Orff-fully Good Musical Education

Orff Schulwerk, proudly selling itself as C21st Learning from the 1920's!

I first came across this on and off when talking and collaborating with teachers from the American schools in Qatar.  Basically all music teachers do elements of this already, but this pedagogical approach brings the different strands of musical learning together in a usable manner.  I like it a lot.

Here are some links to what it is all about:

• The Wiki Definition
• What is Orff Schulwerk

And here is a video explaining what it is all about:

Here is the website for one of the leading proponents for Orff Work in C21st - Doug Goodkin
And here is his blog - http://douggoodkin.blogspot.com

Here are some of his suggestions for how we should set up an Orff classroom - The ideal Orff Classroom

Who Were Carl Orff and Gunild Keetman?

The two creators of Orff Schulwerk where Carl Orff (he of Carmina Burana fame) and Gunild Keetman.  More information on them can be found here.

Recommended Reading

Doug Goodkin's books are a good starting place:

Play, Sing and Dance gives an easy to read introduction to Schulwerk and, even though I have only just started reading it, has already given me a few ideas to add into my teaching.

Sound Ideas is also a useful book to use for reference as it links percussion circle activities to Gardner's Intelligences.

How I am Using Orff in My Work

I am presently slowly bringing more and more of this approach into my classroom (basically the more I learn about it the more I start using!).  It is a journey of hits and misses, but the results so far with my classes of 6 year olds has been encouraging.  It also helps that it fits in with the schools drive to implement C21st Learning skills 😏.

While admitting that this is not the cures for all ills with Music Education, I am finding that the approaches that many Orff practitioners advocate can, with a little support from school management, ensure that students get a rich and stimulating education through sound and movement.  Personally I am looking at the following proposal to put to my school that additionally to the one music lesson they presently get:

• During morning registration for a period of 30 minutes, Years 1&2, 3&4 whole year singing once a week, Years 5&6 twice a week.
• Years 7, 8, 9 have one 30 minute singing session a week.
• The pupils in 7, 8 and 9 can either choose to learn an instrument in group lessons or join a Key Stage 3 choir.
• In music lessons in Key Stages 1&2 (Years 1-6), an Orff approach can be taken in music lessons to support topics being covered in topic lessons, with additional material being provided that class teachers can use.
• A PD programme is put in place to provide classroom teachers with support for using rhythm and movement in their classes to support learning of subjects.

Further Research
Here are some links to sites which can help with developing the Orff Pedagogical Areas of Singing, Movement and Performance:

San Francisco Orff Course
This is a recording of an earlier edition (2013) of the San Francisco Orff Level Course that I attended in July 2017.  SF Orff Course

Singing


Movement
Marlita Hill explains how to develop movement through using the kinesphere theories of Rudolf Laban (apologies for the quality of parts of the video): Enriching your choreography

Performance
Body Percussion - San Francisco School Performing