Orchestration: Accordion, male voice, bells, sticks
When reading Koops article on authenticity the article reminded me of a lesson I did about 4-5 years ago. At the beginning of the school year during those hated staff development days the music department got together and one of the teachers had taken a bunch of neat classes over the summer at a local university and she shared the highlights with the department. One of the activities she shared was Morris dancing. She explained what she had learned from the course and gave us handouts from the course and then she taught us the lessons she had learned from the class. Granted she did say that the instructor substituted the actual use of sticks with plastic lighting tubes from home depot. Then she taught us the dance and gave suggested music to do this dance with. I thought this was awesome and right up my ally. I teach inner city kids and this was a great active way to learn about another culture. So I really wanted to do the lesson but the tubes/sticks were going to cost me around $120 for all my kids, and my school wouldn't pay for that. So I was at Walmart in September and found pool noodles ON SALE, so I got 30 pool noodles for $15…note: I love a good deal!! So I went and planned out the lessons based on all the info I had received. Well I started teaching the lessons and then I got a smartboard in my room and I thought this would be a great opportunity to show the kids actual Morris Dancing. I found a video just like the one I posted here. When I saw the dances online I was mortified, what I had been teaching was nothing like the video. I ended up doing my own research and finding that what I was teaching wasn't necessarily completely wrong but not really right either. I found out that the pool noodles were a great choice for me, because I can't tell you how many times I got hit in the head and real sticks would have hurt! On the other hand they were so not the right tool for this dance. The tubing that was suggested also was not good for this style dance. The sticks add rhythm to the dance and play a roll in the music. Also, the music that was suggested was not traditional English music. I ended up teaching the rest of the lesson, because I didn't want to quit in the middle.
So to get back to authenticity…I agree that it is important to give our students as much of the real thing as possible. I wouldn't have taught the lesson the way I did if I had realized how much the instructor had changed it. Though, my kids did learn about meter and a little about Morris dancing and it was a great team building activity which my students really need. So even though the authenticity of the dance was compromised I still feel it was a good lesson. But, was if my fault because the information was tainted before I got it? As teachers one of the best ways to learn about other cultures and music is through workshops and classes. Learning hands-on, at least for me, is the easiest way to learn about music from other cultures to bring back to the classroom and we all do it. I feel that what we teach needs to be as authentic as possible for the age group. Sometimes I feel things need to be modified so I can bring it to the classroom and other times I feel its not worth doing because too much needs to be modified. I think as educators we have to use our best judgement (thats why we have degrees in music) when modifying a piece of music or dance. But, I also feel that its better to modify a little then to never bring it in. I want my students to be exposed to as much as possible, but unless I go to a specific country and study the music of that culture first hand(which we have already discussed in this class) we get our information passed from one teacher to another. Sometimes its very authentic and other times its not.
I feel like your example falls within the scope of Beyond Authenticity, and I think it works. The essential ideas about the musical practices in this model are addressed within your example, and I think some of the secondary goals of your project are laudable (and perhaps still within the score of the model).
I find it quite interesting that despite my thoughts being within Authenticity as a Continuum, and my own blog post advocating for that as the way to go, I quite respect what you've done here, and I really do think you've done right by your students and the music, despite approaching this from an almost opposite approach from the one I find myself most interested in.
I can sympathize with you in the lesson you prepared. Some of the best laid plans need to be altered at the last moment to save the time and effort you put into your preparation. I really like the idea behind this music and dance. This dance demands teamwork and coordination which are attributes we want to develop in our students. It is a music activity that will engage the students and teach them how other cultures use music and dance. As for authenticity, I agree that it is a continuum. We need to use the resources we have available to make the lesson as authentic as possible but there are limitations to what we can do. For instance, would you ever get your boys to dress like these men? I think not. Thanks for your sharing of this music.
I have to applaud your use of ethnic music and bringing it into the classroom. I think that making mistakes in our teaching and then being able to recognize that, and then effectively change your instruction, that is true education. Sometimes it feel that teachers will do something like this and realize the "mistake", and simply make the adjustment for the next time teaching this unit. Yet you made the music more authentic for these students. I applaud your efforts and really enjoyed your musical example!
Very neat video and commentary about the lesson you did. I think we have all been there, when at some point in our teaching we have realized that we might have exposed our students to something "wrong." You took the right tact with following it up though, but in the actual lessons and in your thinking. The fact that you realized that your students still took something valuable from what was taught is being very cognizant of what really matters in the classroom. Obviously, through your own research you discovered ways it could have gone better, and will use that for the future. As for your statement about being presented faulty instruction at the outset of this endeavor is also intriguing. Are we to second guess everything our coworkers show/teach us? Or question everything we are taught at in-services or conferences? If we had to double check everything we are being taught to confirm its validity, we would never have time to teach. Unfortunately, its a gamble that most of the time I think is probably not as glaring of an issue as you described, though if in the planning of actual lessons we present, even if based on someone else's presentation, we do cursory research to "fill in" the spots we need for our particular lesson and/or students we might find these inaccuracies earlier.
This a very interesting video. I feel that students will definitely enjoy the active movements that are shown in the video. I agree that as educators we must provide our students with the real deal especially when it comes to teaching world music. If we don't address the authenticity of the works then we are short changing our students of the knowledge to be learned as well as the overall culture experience. The type of authentic experience may serve as a type of culture experience in which our students can get without physically going to another country. Why not bring the country and cultures to our students to further enhance the academic environment.
I feel like your example falls within the scope of Beyond Authenticity, and I think it works. The essential ideas about the musical practices in this model are addressed within your example, and I think some of the secondary goals of your project are laudable (and perhaps still within the score of the model).
ReplyDeleteI find it quite interesting that despite my thoughts being within Authenticity as a Continuum, and my own blog post advocating for that as the way to go, I quite respect what you've done here, and I really do think you've done right by your students and the music, despite approaching this from an almost opposite approach from the one I find myself most interested in.
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ReplyDeleteI can sympathize with you in the lesson you prepared. Some of the best laid plans need to be altered at the last moment to save the time and effort you put into your preparation. I really like the idea behind this music and dance. This dance demands teamwork and coordination which are attributes we want to develop in our students. It is a music activity that will engage the students and teach them how other cultures use music and dance. As for authenticity, I agree that it is a continuum. We need to use the resources we have available to make the lesson as authentic as possible but there are limitations to what we can do. For instance, would you ever get your boys to dress like these men? I think not. Thanks for your sharing of this music.
ReplyDeleteI have to applaud your use of ethnic music and bringing it into the classroom. I think that making mistakes in our teaching and then being able to recognize that, and then effectively change your instruction, that is true education. Sometimes it feel that teachers will do something like this and realize the "mistake", and simply make the adjustment for the next time teaching this unit. Yet you made the music more authentic for these students. I applaud your efforts and really enjoyed your musical example!
ReplyDeleteVery neat video and commentary about the lesson you did. I think we have all been there, when at some point in our teaching we have realized that we might have exposed our students to something "wrong." You took the right tact with following it up though, but in the actual lessons and in your thinking. The fact that you realized that your students still took something valuable from what was taught is being very cognizant of what really matters in the classroom. Obviously, through your own research you discovered ways it could have gone better, and will use that for the future. As for your statement about being presented faulty instruction at the outset of this endeavor is also intriguing. Are we to second guess everything our coworkers show/teach us? Or question everything we are taught at in-services or conferences? If we had to double check everything we are being taught to confirm its validity, we would never have time to teach. Unfortunately, its a gamble that most of the time I think is probably not as glaring of an issue as you described, though if in the planning of actual lessons we present, even if based on someone else's presentation, we do cursory research to "fill in" the spots we need for our particular lesson and/or students we might find these inaccuracies earlier.
ReplyDeleteThis a very interesting video. I feel that students will definitely enjoy the active movements that are shown in the video. I agree that as educators we must provide our students with the real deal especially when it comes to teaching world music. If we don't address the authenticity of the works then we are short changing our students of the knowledge to be learned as well as the overall culture experience. The type of authentic experience may serve as a type of culture experience in which our students can get without physically going to another country. Why not bring the country and cultures to our students to further enhance the academic environment.
ReplyDelete