Case study: Reflections from CME course leader Alison Kutlu at Edsential CIC

It's always exciting to share a positive story about music education and it is pleasing to share a positive story of recruitment and potential in the field of music education. In this blog, we have the pleasure of hearing from Lindsay Kutlu, a course tutor at Edsential CIC, who will tell us about her experience delivering Trinity's level 4 Certificate in Music Education (CME) to their first cohort...

'Delivering the CME has been a valuable experience. This blog post aims to shed light on the journey, challenges, and rewards of offering this esteemed programme. 

The Journey Begins

We decided to offer the CME programme to enhance the Professional Development of our workforce. We wanted to offer further support and guidance to newly appointed staff who may not have had a lot of experience in education previously. The collaboration with Trinity College London was initiated through a series of discussions and meetings and the initial step involved us demonstrating our skills and capability in meeting the demands of delivering the course. Once we were approved as a CME centre, we began appointing mentors and interviewing possible candidates for the programme. 

Designing the Programme

The process of designing the programme was very much governed by Trinity's CME Specification and Assessment Guidance. We designed 9 key tasks that would demonstrate learners' ability to meet Trinity's Level 4 criteria which are listed below;

• Unit 1: Understanding children and young people's musical learning
• Unit 2: Planning, facilitating and evaluating children and young people's learning
• Unit 3: Reflective practice and professional development in music education
• Unit 4: Promoting children and young people's positive behaviour
• Unit 5: Equality, diversity and inclusion in music education
• Unit 6: Safeguarding children and young people in music education

We also planned 6 face-to-face study days which covered each unit of work. We provided learners with guided reading tasks, one-to-one support from a mentor and access to a SharePoint site which was a very successful way of sharing content and housing learners' portfolios. 

Delivering the CME Programme

Each learner was encouraged to keep a reflective journal which was used to support evidence in their final portfolios. Mentors kept in touch with learners offering support and guidance throughout the course. We quickly learnt that the initial time we had allocated for mentoring was not enough and adjusted as we journeyed through the programme. Learners worked through each unit of work together, attending a study day for each one and completing specific tasks including journaling. Sharing ideas, thoughts, and pedagogy during the study days was extremely beneficial to both learners and course deliverers.

Impact

All CME graduates expressed how this course helped them become more self-aware of their own teaching practices. Two of the learners who completed the course, also increased their music tutor work, becoming full-time employees. This is a credit to the progress that they have made in their teaching because of the CME course and associated professional support. 

'The CME course provided valuable guidance on topics such as lesson planning, teaching and learning strategies, promoting positive behaviour, and it also encouraged me to become a more reflective practitioner. As a result of completing the course, I now feel more competent and self-assured in my role as a music tutor.' Caitlin Scrowther CME Graduate, Edsential Musical Routes 

The Future

We have seen the benefits of facilitating the CME programme for our music service staff and are now looking to recruit a new cohort of CME learner for 2024.'

If you would like to know more about CME at Edsential please visit their site https://edsential.com/products/certificate-of-music-educators-cme/  

The main photo is courtesy of Edsential staff and student Kirsty and Helen, second photo is courtesy of Edsential staff and student Alison and Caitlin.

You can find more information on the journey from a learner's perspective in this case study blog and our 10 alumni stories blog. If you are a centre wanting to set up a course around the CME qualification our blog becoming a validated centre will give insightful tips and advice. 

If you are a centre or student wanting to know more about CME and the centres that provide the qualification or information about the qualification, please click here.