Costs, Cuts, and Cultural Barriers: Exploring Policy Perspectives and Peripatetic Teachers' Perceptions of, and Impacts on, Access to Instrumental Mus

This thesis explores issues of access for pupils to extra-curricular music services in Wales. Local Authority music service funding reforms since 2010 have led to the fragmentation of provision and an increase in parental fees for tuition, resulting in access issues for children from differing socio-economic backgrounds. This thesis argues that the literature places too much emphasis on economic barriers to access, and that the social and cultural attitudes of music service teaching practitioners also play a vital role in music service accessibility. These teaching practitioners occupy a crucial role as the direct interaction point with pupils and parents/carers, yet their role in music service access has previously been underexplored. The thesis examines how access to music education is framed and justified in policy discourse, which is compared to teaching practitioners' justifications of music service provision and perceptions of access issues. Utilising a documentary analysis of key Welsh Government and third-party documents, and qualitative interviews with teaching practitioners, this study shows that while the affordability of provision remains a major factor, funding reforms have also impacted music service pedagogy and the working conditions of the teaching profession, compounding access issues for pupils. The documentary discourse does not adequately consider the impact of social and cultural attitudes amongst practitioners, who act as invisible gatekeepers to access. Interview data revealed a vocationalist perspective on music education amongst some practitioners, resulting in culture clashes with some pupils, and leading to cultural and social attitudes and perceptions which can negatively affect access. Conversely, other practitioners demonstrate a liberal humanist perspective, utilising a collaborative, pupil-led pedagogy, which breaks down cultural barriers of access. In revealing the impact of practitioner values, this study highlights a new aspect to consider in the accessibility of music service access in Wales, and offers policy recommendations to address these issues.