This guide is aimed at student teachers, mentors and practising teachers and is intended to link with Learning to Teach Music in the Secondary School (Philpott & Spruce, first published in 2000). The earlier book supports new teachers particularly in becoming reflective about their practice, whereas this guide is presented more as a workbook offering ideas for developing teaching and learning. The ten chapters are written by different contributors and are linked together by a shared format. They focus on current developments in secondary music education, concentrating on key issues such as personalised learning, the use of technology, assessment and transition into Key Stage 3. Each chapter clarifies an aspect of teaching music linked with practical tasks for developing understanding. The book offers PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) students support with the trend towards research-based learning alongside appropriate practical guidance.

The first section of the guide deals with musical learning. In the opening chapter Chris Philpott persuasively discusses the importance of inclusivity in the classroom and meeting the needs of all pupils. He summarises the new National Curriculum and briefly visits ‘Musical Futures’, addresses the teaching of talented children, and considers how a new music department can be designed to facilitate a positive learning experience. The opportunity to plan provision in terms of physical space and curriculum design may be viewed as idealistic by many practising music teachers.

‘Teaching music musically’ is a theme common to several of the contributors and one that is so fundamental to the success of music teaching. Keith Evans emphasises the importance of integrating music skills in the 14–19 curriculum and his ‘idea boxes’ provide very useful stimuli for a more creative approach to teaching set works. BTEC (the Business and Technology Education Council diploma) is explained under ‘Alternative Pathways’ although an increasing numbers of UK schools are now choosing this qualification. It is unfortunate that there isn't more resource material available to support the teaching of this qualification and this lack is reflected in the ‘Further Reading’ section at the end of the chapter.

Part two of the book is entitled ‘developing musical pedagogy’ and each of the five chapters contains excellent material for the trainee teacher to dip in to. The tasks will probably be found to be more useful to guide and stimulate thinking rather than as tasks to be actually completed. I'm fairly sure that the over-burdened music teacher and students undertaking intensive PGCE courses may ignore this workbook style. However the planning ideas in each task box succeed in reminding us that music is a unique subject, which offers the teacher opportunities to experiment with an array of teaching styles and ways of inspiring our pupils.

‘Teaching creatively’ has been considered for over 40 years and was pioneered by the late John Paynter in the 1970s. Ian Shirley brings us up to date with 21st century resources such as YouTube and teaching ideas using contemporary tracks such as the Lloyds TSB music, Eliza's Aria. Likewise Duncan Mackrill explores recent developments in technology and thankfully treats these as learning tools to enable ‘pupils to do something more effectively’. Box 6.1 provides good examples of positive ways to use the interactive whiteboard. I wonder whether he could also warn the new teacher that it is easy to become over-dependent on this tool, particularly as computers are often seen to crash in the classroom! This chapter gives very useful free internet resources and suggested websites, though much of this is likely to go quickly out of date as technology moves on at such a pace.

In recent years, music education has caught up with the core subjects and become, in my opinion, over-burdened with target setting. The aims and application of assessment are too frequently misunderstood which can result in overuse of summative assessment and inadequate use of assessment for learning. Martin Fautley clarifies this topic in chapter 7 and provides excellent clear guidelines particularly on questioning and varied strategies that can be used in assessment for learning. In this chapter teachers are guided in ways to develop dialogue with their pupils aiming to take their learners forward.

Part 3 is entitled ‘Broadening your perspectives’. Julie Evans informs us about the fairly recent government initiatives, Sing Up and the Wider Opportunities programme, which aim to provide extensive singing and instrumental tuition in English primary schools. It is essential for secondary teachers to acknowledge work carried out in their feeder Junior schools and to build on Year 7 enthusiasm and interest at the start of their secondary schooling. Evans’ suggestion of devising a ‘musical passport’ is one way of achieving this. Many music educators envy the collaborative projects set up by Sage Gateshead, where musicians and schools work together to follow the aims of the Music Manifesto in providing music-making opportunities. Whether other parts of the country can follow this lead in the present financial climate is probably debatable. The final chapter in the book considers cross-curricular projects, which is a key area in the new National Curriculum. The chapter includes case studies and examples of cross-arts projects.

As a visiting university mentor I still see lessons where pupils fail to engage with the content of their music lessons. This can be due to a variety of reasons. Pupils can lack ownership of their learning, technology can be used unmusically, there may be over-emphasis on National Curriculum levels, lessons can lack context and so it goes on. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone embarking on a music teaching career as it goes a long way to address these issues and helps new teachers who are searching for clarity on key areas of pedagogy. The book is probably suited more to new rather than established teachers mainly because of how the material is set out. However it can also be of great use to the teacher mentor, particularly those without the luxury of time to reflect on the nature of their role.