The realisation of the UK Government music education strategy for 11-14-year-olds in Yorkshire: exploring contexts and conceptualisations of quality

This thesis examines the realisation of the national strategy around music education in England (based on the National Plan for Music Education and several other key policies). Through comparative case studies in three distinct locations in Yorkshire, this research seeks to understand how state-funded music education is enacted and experienced across different music education ecosystems, in and outside of school. The study explores tensions between national policy aspirations for equitable access to high-quality music education and the realities of local provision. Drawing on ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) and structuration theory (Giddens, 1984), the thesis conceptualises music education contexts as dynamic ecosystems shaped through interactions between policy, institutions, educators, learners and wider structural conditions. The thesis advances a discourse of critical youth voice, considering the complexities of balancing children and young people’s needs and interests with the priorities of educators, institutions and policymakers. The findings reveal how structural inequalities relating to geography, funding, infrastructure, institutional capacity and accountability frameworks can affect the extent to which children and young people access high-quality music education in accordance with the goals of the national music education strategy. Moreover, they indicate that quality in music education is not a fixed or universal construct, but a contextual, relational and recursively produced phenomenon shaped by interactions between structure and agency across ecosystem levels. This thesis contributes to contemporary debates around music education policy, quality, equity, and youth participation by offering an ecosystemic and structurationist account of how music education policy is enacted and experienced across diverse local contexts.