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WHAT IS PLAYING THE CURRICULUM? Playing the Curriculum is a pilot project led by Max Reinhardt and inspired by the Norwegian model of teaching music in schools. From an educational perspective, one of the key ingredients that is often missing in music education but seems endemic to the Norwegian approach is the concept of creativity and finding your voice... an emphasis on the creative spark being as important more so, even than the acquisition of chops and technical knowledge. From Sound Check Norway: Music from Norway: Just How Important Is It, Really? by John Kelman, Music Norway musicnorway.no/2013/10/28/music-from-norway-just-how-important-is-it-really Our pilot is an experiment to model a system that can be used by any teacher (whether they are trained musicians or not) to nurture musicality and creativity. This will take the form of weekly sessions in which the whole class makes sound and music together, often improvising, using exercises for children that we have developed, tried and tested as a launchpad to create music played by trained and untrained children, to empower musical elements in all the pupils. 2
Our hopes, aims and aspirations for PLAYING THE CURRICULUM include: Supplying teachers with the mentoring, skills and support to lead inclusive and inspiring music making sessions Empowering the musicality of all children and teachers Inspiring playfulness, inspiration, exploratory momentum and spontaneity in approaches to music Reaching towards musical horizons beyond conventional song forms, harmonies, instruments and notation Expanding performance notions beyond audience and performer to more communal forms We hope that by doing this the legacy of the project will have an impact for many years. This is all about tuning the ears of children and teachers to music beyond the confines of harmony and hit tunes and popular classics, and it s not about acquiring an orthodox conception of instrumental skills. It s about an inclusive music possibly similar to the deep listening concept of Pauline Oliveros, which includes free music, found sounds, musicians, non musicians, improvisational unrehearsed music, tribal music etc. It s about people discovering:rediscovering their musicality, tapping into the music that s inside them and that s all around us Max Reinhardt KEY INFORMATION ABOUT THE PILOT PROJECT PILOT TIMESCALE The pilot will run for 2 academic years (subject to funding), from autumn term of 2017 to summer term of 2019. The music sessions will take place throughout autumn, spring and summer terms. YEAR GROUP 1st year of pilot: Year 1 2nd year of pilot: Year 1 & 2 3
MUSIC SESSIONS The exercises have been inspired and devised by workshop leaders and musicians. The sessions will be run by the teachers. It is up to the teacher how long each session is and where they are delivered in the weekly timetable, although we envisage the maximum session length will be 45 minutes. Teachers will be encouraged to adapt the exercises and feed in their own ideas. The system has been devised so that people with no experience in leading music making sessions can use it. The teachers will receive training and support throughout the project and we aim to work with teachers that have a variety of music experience, from none to plenty. The teachers from Year 1 will be an essential element in training the teachers from Year 2 for the second year of the pilot. SHARINGS Each participating class will have the opportunity to share their music making with the rest of the school at the end of each term, such as a contribution to a Christmas concert or an assembly etc. There will also be an end of year celebratory event, organized by OCM, to which all participating classes from all the schools will be invited. PROJECT FUNDING OCM is in the process of fundraising for the pilot project. All partners (including schools) will be asked to contribute financially and/or in-kind towards the project in order to take part. Playing the Curriculum is an innovative, refreshing and much-needed approach to teaching music in schools. Unfortunately, it is becoming all too common for the study of music to be considered as elitist, stale or irrelevant. Children should be taught and inspired from a young age that music is, in fact, intrinsic and accessible to all; Playing the Curriculum can unlock this awareness in a wonderfully creative way. Exploring the ways of music has the power to enlighten young people: musically and through the nurturing of self-confidence. If we reach out NOW to motivate, inspire and empower our youngest, we have a better chance of keeping music alive and relevant, allowing its natural evolution and enjoyment for future generations. Georgia Small, Primary school teacher 4
EVALUATION We will work with a consultant that has experience in schools projects to evaluate the project. We will also work with an academic to look at the model at a more strategic level. Teachers and pupils will need to engage with the evaluation process for the full period of the project. www.ocmevents.org/learning Contact: Victoria Larkin, Deputy Director, OCM (victoria@ocmevents.org / 01865 488369) PROJECT PRODUCERS Max Reinhardt and OCM (Oxford Contemporary Music) are producing this pilot project. Max is an Associate Artist of OCM. He has 35 years of experience with theatre company Oily Cart, as composer/musical director, working with young audiences from babies to 18 year olds, in general and also those with complex learning difficulties and autistic children. In 2016 he was the keynote speaker at London Early Years Music Network annual conference. He also teaches an exploratory music module for actor/musicians at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance. In 2013 he began the Instant Orchestra, inspired by the legacy of the Scratch Orchestra (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/scratch_orchestra_ (musical_ensemble)), wanting to throw open the doors of large scale music making to all, mostly out of a love of the creative chaos that comes from mixing the trained with the untrained. The results ask questions about the role of the musician, composer and audience, and how perhaps they can all be the same thing. You can see the Instant Orchestra playing a special version of Handel s Messiah at https:// vimeo.com/153756059. Max is also a longstanding broadcaster, working on BBC Radio 3 s Late Junction and BBC World Service. OCM is an Arts Council England National Portfolio organisation. It delivers an inclusive and diverse learning programme of music education projects aimed at opening access to informal music making for children, young people and members of the community, primarily across Oxfordshire. It does this in a number of ways, mainly by providing them with opportunities to take part in events and workshops in schools and in the community. Case studies of its past projects can be found at: www.ocmevents.org/ learning It is better to make a piece of music than to perform one, better to perform one than to listen to one, better to listen to one than to misuse it as a means of distraction, entertainment, or acquisition of 'culture. John Cage 5
SUPPORTING THE TEACHERS The participating teachers will be given training and support throughout the pilot. The support will include: TEACHING RESOURCES In February 2017, a special event was held at Morley College London, called the Hot House Sessions. We invited musicians, music leaders, music therapists, academics, and teachers to join us. Over the course of two days, the group devised music making exercises and techniques for primary school children. The result will be a handbook of simple, clear, easy to lead exercises for teachers to use as the basis of their regular music making sessions. This handbook be available as a hard copy and in digital format on the Playing the Curriculum area of the OCM website (www.ocmevents.org). Videos of Live sessions of the exercises in practice will also be published on the project web page. INSET DAY Participating teachers will attend a training day, led by Max Reinhardt. The ethos and teaching methods of Playing the Curriculum will be fully explained and explored and the teachers will put the exercises into practice with the support and guidance of Max. MENTORING Teachers will have up to 4 days worth of mentoring from Max during the 1st year of the project. PEER-TO-PEER SUPPORT During the inset day, participating teachers will be encouraged to keep in touch during the project and exchange advice and support. Private Facebook groups have proven an excellent way of facilitating this, but a means that is most suitable for the whole group will be explored. VISITING MUSICIANS OCM and Max will programme a selection of visiting musicians that broaden the teachers and children s experience and understanding of what music can be. There will be 1 visiting musician per term over both years of the project. 6
Your project really seems to address issues like what is the role of music in society, of the artist, and how do these work in partnership with existing structures/institutions. I love the idea of the two day Hot House sessions and the idea that there is a role for artists to play working with teachers and curriculum. I also like your connection to thinking about inclusivity from a listening point of view. Natasha Zielanski, recording artist, musician, composer, teacher at Guildhall and co-director of Future Band, a creating, composing ensemble made up of young artists from across London (www.barbican.org.uk/education/ young-people/future-band) OUTCOMES Our aims for the project are laid out on p2, but within those aims we hope to nurture the following outcomes: TEACHERS: Improved skills to lead inclusive group music making sessions. Improved confidence in teaching music and leading effective music making sessions. Development of their own musicality and creativity. The ability to pass on knowledge and skills in this style of music making to other teachers. Broader understanding and experience of what music can be and who can be musicians. CHILDREN: Development of musicality and creativity. Broader understanding and experience of what music can be and who can be musicians. BEYOND THE PILOT PROJECT We hope to plan the next steps beyond the pilot project as we go through the two years. Our evaluation of the project will be key to our strategic planning for the longer term future of the project. 7
SUPPORTERS Supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Supported using funding from Oxford City Council. OCM is an Oxford Brookes University Affiliate Organisation. Playing the Curriculum is also supported by Enfield Music Service and Philpott Design. OCM would like to thank Morley College London for their support of the Hot House event. CONTACT DETAILS Please feel free to contact us for more information about Playing the Curriculum: Victoria Larkin, Producer: victoria@ocmevents.org / 01865 488369 All photo credits: Claire Williams Photography. Pictures taken at the Hot House event hosted by Morley College London. The event brought together musicians, workshop leaders, music therapists, academics and teachers to devise exercises that make up the hand book for Playing the Curriculum. 8