Assessment in secondary music

4.2 Teacher as observer

This second section identifies the things a teacher should be considering and the questions they should be asking of themselves as they observe the young people working in their lessons. These questions add a qualitative dimension to the assessment process that focuses upon students’ engagement with their musical learning.

Table 6 Observing activities

Questions to consider Related issues
Are the students working effectively on the task? What is the quality of the young people’s musical engagement?
Are you using assessment to support the differing needs of all your young people? How are different young people’s needs defined and how does the assessment meet their needs?
Are students developing ideas as well as skills? When planning and assessing, how do I balance the need for the development of ideas to be supported by skills?