New online course to help music teachers inspire next generation

ABRSM partners with FutureLearn to provide an intensive teacher development course

Becoming a Better Music Teacher is a free online course for teachers created by ABRSM and available through FutureLearn. The course is aimed at teachers who are beginning their teaching journey or wishing to refresh and refocus their teaching skills. It is now open for enrolment and will provide teachers with a strong foundation for effective music teaching.

ABRSM is passionate about inspiring musical achievement and believes that music teachers play a vital role in leading and shaping their pupils’ musical journey. It offers a range of teacher support initiatives including teacher development and annual teacher conferences; and this latest partnership with FutureLearn represents a new expansion into e-learning.

ABRSM’s Chief Executive, Michael Elliott said:

ABRSM’s mission is to inspire achievement in music, and in recent years, it has experienced increasing global demand for the provision of training and support for music teachers. Our partnership with FutureLearn provides a new venture into online courses and its success will guide the further development of our teacher support offering. We trust all those enrolling on our FutureLearn course will enjoy the rich array of teaching support and materials prepared by our many contributors and will be keen to continue their journey of learning and discovery in association with ABRSM and its many partners around the world.

Enrolment for ABRSM’s Becoming a Better Music Teacher is now open. The online course has been developed to inspire effective music teaching and musical progression. Commencing on Monday 10 June, it will cover five key areas of teaching practice including: Teaching and Learning Principles; Core Musical Skills; and Professional Values and Practice. The course is focused towards teachers’ professional development and includes: how to develop your own teaching philosophy, explore the basis for motivation and how motivation is linked to progression, and design individual learning plans for pupils.

Nigel Smith, MD of Courses and Learning at FutureLearn, said, “Learning to play a musical instrument or sing is a life-enriching experience, and we’re delighted to be partnering with ABRSM to help music teachers be as effective as possible. Few subjects have such capacity to inspire all, regardless of ability or age, and we’re happy to be providing teachers with the tools they need to be inspirational.”

ABRSM is excited to be able to offer this course  in partnership with FutureLearn. FutureLearn has partnered with some of the world’s most renowned universities and institutions and ABRSM’s Becoming a Better Music Teacher is part of their continued commitment to teacher support.

About ABRSM

ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) is the UK’s largest music education organisation, one of its largest music publishers and the world’s leading provider of music exams, offering assessments to more than 600,000 candidates in over 90 countries every year.

ABRSM’s mission is to inspire musical achievement. In partnership with the Royal Schools of Music, we support high-quality music-making and learning around the world. We offer pathways and resources for learners and teachers that help build musical skills, provide goals and encourage progress.

About FutureLearn

FutureLearn is a leading social learning platform formed in December 2012 by The Open University and is now jointly owned by The Open University and The SEEK Group. FutureLearn has over nine million people signed up worldwide. FutureLearn uses design, technology and partnerships to create enjoyable, credible and flexible online courses as well as undergraduate and postgraduate degrees that improve working lives. It partners with over a quarter of the world’s top universities, as well as organisations such as Accenture, the British Council, CIPD, Raspberry Pi and Health Education England (HEE). It’s also involved in government-backed initiatives to address skills gaps such as The Institute of Coding and the National Centre for Computing Education.