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With this in mind, the COE Music led a team to participate at the 27th International Society for Music Education (ISME) World Conference. Twenty-two music teachers from all East Zone clusters were nominated to attend the world conference, which was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (Malaysia) in late July.
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| The ensemble of Music teachers from Singapore who attended the World Music Conference. |
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Sharing Their Knowledge
ISME World Conference is a biennial event, which brings together all music educators to pursue the shared knowledge and experiences in music teaching and learning. In this conference, participants attended plenary lectures, symposia, presentations, master classes and workshops on various music strands.
Melody Kwek from Tanjong Katong Primary enjoyed the exposure to the myriad of “excellent, creative teaching ideas.” She reveals her decision to adapt and incorporate what she’s learnt into the Music scheme of work, “I really hope that the other music teachers in my school will be convinced to believe in what I do, and more importantly, carry them out with zest, in their own music classrooms.”
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| Rock star for a day - Teachers trying out the electric guitars. |
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Low Yin Lin from Yumin Primary was also inspired by the ideas that were presented at the Conference. She gives some examples of some which could be adapted into her music curriculum, including “incorporating Jazz into our curriculum for the upper primary pupils and having a lot of movement songs to excite those in the lower primary.”
Yin Lin felt the conference offered music teachers the opportunity to build relationships. She says, “We have discussed informally the challenges that are faced by music teachers in the schools as well as how we could have overcome these challenges. In addition, the more experienced teachers have also generously shared their music programmes or expertise with the more inexperienced ones. The whole experience has definitely developed me professionally as a music teacher.”
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| Teachers taking to the floor to learn the refined movements and graceful steps of a traditional dance. |
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Music Opens the Mind (& Eyes)
Mok Yong Lin from Fengshan Primary is awed by the importance of integrating music into the curriculum to bring about a holistic development of a child. She explains, “I’m now very inspired to expose the primary school children to other genres of music such as Jazz, Pop and Blues by incorporating some of them into the school’s curriculum.”
Student musicians from around the world also shared their expertise, by way of daily concerts, which the teachers enjoyed. Sim Kim Seng from CHIJ Katong Convent had only words of praise: “They were truly an eye opener. The sheer display of talent and diversity of musical forms reflects the hard work and dedication of the performers and their teachers.”
“In this time of global disagreements, it’s heartwarming to witness people from all over the world coming together for the common goal of making, teaching and enjoying good music.”
To make the learning of languages fun and encouraging, rhythmic chants, movements, visual aids and percussion instruments can be used. In this way, knowledge in the following areas can be easily retained:
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The teaching of multi-cultural music enables pupils to develop awareness, understanding and tolerance for other cultures, cultivates open-mindedness and unbiased thinking, and prepares pupils for the global environment.
A lesson on the above would highlight the social context of music in different cultures and develop pride in one’s own culture and national identity. This is because:
Many participants agree that the conference has provided them with a greater insight into music education in other countries. Mdm Peh Siew Hoon from Pasir Ris Crest Secondary was struck by “The richness of discussion, as well as the similar issues faced by the international music educator community.”
To ensure the impact of learning, the ISME participants shared their learning at the following platforms:
The COE Music aims to present a paper on the teaching and learning of music at ISME 2008 in Bologna, Italy.
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