Power and policy: Unpacking hegemonic narratives in music education

This qualitative study employs critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine the hegemony of musical knowledge within the United Kingdom’s government-released documents, the National Plan for Music Education (NPfME) and the Model Music Curriculum (MMC). This research uses Mullet’s systematic seven-step framework to explore musical genres’ dominant hegemony and valorization and their impact on curriculum design and teacher agency. There is a focus on ages 11–14 (Key Stage 3). The integration of CDA with thematic, comparative and frequency analysis reveals a dominance of western classical music and neocolonial values within these documents. As a result, this marginalizes many musical genres and pedagogical ideologies. This study contributes to ongoing debates within UK education policy and curriculum studies. In examining how hegemonic paradigms are reproduced through policy texts, the article shows broad implications for global policy-makers and educationists. This study aims to determine the depth and extent of dominant powers that impact the school curriculum and has international relevance due to discussions around inclusivity, cultural responsiveness and equity in music education.