This week was our final week of inputs for Integrated Arts. We learned about and explored the use of the ukulele in the classroom. Before learning more about this instrument I was sceptical about how I (with no previous experience with a ukelele or with anything like it) could possibly use it in a classroom of children. However, learning that many songs can be played using only C, F and G has made me a lot more confident that I could teach children how to use it effectively. To me, this makes the ukelele seem like an instrument which could effectively build the confidence of children who are not initially enthused by music, as it is not much to learn before success is reachable. This feeling of success is fundamental for building resilience as it will inevitably come before or after feelings of failure, especially when children are constantly trying new things. To encourage them to persist and to pursue their interests, even when challenges arise, is a key for their development and for the development of creativity (Lehrer, 2012). Resilience is vital for life within and out with education and some children may struggle more than others to develop it, so I aim to provide as many opportunities for its development as possible. Confidence is a key concept within the arts and it should be developed in children whenever possible (McAullife, 2007). When learning about the ukelele and its place in the classroom today, I considered how the end product – the performance, or the celebration as referred to by Woods (1994), can be used to both expose and improve the confidence, or lack of, in pupils. Woods describes this as the celebration as it should be the time when we feel proud of what we have achieved in the creation process.

Within dance today, we experienced this process of performance and celebration. After working collaboratively to create dances which fitted a Christmas theme last week, today we worked to bring the groups’ dances together one after the other and to add some moves in which all of the groups did at the beginning and end of the routine. We also came up with some ways that each group could move from their dance routine in the middle of the floor, to the side while another group moved in. We filmed the routine and performed it as a celebration of our work. Although some of us felt embarrassed or nervous about filming the dance, it allowed us to watch it back afterwards and to see that the finished product was more impressive than we had first thought! This helped me to feel more confident dancing alongside my colleagues and I will now be more confident dancing in front of and with my future students. We had worked together with our tutor guiding, not dictating, us, and there was a strong sense of ownership between my colleagues. This sense of ownership not only expresses pride, but encourages people to take responsibility for and to strive to further develop any skills and knowledge gained throughout an experience (Craft, 2007). This experience also helped me to consider that sometimes, once we have the product to hand, we forget about the value of the learning and development of skills which have taken place throughout the process. As a teacher I will be more conscious of making sure that I evaluate and ask the pupils to reflect on the process once the product has been created, so as not to devalue it, but to celebrate it. For the children, their reflection may allow them to revisit ideas which they had to put on a shelf along the way for one reason or another. It may also allow them to consider how their perceptions and views about different things have changed and how they can now use movement to express their feelings and ideas in different ways.

Overall, within the contexts of both music and dance today, I considered and experienced the end of the process – the product. I developed a new level of appreciation for its value and for how it can be used not to overshadow the process, but rather as a conclusion of its discoveries.

Furthermore, in music, the four chords concept, shown in the video below, inspired me to create something like this with a class of primary school children one day to show them the transferability of their skill in the use of the ukelele:

Although this particular video would not be suitable for use in a primary school classroom (due to the nature of some of the language used) the concept of it could be developed through teaching of the 4 chords principle and then researching and experimenting with different songs to see which ones fit. A mash-up could then be created of a similar nature to this one and performed with pride and, hopefully, a new found confidence within music! Exploring the concept of the 4 chords lead me to make a natural connection between music and maths: patterns and sequencing. Marshall (2014) discusses the importance of making connections where they come naturally, rather than forcing them, as this allows us to make the inter-disciplinary learning meaningful and to truly integrate subjects. This is evidenced in various aspects of music; the beat is a pattern of short sounds, and the melody often repeats itself in a pattern during the chorus and verses, but this particular sequence adds another opportunity for IDL – Roman Numerals. The principle means that whatever key you are playing in, the four chords you use go in a sequence of 1, 5, 6, 4. Upper case Roman Numerals are used to represent a major chord, and lower case Roman Numerals to represent a minor chord. If, for example, we were playing in the D key, the chords would be D, G, A, B, played in the sequence of D, A, B, G. This form of sequencing and patterns could be experimented with using various different keys to create various different letter patterns and to represent them using sound. This could be an activity used to reach the following outcome: I can continue and devise more involved repeating patterns or designs, using a variety of media. MTH 1-13a. Also, it could be used to aim towards this outcome: I can use my voice, musical instruments and music technology to discover and enjoy playing with sound, rhythm, pitch and dynamics. EXA 1-17a. The Roman Numerals also provide opportunities for exploration of this type of musical sequence to include lessons on number systems; comparing the Roman Numeral System to the Hindu Arabic system, and learning about the history and cultural impacts of the number systems we use today. I have discussed the important part that numbers play in the world and explored a variety of systems that have been used by civilisations throughout history to record numbers. MTH 1-12a. 

Similarly to this, in the dance workshop today, my group and I were considering patterns and sequences of a different sort. Dance routines are often referred to as sequences as, essentially, they are a sequence of moves. We considered the different ways in which we can take a dance to the next level of aesthetic value. My group and I thought about ways in which some of us could do a sequence of moves in a different order to the others in our group.  I was inspired to consider that this concept highlights the use of patterns in dance and could be used to further explore patterns and sequences in the classroom. These patterns could be represented using symbols of the children’s choice – numbers, doodles, shapes, or objects such as shells or coloured crayons. Once the patterns are recorded, the children could assign different moves to the different symbols and represent their patterns using movement. This would highlight the flow of some patterns and the abrupt change of others, and this could in fact be how the children choose to represent their feelings within the dance – is it a soft and easy flowing sequence of moves, or a bold and sharp sequence of moves? Encouraging children to consider their moves first in isolation and then to combine them within a sequence, would hopefully allow them to more easily edit and adapt their sequences to whatever pattern of moves they like best. Editing is very important and should be encouraged within creative processes such as this (Kear and Callaway, 2000).

A move or a single sound in isolation can have a very limited impact. It is the sequence of moves and sounds which create the art forms of dance and music: making sequences a vital aspect, of these two art forms in particular, to consider.

References

Craft, A. (2007) Creativity and possibility thinking in the Early Years. [Online] Available: www.tactyc.org.uk/pdfs/reflection-craft.pdf [Accessed: 1 October 2017].

Kear, M. and Callaway, G. (eds.) (2000) Improving teaching and learning in the arts. London: Falmer Press.

Lehrer, J. (2012) Imagine: How Creativity Works. [Online] Available: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufnp89NOrel&feature=youtu.be [Accessed: 2 October 2017].

Marshall, J. (2014) Transdisciplinarity And Art Integration: Toward a New Understanding of Art-Based Learning Across The Curriculum. Studies in Art Education. [Online] Vol.55(2), pp.104-127. Available: Taylor & Francis. [Accessed: 17 November 2017].

McAuliffe, D. (2007) Foundation and Primary Settings. In: Cox, S., Watts, R. Grahame, J. Herne, S. and McAuliffe, D. (eds.) Teaching Art and Design 3-11. London: Continuum.

Woods, P. (1994) ‘Chances of a lifetime: exceptional educational events’. In: Bourne, J. (ed.) Thinking Through Primary Practice. London: Routledge.