The latest issue of British Journal of Music Education (BJME) introduces a new section dedicated to publishing articles by teachers and practitioners.

In each issue, the section will concentrate on a particular theme and for the first ‘Teacher-Practitioner Contributions‘, the focus is on informal learning.

Pamela Burnard and Gary Spruce outline each contribution in their editorial:

‘The first contribution is from Fiona Sexton, a secondary school music teacher from a comprehensive school in East Anglia. She describes how informal pedagogies and involvement in Musical Futures have provided a framework for a change in the focus of her teaching away from what children were learning to how they were learning…

‘In the following article, Anna Gower, a secondary school music teacher, identifies “five characteristics of informal learning in practice.” She also identifies tensions between the informal learning model and the expectations of schools that music teachers provide “hard data” relating to pupils’ progress and attainment.

‘Finally Mandy Winters, a teacher educator, looks at informal learning practices from the perspective of teaching composing. She notes how an emphasis on informal learning pedagogies and Musical Futures approaches have the potential to guard against the focus moving away from the dynamic process of composing to it becoming “reified into composition.”‘

The introduction of ‘Teacher-Practitioner Contributions’ draws on BJME’s original mission: ‘to strengthen connections between research and practice, so enhancing professional development and improving practice’; and ‘to help us towards a better-informed and possibly more cohesive profession.’

Access the first ‘Teacher-Practitioner Contributions’ here.

Follow BJME on Twitter @BJMEMusic.