Tokenistic learning

As Barnes notes, we should not really consider tokenistic learning to be cross-curricular. It is an exercise for the sake of it, not for adding any purposeful learning from the perspective of music. An example might be singing ‘heads, shoulders, knees and toes’ at the start of a science lesson.

Hierarchical learning

In some instances the way in which subjects are used together forms a hierarchy. In hierarchical learning, one subject is used to support the learning in another; as Barnes (2012: 140) describes: ‘playing the handmaiden’s role, humbly serving a more important subject’. Examples might include singing songs to learn the times tables. The focus here is not on the quality of the singing but instead of developing the mathematical skills. That is not to say that this is not valid – there are so many ways in which music could be used to support learning in another subject.

It is not uncommon for a teacher to ‘teach the children a song on the Victorians’ or another topic. In some schools, this is unfortunately viewed as musical learning and is the sum total of music education. To be clear, unless there is a clear focus on developing something related either to the quality of the music or musical experience, or to develop specific musical skills or musical understanding, this contributes little, if nothing, to musical learning. Yet, as a way to learn the days of the week in French it is potentially very useful; likewise for learning phonics sounds, for example hitting a tambourine or boomwhacker every time the ‘sh’ sound is heard.

The Sing Up song bank¹ is tagged to be able to search songs by topic and age, which makes it very straightforward for a primary school teacher to find suitable material for a specific theme. There are many other published resources with a specific purpose, for example books of phonics songs and chants with ideas about how these might be used.

However, music does not always have to be the ‘subservient subject’. In other contexts, other subjects might support the musical learning, for example drama games to help convey the mood of music or to help children understand the historical or social context of the music, or even bouncing balls around the classroom to mark the beat.

Multi-disciplinary learning

A slight shift of focus from a hierarchical model can mean that the learning becomes multi-disciplinary, i.e. ‘several subjects are called on separately to bring understanding to a theme, experience or idea…[creating] powerful and emotionally significant experiences for the children and teachers’ (Barnes 2012: 141) and, through this, enabling learning in all included subjects.

There are many examples of this. In the examples above, the teacher may have purposely worked on the production of sound in the French days of the week song, or focussed on clear diction and the blending of voices. In the example using instruments, the children may have been encouraged to really think about sound production and how the sound for ‘sh’ would be different for ‘s’ and ‘h’ when not blended. Using these three sounds, they could create a short piece of music.

Using an example from Brighton and Hove, the annual Primary Schools Christmas Concert in 2014 included songs written using ideas from children in the City’s special schools working with animateur James Redwood. The lyrics and ideas were based around life in the trenches, and children in local schools studied historical accounts and poetry from that time to help them understand both the history and the context. There was equal focus on development of musical quality – specifically part-singing, developing ensemble skills and conveying a story through their singing. A ‘powerful and emotionally significant experience’ was created through the inclusive performance of this new work with 1,400 children, singing, signing and through the use of assistive music technology in order for voices and sounds from all children to be incorporated into the work.

Interdisciplinary learning

The example shared relates closely to interdisciplinary learning, which Barnes (2012: 144) describes as ‘creatively combining the approaches of two or more subjects…subjects are not just applied to a single experience, theme or event but are combined in response to that experience’, leading to increased understanding in each subject. Some significant and impactful examples of interdisciplinary learning can be found in the English Folk Dance and Song Society Resource Bank², particularly those around The Full English³ and The Full English Extra⁴ work. These excellent projects brought together music, dance, drama, literacy, visual arts, geography, PSHE, and cultural and social history to encourage children to explore their past and develop new ideas. These projects really brought together tangible and intangible cultural heritage and encouraged teachers, pupils and communities to create bespoke, relevant and inspiring learning across the curriculum. This comment from Ben Stevenson, Head teacher at Marton Primary School, sums up his thoughts about the term’s work that took place in his school: