young people have to equitable music education. School systems are bounded by national and cultural contexts, and so, this study sought to enhance cross‐cultural understandings through mutual international research dialogue and fieldwork, revealing fresh ways of understanding assessments of musicality for all pupils in all schools. As a seldom‐used research approach in music education, Q‐methodology was chosen to reveal new insights and perspectives into music assessment practices, which can be restricted through more commonly utilised research designs. The outcomes for Q‐methodology were then further analysed through activity theory systems, leading to a novel methodological combination in the field of music education as an overarching paradigm, which strengthens the validity and reliability of the research. The purpose of the study is to enrich the research base on which schools draw to design and plan their assessment protocols, providing opportunities to reflect on and critically evaluate current practices. Why the new findings matter: Despite its important position in international curricula, as noted above, musical achievement can be challenging to interpret and to assess. This study addresses these challenges through an invitation to re‐evaluate research methodologies for music education and facilitates increased critical dialogue from international researchers on how truly musical assessments can be developed and used by teachers in a variety of cultural contexts. It highlights common characteristics, which music teachers in different continents regard as essential in musical assessment, and brings to light different approaches, allowing teachers to learn from each other and to reflect on the musical education they are offering in their schools, and how to enable even more pupils to develop and thrive in musical expressions and experiences. It offers the opportunity for musical pedagogies to be research‐informed, as well as designed from individual music teacher experiences and identities, and to reach beyond national borders to aesthetic responses. Implications for practitioners: This study has implications for a variety of different stakeholders. For educational researchers, it contributes to the further development of multi‐faceted research methodologies and makes a valuable contribution to scholarship on which other researchers may draw, particularly in music education, where Q‐methodology is underutilised. For policymakers, the study provides an extensive data set on which to draw and enables naturalistic international comparisons, which are grounded in multi‐layered analysis and genuine music teacher perspectives. For school leaders, the study enriches understanding of the complexity of honed musical assessment and the importance of developing and permitting school assessment systems, which allow capacity for young people's musical development. For teachers and their pupils, this study provides a grounding for reflection on structures for musical assessment, attributes which are valued in different international contexts and allows for fresh conceptualisations of what it means to be musical in classroom spaces in schools.
Anderson et al. (Thu,) studied this question.