Persuasive arguments have been made for the existence of pedagogical discourses that invoke gender as a factor in the ascription of quality to musical compositions, and previous research has shown that some music teachers ascribe "maleness" to the characteristics that they regard as markers of high quality. Drawing upon Lucy Green's…

This study examined trainee music teachers' judgements of the musical creativity of secondary age students. Nine pieces of music composed by Year 8 students (13 years of age) were evaluated by 17 postgraduate, trainee teachers. These musical pieces were sorted into a diamond-shaped formation according to how creative they were perceived to be with…

This paper explores secondary school music teachers' current practice with regard to the organisation and assessment of composing at Key Stage 4. It draws on research undertaken on a nation-wide basis in England, via the use of two online surveys and face-to-face interviews. In terms of the organisation of classroom composition, the study found…

In this article, case studies of teacher interventions in the composing processes of school students aged 11-14 in generalist music classes are described and discussed. The study finds that music teachers have developed their own strategies for formative assessment, unaware that these are valorized by external agencies. (Contains 3 figures.)