FRAAI LAWAAI: a Lelystad music education project 18 March R. Willems De Kubus, Centrum voor Kunst en Cultuur Lelystad, Flevoland, The Netherlands r.willems@dekubuslelystad.nl R. Seijmonson (translation) Rotterdam, ZuidHolland, The Netherlands Abstract Fraai Lawaai 1 is a Lelystad music education project with a supply of music lessons in all classes of primary school and after school time in the Brede School 2. The main objective of Fraai Lawaai is to bring children, who have the least access to it due to their home background, into contact with (instrumental) music education. In Fraai Lawaai we choose cooperative learning as a methodology and the approach Moet je Doen Muziek 3 as curricular continuity pathway and structure in the school, for cooperative and instrumental lessons. The music lessons in year 1 to year 4 and halfway through year 5 are taught by the form teacher assisted and coached by an AMV teacher 4 from the Kubus. In year 5, 6 and 7 the form teachers teach the children songs from Moet je Doen Muziek in their regular lessons. They form the basis for the instrumental Fraai Lawaai lessons. In year 8 and in the Brede School there is a supplementary programme of lessons aimed at broadening skills with ample opportunity for singing and percussion. After more than 2,5 years of Fraai Lawaai we now weekly reach over 700 Lelystad children of which more than 500 through the curricular continuity pathway for music with music education and we deepen their skills on real instruments. De Boswijk, Waterwijk and Zuiderzeewijk are enlivened by wellattended performances at which children proudly give concerts to parents and local residents. The participation of the form teacher in Fraai Lawaai is our best practice that we wish to pass on to other music projects. With Fraai Lawaai schools are not consumers but partners. Our intention with the restart of Fraai Lawaai in /2014 therefore is to mould the project more distinctly in cooperation with the school. The more schools acquire the ownership of music education, the greater the need for deepening instrumental knowledge by teachers of the Kubus will be. In June 2014 concrete end products will be yielded, consisting of a documentary Fraai Lawaai and a teaching guide containing sample lessons and tools for music teachers and form teachers. 1
FRAAI LAWAAI: a Lelystad music education project Introduction Fraai Lawaai is a Lelystad music education project with a supply of music lessons in all classes of primary school and after school time in the Brede School. Our main objective with Fraai Lawaai is to bring children, who have the least access to it due to their home background, into contact with (instrumental) music education. Thanks to a subsidy of the Fund for Culture Participation as part of the arrangement Muziek in ieder Kind 5 Fraai Lawaai has been running in three primary schools in Lelystad since the 2011/ school year. Now 700 children from Boswijk, Waterwijk and Zuiderzeewijk yearly discover and experience what music means to them. 1 Theoretical background of the project Fraai Lawaai has been set up because music education has almost entirely disappeared from the primary school curriculum making music education wellnigh unattainable for children from the poorer areas in Lelystad, partly through ignorance but particularly due to the lack of financial means and social obstacles. Making music however does a lot more than bringing relaxation and joy. It also stimulates the children s intelligence, reduces concentration problems and also improves their motor system. Fraai Lawaai utilizes cooperative learning as its approach. Thus children develop skills like independence, looking accurately, discipline and perseverance besides all kinds of social skills like cooperating, given feedback, taking and giving responsibility. These are competencies that are essential in today s network society. Besides all social skills simply learning how to play an instrument, making progress and being rewarded in a serious learning setting like school or during performances, is an experience of success which generates selfconfidence and selfrespect. Consequently, it becomes easier and more enjoyable to learn other things, because there is a counterweight for the cognitive subjects. One last thought behind Fraai Lawaai is to augment the quality of life in the area by organising area performances in which children, parents and local residents work together and children make music. This liveliness brings people in the area together. The beautiful and inspiring thing about music is that it is a 2
language that everybody can speak. And with that language contrasts between poor and rich, black and white can be bridged. 2 Characteristics of participants Fraai Lawaai takes place in three schools in Lelystad from the end of October to the end of June. We reach children from age four in year 1 of primary school to age twelve in year 8. That means that five hundred pupils on average are taught over 28 lessons during school time. At the Brede School it is possible to make music after school, linking up with the programme within the school Horizon, Driestromenland and Ichthus. These activities are open to all other year 1 to year 8 children from the Brede School in the area. Every year around 250 pupils participate in this over 12 lessons. 3
Below the detailed reach of our participants. Inside the school Driestromenland Horizon Ichthus 2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 Totaal Year 66 75 60 50 56 50 24 25 406 1/2 Year 3 27 25 25 20 20 32 13 10 172 Year 4 33 30 25 35 18 21 14 13 189 Year 5 24 19 30 25 35 17 11 10 171 Year 6 21 20 25 26 34 11 13 150 Year 7 28 21 21 24 25 7 10 136 Year 8 18 24 21 24 7 19 113 Total 150 216 205 176 200 203 87 90 1337 Brede School Driestromenland Horizon Ichthus Tota l 201 1 201 1 2011 expecte d 2011 2011 expecte d AMV 15 66 36 15 50 36 16 32 266 Recorder, Guitar, Trumpet, Singing Percussio n, drumming is cool The voice of 27 36 16 20 36 16 32 183 33 36 35 35 36 24 32 231 Total 15 126 108 66 105 108 56 96 680 4
3 Project objectives Our main objective with Fraai Lawaai is to bring children, who have the least access to it due to their home background, into contact with (instrumental) music education. For this reason we set up the project at schools in de Boswijk, Zuiderwijk and Waterwijk, the somewhat poorer areas of Lelystad. Moreover our objectives with regard to children are that they make music with confidence and respect for other people and move their boundaries. Employing their social competencies (cooperating, consulting each other, supporting, listening etc.) inside and outside the school. Taking the musical talent that they have discovered further, through the experience (heart, mind, body) both with and without instruments. Presenting themselves with confidence and pride during performances at school for their parents and local residents. Expressing their preference for an instrument supported by their practical experience with playing the instrument. At school level we wish to attain that form teachers teach the lessons from Moet je Doen Muziek confidently and with pleasure, supplemented with cooperative work forms developed by the Kubus. Apart from that a further goal is that music is a fixed part of the curriculum, teachers get a better view of the development of the child and consequently give it better coaching inside and outside the school. We also want to achieve horizontal cooperation in the district with the child at the centre between the Kubus, the school, parents and possibly amateur clubs or local residents, and enliven the area with many musical performances. 4 Approach In Fraai Lawaai we choose cooperative learning as a methodology and the approach Moet je Doen Muziek as curricular continuity pathway and structure in the school, for cooperative and instrumental lessons. Our music teachers followed training from Frits Evelein of Codarts amongst other people, Masters in Music and the educational expertise centre APS to be able to do this well. The book Cooperatief leren in Muziek 6 by Frits Evelein was an important source of inspiration for making the music lessons cooperative. Cooperative learning is based on a number of principles: Simultaneous interaction, equal contribution, individual accountability. Roelie van Bruggen (headmaster of primary school Driestromenland) recounted that 5
it struck her that children had trouble to genuinely play with each other. She saw that during the social skills lessons and the way the children interacted in the school playground. According to her this is a consequence of the trouble they have reflecting on their own behaviour and actions. Fraai Lawaai appeals to people because in making music together, skills like cooperating, giving each other feedback and taking and giving responsibility are continuously present. Cooperative learning is also intertwined in the project as a metaphor when it involves the cooperation between the form teacher and the music teacher. The music lessons in year 1 to 4 and halfway through year 5 are taught by a AMV teacher from the Kubus in the first project year. Then a form of coteaching, in which the form teacher and AMV teacher teach the class together, is sought. Finally the form teacher will teach the music lesson on his own. Moet je Doen Muziek forms the starting point of the teamtaught lessons, supplemented with cooperative work forms. In year 5, 6 and 7 the form teachers teach the children songs from Moet je Doen in their regular lessons. These form the basis of the instrumental Fraai Lawaai lessons. The music teacher transposes the melody of the song to the music instrument in question and from there deepens the music e.g. by playing polyphonically. In the instrumental lessons the pupils help each other to study their parts. The music teacher switches between teaching at an individual and group level and there is room for personal contribution. The melody which the pupils already know by hearing is playfully transposed to music score. An important goal of Fraai Lawaai is to make this acquired knowledge, experience and expertise transferable. Concrete end products are a documentary (Fraai Lawaai) which makes it clear what processes one can encounter when integrating such a spectacular educational project in the school structure. Besides we also develop a teaching guide Fraai Lawaai with all sorts of sample lessons on how to link up with the existing approach Moet je Doen Muziek as regards content and how to extend the Moet je doen lessons in the lower levels of primary school with cooperative work forms. 5 Activities Fraai Lawaai started in the spring of 2011. Teachers are working in the outside school programme with the following instruments. Orff instruments, guitar, keyboard, recorder, accordion, trumpet and violin. Children are taught 28 lessons and are allowed to take a borrowed instrument home with them to 6
practice. The idea is to work towards 3 to 4 performances per season of which at least one is a big end performance outside the school with professional lighting and sound, in the area or in the theatre. Year 8 follows a different programme. In this form children are offered 8 lessons of Pop Practice and Classic Express in which they get to know other instruments. In the Brede School, there is a programme that is also accessible for children from other schools in the area. The programme of the Brede School contains a broadening of the teaching programme with instruments such as the recorder, percussion and singing. In 4 lessons children work towards a performance for the area. For that purpose professional musicians are employed to help raise the level and to offer spectators a receptive experience. For talented children and those who have a passion for the instrument, there has also been a learning orchestra since spring in which they can learn to play together with other children even better. 6 Outcome After almost 2,5 years of Fraai Lawaai and shaping music education in primary schools, we have achieved the following: Over 700 Lelystad children, of which more than 500 through the curricular continuity pathway for music, are now reached weekly. Music teachers teams and form teachers teams work together closely for the horizontal development of the child. Inspired by the musical enthusiasm in the Waterwijk a learning orchestra was started which also enables talent development. The linking up with Moet je Doen Muziek provides structure and cohesion in the project. Music is once more back in the spotlight and in the curriculum of the participating primary schools. The form teacher teaches the music lessons confidently and in the lower levels of primary school the form teachers can execute the Fraai Lawaai programme entirely on their own. The Boswijk, Waterwijk en Zuiderzeewijk have been enlivened with wellattended performances at which the children proudly give concerts to their parents and local residents. 7
7 Conclusions and implications for future work Fraai Lawaai meets a social necessity and is successful thanks to that among other things. It is our ambition to reach more children in future and to improve the project further still. We are also going to make the project more compact and balance it out better financially because in the season /2014 the subsidy of the Fund for Culture Participation will end for the greater part. Our experience with Fraai Lawaai teaches us that shaping music education at primary schools is a process that requires patience. Music teachers must make a change towards teaching large groups of children and by means of cooperative learning. Form teachers must get to know a new approach Moet je Doen Muziek, get familiar with it and feel confident teaching music lessons to children. However, primary schools are expected to focus on cognitive subjects more and more and Citoresults 7 for calculation and language education are becoming progressively more important. It takes willpower, passion, perseverance and belief to embed Fraai Lawaai in primary education. The participation of the form teacher and the responsibility that is placed with the school to become part of the music education of Fraai Lawaai, will bring about the embedding in the schools. This is our best practice which we pass on to other music projects. With Fraai Lawaai schools are not consumers but partners. Our intention with the restart of Fraai Lawaai in and 2014 is to shape the project even more distinctly in cooperation with the school. The more schools acquire the ownership of music education, the greater the need for deepening instrumental knowledge by teachers of the Kubus will be. We are looking forward to it. Notes 1 Splendid Noise 2 school for extracurricular activities 3 Must Do Music 4 General Music Education 5 Music in every Child 6 Cooperative learning in Music 7 Institute for the Development of School Exams 8
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