A Review of the Role of Activity-based Learning Experiences in the Music Curriculum, and their Current Implementation in the Standard Grade Music Course in Scotland

Abstract

This paper reviews the implementation (1988) of a practical music-making curriculum in Scotland for 14—16 year olds in the context of its reliance on activity-based learning experiences. Such experiences, which result in the pupil taking part in subject-related activities such as performing, inventing, and active listening, enable knowledge and skills to be applied and developed in a variety of ways, and in so doing reinforce previous learning and allow new opportunities for learning and teaching. This approach has a theoretical foundation in a wide variety of literature, and the paper focuses on literature concerning creative and aesthetic activities, and more specifically the role of active-learning experiences in a musical context.