The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the effective teacher, associated to the teaching and learning of music at Key Stage 3.1 The quantitative data was obtained through the administration of a questionnaire to 26 music teachers, immediately following their first term of teaching. The questionnaire consisted of 48 statements related to the effective teaching of music. Results demonstrate that there is an imperative for music teachers, when teaching general class music, to deploy a variety of teaching strategies and to bridge the gap between pedagogical expertise, subject knowledge, and how pupils learn if they are to become expert practitioners and maximize their potential as change agents.

Teachers who want to involve their pupils in classroom drama need to be aware of the necessary conditions for dramatic engagement. In this article we seek to identify four conditions for the preparation of successful drama, and support our argument with reference to Shakespearean drama. The conditions are identified as: agreement by the participants to take part in the drama; their appreciation of the motivating theme of the drama; their acceptance of their roles within the drama; and their willingness to transform the everyday physical context so that the world of the drama can be marked and presented. We show that these conditions are as relevant in classroom drama as in formal theatrical situations and are a necessary part of the preparation for drama.

This article reports on the results of a study which investigated teachers' and head teachers' perceptions of the role of the music co-ordinator in the primary school, and provides insight into how the role might be made more effective. The teachers participating in this project were chosen from twenty primary schools from one local educational authority in the north-east of England. The research involved the collection of data, obtained through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The data focused upon three key areas of the music co-ordinator's role: training, collegial support and curriculum administration and development. The findings of the research reflect the need for a re-evaluation of how the role is conceptualised by head teachers, especially in respect of collegial support.

The key aim of the research summarised in this article was to examine pupils’ perception of music and to determine whether or not these perceptions were the same for both female and male pupils. The empirical enquiry consisted of the administration of a questionnaire to six secondary schools in the north-east of England followed by semi-structured interviews. The results indicated that pupil perception is related to gender role perceptions, with female adolescents exhibiting a more positive attitude to music than their male counterparts. It is therefore argued that more emphasis must be placed on changing male adolescents’ perception of music if their present position as passive consumers of school music is to change.

This article reports on an investigation of the teaching of music by non-music specialists in the primary school. In particular, it examines attitudes to teaching music, factors affecting teachers' confidence, the relationship between confidence and training, support for music teaching, teaching experience and musical background. The non-specialist teachers taking part in this survey were chosen from twelve schools across one Local Education Authority (LEA). The attitudes and views on teaching music of 71 teachers were obtained through a questionnaire survey and follow-up interviews. The findings of this survey show that there is much work still to be done in providing non-specialists with effective long-term training and support to increase their music skills, subject knowledge, and confidence, to enable them to make a more marked difference to children's musical education.

This article is based on the analysis of a fragment of conversation recorded in a year one classroom. It explores the ways in which young children use language to produce a meaningful world and highlights the importance of language in the presentation of social experience. It then draws upon this analysis to discuss how children learn to use language effectively and learn how to mean.

Commercial ConsiderationsAlong with the price of the trowel a GCSE course in Archaeology will cost you around £200 on the internet, or £100 at night-school excluding the £33 examination-fee.In its report on the latest syllabus, first examined in 2003, AQA noted the appearance of 'a new kind of student' for the exam, surmising that 'less able' students were entered in Year 11; and noting that these students did achieve a grade.When news broke that the exam would no longer be offered, Don Henson, Education Officer for the Council for British Archaeology, argues strongly in defence of the continued availability of the subject at GCSE level.'A general reason for disquiet about the decision taken by AQA is that purely commercial considerations are being applied to the nature of the curriculum at 14-19.This cannot be right for education.A more specific cause for concern is the way the decision was taken -in total secrecy with no consultation or involvement from the relevant AQA Subject Committee or the subject community.'(Council for British Archaeology website: www.britarch.ac.uk)ULEAC (now merged into Edexcel) offered the subject along with the NEAB (subsequently AQA) until l992/3.Numbers taking it peaked at about 600 in l998 and l999, falling to 350 in 2003.The Young Archaeologists Club has around 3000 eight-to-sixteen year old members, testifying to the growing popularity of the subject, fuelled in part by TV shows like Time Team .Numbers taking the GCSE would rise, it is argued, were there more qualified staff available to teach the subject.