Last summer, thanks to the generosity of Darlington and the Thatcher Faculty Professional Development Grant, I was able to travel to George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. to complete the first level of the Orff Schulwerk, which was developed and founded by German composer Carl Orff and German ballet dancer Gunild Keetman. Orff is a process for teaching music based on a whole-body approach. It combines singing, speaking, dancing, and the playing of instruments to create a well-balanced musician starting at a very young age.
For two weeks in July, my class of 15 music educators were given the opportunity to learn like the students in our classrooms would. We were encouraged to let down our hair and explore as children would. We had classes dedicated to recorder methods, movement, and the foundations of music. Our teachers showed enormous passion for their subject matter and created an environment where creativity and experimentation could flourish. They truly demonstrated how we should be in classrooms everyday.
When I arrived at class on the first day, I was expecting to be handed a curriculum and told to teach this material in this sequence to these ages. I could not have been more wrong. What we were given was a thought process on how to develop our own lessons and activities for all our students, regardless of age or ability. While our class of 15 was learning, there was another group of 15 in a second level 1 section and then a class of level 2 and class of level 3. Once a day, we would all come together for a large group activity such as a game or dance. Every hour of every day (and they were 8 hour days) was jammed packed with information, learning, and fun.
When we would go home for the evening, we would have a few hours of homework and then get ready to do it all again. The two weeks culminated with a giant performance in front of all the students and guests. Not only did I make professional connections to teachers from around the world, but also lifelong friends that I keep in touch with still.
Looking back at this two week experience, the most important lesson I learned was that it is okay to relinquish control of the creative process. If students are handed the answer to every problem, or if we put our influence as educators into something that is supposed to be their creation, they learn nothing. However, if after we have taught the skill or concept and then step back and allow them to experiment, create, and improvise on their own, the product will be greater than anything we could have created for them. As I look toward the future, I cannot wait to return next summer to complete the second level and to reconnect with the friends I made.
