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Findings from the IOE's substantial body of music research have had a significant impact on policy for successive Governments and NGOs in the UK and overseas, as well as on teaching and learning in the music classroom and outside. Research has led to curriculum innovation, increased participation and investment in music for all ages, including those with special needs, benefiting millions of children and young people attending schools in England and around the world. The impact derives from a wide range of externally funded studies, embracing music learning across all education sectors.
Research at the Reid School of Music (RSM) identified the importance of music making for developing creative and social skills for children with educational and behavioural difficulties. This led to the establishment of the Botanics Project, which has provided primary school children from economically deprived areas of Edinburgh with an intense experience of music making and performing, while equipping their classroom teachers with effective techniques for animating interest in and response to the performing arts. The project has involved about 2000 children and 40 teachers, with an audience of around 500 for each event, many of whom were new visitors to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and National Museum of Scotland.
Since 2006 Professor Christopher Fox has been engaged in a series of linked projects which explore ways in which the engagement of performers and listeners in texted music for vocal ensemble can be enhanced. The research was initially based on received understandings of the perceptible relationship between music and text but, as the project and its impact have developed, the research has extended into a collaborative scientific study of this relationship, funded by two successive awards from the Wellcome Trust. Each stage of the research has been extensively disseminated through public performance, broadcast, recording, print and on-line media and the impact of the research now reaches into a wide range of communities of interest and the general public.
Creativity research of the Centre for Research in Education (CRE) has impacted upon practice in teaching and learning throughout the UK, and a number of other countries. It has helped inform policy decisions, in terms of assessment at Key Stage 3 (KS3). It has had impact upon teaching and assessment practices around the world, with specific examples being cited from the USA, New Zealand, and Chile. In the UK it has been used by commercial organisations (The ABRSM), arts organisations (Sound and Music, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group), charities (Esmée Fairbairn), and Local Authorities (Birmingham City Council Music Service).
This case study details the broader impact of an extensive programme of research on participation in music and arts activities from childhood through to older adulthood. The research shows how people respond to, feel about, and take up opportunities provided to engage with music and the arts. We have shown that developing a robust musical identity in the early stages of childhood is important in a range of educational situations, including decision-making about later educational qualifications and continued involvement or motivation for involvement in music-making in later years. We have also shown that participation in the arts can contribute to enhancing community identity and challenging negative stereotypes about ageing. The research has had an extensive impact on arts education and participation policy in the UK as evidenced by discussion at major forums and inclusion in staff training, on the international music and arts practice community through inclusion in policy documents and multiple invitations to various events, and on wider public debate about the value of music and arts in people's lives as evidenced in the development of community arts events and discussion in editorials.
Research (2003-12) by Osborne at the Reid School of Music (RSM) revealed a need for a new musical instrument for disabled users. Under the direction of Osborne, between 2006-8 an interdisciplinary team across Music, Psychology and Physics, including RSM-based Schögler, developed a new musical `object', the Skoog, which allowed people with a wide range of disabilities accessible expressive control of sound. A spin-off company, Skoog Music, was formed in 2010, which now employs six staff, and has sold more than 1,000 units in 16 countries, generating an income of around £600k. The Skoog is widely used by schools and education services and in clinical music therapy by institutions such as Drake Music. It featured in the Best of the Best 2010 in Able Magazine. It was one of three instruments to inspire the composition Technophonia by Oliver Searle, performed at the South Bank as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and short-listed for a 2013 British Composer Award.
Identifying and promoting best practice in the education of young children, this case study focuses on local, national and international policy and practice in two linked areas: children's learning and staff professional development. It underpins national strategy for England, Northern Ireland and Wales and informs international curriculum developments. We have made a significant impact on children's lives through:
Since 2008, Baily has reached out to Afghanistan's shattered communities, using music to recuperate their musical culture and rebuild their sense of identity. Baily's work falls into three categories: education about Afghan music, in and outside Afghan communities; preservation of Afghan musical culture; and deploying musical practice to restore community identity and dignity. His post-2008 work builds on his pioneering research and the Afghanistan Music Unit, founded in 2002. His scholarship is rooted in research, practice, networks, and decades of experience, giving him unique insight into Afghanistan's music and its citizens at home and abroad. Through his interactions with musicians, educators and policy-makers, as well as his own public performances, films and educational work, his research has had a major and direct influence in sustaining Afghan culture, both in Afghanistan and in its worldwide diaspora in Pakistan, Iran, Australia, Germany and the USA, as well as the UK.
Research conducted 2008-11 by the university's Music and Entertainment Industries Research Group on the online music consumption habits of British 14-24 year olds has influenced national and international music industry stakeholders and legislative bodies. First, the findings helped industry body UK Music to inform its influential music industry membership's knowledge and understanding of copyright issues and changing music spending patterns. They also inspired a `Proposal', written by the Songwriters Association of Canada and widely read in north America, urging industry-wide adaptation to changing music listening preferences. Further, the work has contributed to pre-legislative copyright debate and policy making in Britain and overseas.
Research conducted at Queen's has shaped significant changes to the revised Northern Ireland Curriculum which became statutory in 2007. There are two main research areas that led to these changes: teaching children to think across the curriculum, which has affected, and will continue to affect, the experiences of all children between 4-14 years in Northern Ireland schools (estimated 230,000 children annually); and a play-based early years curriculum, which affects all children between 4-6 years (estimated 48,000 children annually). The research on teaching thinking continues to influence curriculum developments elsewhere in the UK, specifically Wales and Scotland, as well as internationally, including the Republic of Ireland and Thailand. The research has even wider reach through current advisory work with the International Baccalaureate Organisation. The play-based learning research has specifically influenced policy and the professional development of teachers in the Republic of Ireland.