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The pre-college working group
It may seem unexpected to find a chapter about pre-college education as part of a project that focused on higher education. But there were good reasons to include pre-college education in the research on the situation of systems for professional music training in Europe:
- Firstly, it is a well-known fact that musicians have to start learning an instrument at a young age in order to reach a sufficient level for the music profession. The training of a professional musician requires a long period of time for technical, physical, psychological and musical development.
- Secondly, it is important for professional training institutions at higher education level to know where and how to recruit new students. In some countries training units for young students exist within institutions for professional training, in others preparatory years are offered to young talented musicians who do not yet meet the level of admission to the higher education level. Other countries may have a well-developed system of music schools operating within or outside the general (compulsory) education system. However organised, a connection between pre-college training and higher music education is always present and in order to improve the quality of the outcomes in both levels of music education, a good relationship between these two educational levels is essential.
Based on these assumptions, a pre-college working group was established in the framework of the Polifonia project. The objective of this working group was to collect information about levels of music education before the higher education level and about the preparation and admission of music students to higher education. The following questions were addressed:
- How and where have music students been prepared for admission to higher music education?
- Does research exist on how young musicians learn that proves that it is really necessary to start early in music and why? Do differences in subjects/instruments exist? Could this information help institutions in their debates within larger educational conglomerates and/or governments on the necessity to support preparatory or junior divisions?
- What kind of admission procedures and standards exist and are these somehow related, connected to or relevant/compatible with the use of learning outcomes for the 1st (Bachelor) and 2nd (Master) study cycles?
The members of the Polifonia pre-college working group were:
The outcomes of the working group’s work were:
- The national descriptions of pre-college music education systems were finalised and integrated into the overarching publication National Music Education Systems and recommendations for supporting young musical talent at pre-higher education level have been published
- The dissemination of these various outcomes started with the Conference Pre-college music education in Europe organised in Oslo in May 2008 and the recommendations were transmitted to national and European policy-makers
- A study on where and how young talents are prepared for the higher education in music
- A literature research about the necessity of starting with music education at an early age in order to be able to become a professional musician
- An overview over European trends concerning admission procedures and standards in higher education in music
- Examples of good practice in pre-college training based on site visits
The outcomes are incorporated in the Final report of the pre-college working group available below.
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