Primary Teachers too shy to sing!

The BBC writes that a study by the Institute of Education has revealed that half of primary teachers in England are unconfident about singing in front of a class. The study says that most primary school pupils spend an hour doing music, with 13% learning to play an instrument.

Professor Susan Hallam of the Institute of Education said it was shocking that one in three primary school teachers had received no training in teaching music and singing. "Teaching music is about so much more than learning to play an instrument or spotting the protégés of tomorrow; it's about developing social skills, team work, confidence, co-ordination and creativity. Today's research findings revealed a worrying lack of confidence in our primary school teachers when it comes to helping children benefit from music lessons, so we now need to evaluate the direct effect this is having on our children."

The study involved the analysis of questionnaires given to 350 trainee primary teachers.

This report shows yet more reasons why Music was voted the least popular subject to teach by readers of this blog in February.