On 12 November, teacher educators and researchers from UCL Institute of Education will bring together school teachers and AI specialists for a knowledge-exchange event exploring one of the most rapidly developing questions facing music education: how artificial intelligence is beginning to shape creative music-making in secondary classrooms. The event is being led by Dr Kate Laurence and Dr Ross Purves as part of a wider project, funded by the IoE's Mary Moon Fund, examining teachers’ experiences of AI and its implications for musical creativity, teaching and assessment.
The event reflects a growing recognition that AI tools are already finding their way into young people's musical lives. From systems capable of generating melodies, rhythms and chord progressions to tools that process and manipulate audio, AI is creating new creative possibilities while also raising important questions about originality, authorship, assessment, intellectual property and equity. Yet many music teachers are navigating these developments without established sector guidance or opportunities to share emerging practice with colleagues.
Rather than promoting a single view of AI, the November gathering will create space for informed discussion of both opportunities and concerns. Participants will hear from speakers with backgrounds in music, education and artificial intelligence, exploring the creative potential of new technologies alongside the ethical dilemmas and practical challenges they present. Teachers will also be invited to share their own experiences and observations from school settings, helping to build a clearer picture of how AI is already being used by young people and educators.
A key aim of the day will be mutual learning. The organisers hope to bring together expertise from across schools and universities, creating opportunities for classroom practitioners to learn from AI researchers while ensuring that university colleagues gain insight into the realities of day-to-day teaching, curriculum delivery and assessment. The discussions will focus on practical classroom work, particularly creative composition activities, and on how teachers can support pupils to engage critically and responsibly with AI technologies. Through presentations, discussion activities and collaborative sharing of practice, participants will contribute examples, reflections and ideas that will inform the next stage of the project.
Looking beyond the event itself, Kate and Ross hope that the conversations on 12 November will contribute to the development of practical resources, ethical guidance and pedagogical recommendations for music teachers. Findings from the project are expected to inform UCL's music teacher education programmes, contribute to professional development resources, and be shared more widely with subject organisations and the broader music education community. In the longer term, the project aims to help build a confident and well-informed music teaching workforce capable of responding thoughtfully to the challenges and possibilities that AI will continue to bring to creative musical learning.
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