Most of us in the music teaching community will have seen it by now – an ill-judged tweet by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) which stated that “Musical achievement is about how well you can do, how good you can get. That sense of attainment is tested by assessment which gives us intrinsic motivation to make us want to get better. That’s the virtuous circle of motivation.” (via Twitter, 24 September 2021).
Understandably, the response to this statement has been largely negative.
Here are two responses to the ABRSM’s tweet, the first from my friend Andrew Eales, a highly experienced piano teacher who blogs as Piano Dao. The second is my own article which appears on sister site The Cross-Eyed Pianist.
Musical Achievement, Assessment and Motivation
Music exams, ‘credentialisation’, and the power of intrinsic motivation
A Piano Teacher Writes... 