Changes in Preference for and Perceptions of Relative Importance of Subjects During a Period of Educational Reform
Abstract
Summary This research formed phase 1 of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project ‘Pupils’ Approaches to Subject Option Choices’ and is a near repeat of a project carried out in the mid-1980s, thus allowing for a comparison of approaches to subject choice a decade apart, comparing the situation pre- and post-National Curriculum implementation. The simple two-part questionnaire, completed by 1600 children in 11 schools, shows the differences across time and between-school differences in subject preference, but little instability in perceptions of subject importance. Some useful additional data, giving student's reasons for liking subjects and finding subjects important, were obtained from interviews in four schools which formed phase 2 of the project. Comparisons are drawn with the data collected in 1984 on a similar basis. Issues of concern are highlighted with respect to particular subjects and to students’ stated reasons for liking subjects or finding them important, with regard to how this might relate to their subsequent subject choices and career development.
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In School C, music was the least important subject, consistent with perceptions reported in past studies.
“In School C, students' perceived importance of music remained consistent with perceptions reported in past studies (Harvey, 1984;Stables and Wikeley, 1997) with music being the least important subject.”
From Enjoyment of music and GCSE uptake: survey findings from three North East schools in England (2024) · cites this paper as Stables and Wikeley, 1997
Previous research shows that music typically appears as the least important subject alongside other arts, mainly because of career and future employment concerns.
“This finding is well aligned with previous research, as in a number of relevant studies, music typically appears as the least important subject alongside other areas of the arts (Harvey, 1984;Stables and Wikeley, 1997;Lamont & Maton, 2008) mainly because of career and future employment related concerns (Stables and Wikeley, 1997;Wright 2002).”
From Enjoyment of music and GCSE uptake: survey findings from three North East schools in England (2024) · cites this paper as Stables and Wikeley, 1997
In the mixed schools, females ranked music as more enjoyable than males.
“The analysis of enjoyment rankings by gender in the mixed schools revealed that females ranked music as being more enjoyable than males, similarly to findings by Stables and Wikeley (1997), Button (2006) and Tossavainen and Juvonen (2015).”
From Enjoyment of music and GCSE uptake: survey findings from three North East schools in England (2024) · cites this paper as Stables and Wikeley (1997)
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Hein, V., Koka, A., & Hagger, M. S. (2015) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2015.04.003 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Enjoyment of music and GCSE uptake: survey findings from three North East schools in England
Whitford, H., & Kokotsaki, D. (2024) · British Journal of Music Education · doi:10.1017/s0265051723000438 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Stables, A., & Wikeley, F.
- Affiliations
- University of Bath (GB)
- ORCID
- Stables, Andrew
- Venue
- Educational Studies
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 1997-11
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 393-403
- ISSN
- 0305-5698 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-3400
- OpenAlex
- W2087430609
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 4.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational Studies (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Career Development and Diversity
- Keywords
- participant selection, subject preference, educational reform, national curriculum, career development, longitudinal comparison, school differences
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