Manifesto (for The Place of Music in 21st Century Education)

I teach K – Year 6. In the younger years I teach through singing and playing classroom percussion instruments. Technology does not play much of a part in this learning, playing excerpts from YouTube has been the extent of it. Recently our school has taken portfolios on line so there is now more but it was not easy to do. K has just started using an app called See Saw and this seems to be working better – they can use it without much help. This will become part of my teaching tools.

Years 2, 3, 4, and 5 have a very strong instrumental program. Years 2, 3 and 4 get an extra 30 minutes of classroom music and I do use technology for year 3 and 4. GarageBand is used as a compositional tool. It would be good to link with this with a notational tool so that they can play what they compose. I would like to look into this more.

In year 5, while most of the time is instrumental playing, there are opportunities to explore and understand current musical elements/concepts like structure and form through GarageBand on their iPads.

Year 6 have the most opportunity with technology. GarageBand on computers, I don’t know so this is a skill I will have to learn.

There are other musical apps we have explored over time – some the students discover and share with me.

I like the idea from musical futures where the students are asked to create their version of a song that they like, teaching themselves the chords, rhythms, melodies.

In year 6 I have also explored musical coding with Scratch (and Makey Makey’s) and Hopscotch. This has been very successful. This was a skill I had to learn and I have to maintain. There were definitely times when the boys were teaching me and themselves.

 

I think what I would like to do is keep exploring and growing with technology but also having the roots of their musical learning in the singing and playing of more traditional instruments. To physically play the instruments is important but so is the ability to use technology. There needs to be a happy medium.

 

I have and will always have an interest in Anita Collins investigations into how playing a musical instrument helps brain development. The physical co-ordination, the understanding and representation of musical notation and pitch modulation in singing is not found through technology. There is more and more research being done in this area (using technology).

 

My plan/action will be to look at the Musical Futures in more detail. Explore this for the older years. I would like to encourage the students to understand how music is put together and for them to enter through their musical interest a little more.

 

I am lucky that the school I teach at values music and the students that start in kindergarten with me have a strong value of music. It is the students that enter later that I need to encourage and connect with through music.

Music is a universal language. As I say to my students – if you can read music, it is the same in all countries. You might not speak the same language as your desk partner but you can play together.

Music is also a “leveller” for students as well. For younger students, you don’t have to speak much to be able to play a tuned percussion instrument, for the slightly older students, technology allows everyone the ability to create musical compositions. GarageBand is a tool I use in my classroom. This technology is easy for the students to use and learn about musical ideas and concepts.

The DJ has to be able to mix lots of ideas when combining music. his knowledge of music that he is using is vast. I can see this knowledge in some of my students when they are listening and discussing music.

Through listening to music online, to learning from each other, creating music is becoming more accessible to the students. I know that I am learning from my students and they are always absorbing my ideas and knowledge. I had a great unit last year where the Stage 3 classes used coding to create music and then went on to use MakeyMakey’s. It was lots of fun and lots of learning.

Project Based Learning is something that I am part of at my school. We are an IB PYP (Primary Years Program) School. Most of our learning is Inquiry based. One of the units I do with a Stage 3 group is creating small mixed ensembles and ask them to create a composition which they have to perform. While there is guidance from a variety of teachers, the leaders are the students themselves. They can use technology to help them record what they have done, notate it, even have it as one of the instruments. It is always interesting to see the variety in the end results.

IN Stage 3 the students are involved in an Exhibition. They are placed in groups and they do in-depth research into an area that they are passionate about. This year the exhibition is based under the unit of How we Express Ourselves so the students have to focus on how they are going to express their views – through music, art, drama, writing etc. It will be wonderful to see what comes out.

Here are a series of web sites that I have used for various reasons. Most of them are to help primary ages students with learning and exploring music.

http://www.nyphilkids.org/

https://www.mydso.com/dso-kids/

http://www.sfskids.org/

https://www.mso.com.au/education/kids-and-families/ – the App is quite good

These sites are good for adult learning – why music education is good for children.

http://www.anitacollinsmusic.com/bigger-better-brains/

https://news.usc.edu/102681/childrens-brains-develop-faster-with-music-training/

https://www.wristband.com/content/piano-wrist-arm-positioning-playing/

This last one has been recommended by a girl called Ariella. She has found it useful as she has just started learning piano.

This one is a great one for introducing the orchestral families to young children. A delightful little boy going to see an orchestra for the first time – trying to decide what instrument he might like to learn.

“less time lecturing at students but more time igniting the creativity, imagination and problem solving skills by talking with them.”

This was an interesting TED talk by the person who helped create Coursera – free online courses. I have explored a number of these courses. Technology is amazing for learning. I don’t have to leave my home to learn. I don’t have to leave my family to learn.

With free on line learning:

Education is a fundamental human right

Life long learning – you can continue learning through out your life

Wave of innovation – everyone could learn and explore, not just those that can afford to attend university and higher education facilities.

I know I appreciate the opportunities that I can now find online.

There are both positives and negatives for Steiner education and the article

Steiner schools should adopt modern reading methods

http://theconversation.com/steiner-schools-should-adopt-modern-reading-methods-30298

states them well. I have encountered students that have come to my school after being at a Steiner school and that have had problems coping joining and more traditional school and the expectations that are associated with this, both academically and socially. I think it is important as a parent to be aware of the positives and negatives of any school system that your child is enrolled in, especially with the expectations of todays society and values.

 

 

 

 

I have used this video to show primary aged pupils the ideas of how to read music.

While watching Dr Wendy Brooks commenting on how videos need to be accurate, this video sprang to mind. It is a really good, the only problem is that at one point when they are accenting the notes, the actual direction of the pitch that is being played does not match the written direction. It always gets to me that such a good animated and easily accessible video for children could make such a fundamental mistake.

After watching and reading about the less traditional way of learning music, it makes me understand where some of my students are coming from.

At the school I teach we have a large intake of students in year 5 and a large number of them come from schools that have had not music. These students are then merged with a class a of students who have had music as part of their learning each week as well as the opportunity to learn traditional instruments as part of a 4 year instrumental program.

Some of the new students latch on to the music and discover that they really love this opportunity while others find it very difficult.

I do use garageband with them and let them compose and explore their own style of music – setting very broad boundaries like looking at the form of music, limiting the number of chords that they can use.

I do get out classroom percussion instruments and ask them to create patterns individually and then with small groups.

I really like Lucy Green’s idea of getting them to copy a song that they like. I don’t have all the instruments that they would need to make the exact same sound but I think as a group we could come up with some ideas.

I watched some more clips about the Music Futures project

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iscSFg0GKk

This was interesting to hear from the students perspective.

I enjoyed Richard Gill’s ironic comment that school is where you learn new things!! I think this has become a little lost for some students. Music is new for a number of them and just like it is for the teachers who don’t get enough hours to learn how to teach music, it is a little scary when you are suddenly expected to perform. It is always a good idea to start from s known place to move into unfamiliar territory.

This is a beautiful talk about a great kindergarten. It is entertaining to watch. He makes jokes which makes it easy to watch as well.

The kindergarten has been designed for children and how they move and learn. Looking at how spaces can be redesigned for best learning is something that my school is looking at. Not all children learn the same way. Some push the learning boundaries just to be different while others seriously cannot sit still long enough without moving. It is really important for teachers to know their students well to make sure each student is benefiting themselves and not just moving for the sake of moving.

I have tried doing this course a number of times and each time life has got in the way – both professional life and personal life so I am hoping that this time it will be a little easier to complete.

I am a primary school music teacher who enjoys exploring music. I am also a mother of two growing boys.