MUSIC

In todays session, we got to see evidence that anyone, at any age, can learn to play a musical instrument via the Greenmill String Project.

The project taking place in Greenmill Primary School in Cumnock sees that all pupils learn to play a stringed musical instrument as a class. The students have played for the likes of Prince Charles and we were lucky to have them come play for us and for them to teach us how to play also.

Each student/s paired with a pupil who taught them the basics of their chosen instrument. Such as how to hold a bow, pluck the strings, hold the instrument and some chords.

I did enjoy the session a lot but questioned the successfulness of it as a nationwide project. The instruments played were violin, viola, cello and double bass. Whilst I understand the limited selection of instruments- budgets, whole class playing and the fact the teacher is required to teach these instruments. I question how many children would really be interested or more so pushed away. I know that as a child I was not interested in instruments of that sort. I also question the successfulness in children who maybe aren’t musically gifted and would struggle, as an anxious child myself- i could see something like this really upsetting me if I was struggling or not managing. One teacher teaching the whole class four different instruments does not allow for the time to help those struggling or enough time to push on those excelling. This may work against the intention which is to built childrens confidence as they progress  (Bloomfield and Childs, 2002).

Despite these reservations, I am aware of the many benefits of a curriculum that allows for a lot of music and playing.  The Art Education Parternship (2011) states the following benefits:

 

DRAMA

In this session we further explored drama conventions that can be used in the classroom. For this session we used the book ‘The Tunnel’ as the stimuli.

Furthering on from previous weeks learning off thought tunnels etc. we explored role on the wall. In doing this we looked at how others view a character and how a character views themselves. I believe exploring this is important for children’s emotional intelligence and also to increase their perception of themselves and also others. By firstly exploring aspects  of fictional characters it eases them into being able to build the confidence to explore aspects of their own personality.

To enhance the exploration of character we also took part in an activity called voices in the head where we had to speak the thoughts of characters in the book. The risk with an activity like this is that the children will just say the same thing as each other or will say  nothing at all. However effective drama within the classroom is all about using initiative and taking risks (Grainger, 2007) .

 

 

REFERENCES