Our think2020 strategic programme, funded by Youth Music, aims to boost inclusivity across the music education sector, increasing musical opportunities for disabled young people through partnership work.
Over the past two years think2020 has helped us to identify a significant gap in the music education sector workforce…
We believe that disabled people are under-represented at all levels from practice to policy – from teachers to music education hub staff, to boards and policy-makers.
However, currently this is anecdotal information, from our observations, rather than data.
The statistic from Arts Council England’s second annual diversity report, released in Nov 2016, which showed that only 4% of NPO organisation staff self-defined as disabled, against a working age population average of 19%, suggests that our observation is correct, but diversity data is harder to find at a music education specific level.
A diverse music education workforce is essential to truly break down disabling barriers to music.
So, how inclusive is the music ed workforce?
We’d like your help to find out.
If you know of any published facts, figures, stats or data regarding the demographic make up of any part of the music education workforce, please get in touch.
We are aiming to pull together a report which will include teachers, music leaders, school boards, music education hub staff and more, with a particular focus on clarifying the data for people identifying as Disabled.
If you have info or reports on any of the above, please get in touch. If you have suggestions for organisations we should include in our research, please let us know. You can leave a comment on this blog post or email us directly.
Contact us via email with your insights, data or suggestions: beckymorrisknight @ drakemusic.org
We look forward to hearing from you and to making progress in understanding the true picture of how inclusive the music education workforce really is.
