"Why are Graded Exams still valid in 2025?"

In his 2018 book ‘21 Lessons for the 21st Century’ Yuval Noah Harari suggests that in the future, schools should “downplay technical skills and emphasise general-purpose life skills. Most important of all will be the ability to deal with change, to learn new things, and to preserve your mental balance in unfamiliar situations” (Harari, 2018). 

We live in a world where young people only see the ‘finished article’ on social media, never seeing the true story of mistakes and the development of a growth mindset. Instrumental music lessons with other learners promote growth through the shared experience of learning from making mistakes on the way to mastery.

This session will explore the validity of how our learners, through studying for graded music exams, can benefit from developing the critical life skills needed for the 21st century.