download

The extra dimension
exciting the students.
Musical Futures gave me ‘permission’ to experiment and do
something different and this informal approach chimed with my
own experience.
I work with students to empower them to make creative
musical decisions beyond simply learning to play the notes – they
arrange songs, simplify parts and compose their own material.
Nearly all students said they preferred Musical Futures lessons
to previous lessons and felt they had made progress in learning
instruments. KS4 music results have completely turned around
and sustained at better than national average.
Musical Futures has helped to make the department a more
‘cool’ place to be and has enabled me to raise the profile of
the department in the school because students are happier to
perform to their peers. There is now a stronger drive towards
excellence in music making emanating from students rather than
being imposed by the teacher.
Through Musical Futures I have been inspired to start a
project encouraging colleagues to look at learner-led, informal
approaches across the curriculum.
The Future of Music
In the current educational environment, Musical Futures is
encouraging teachers to take a leap of faith and opt to trial
strategies that can seem fairly risky but offer innovative and
exciting results.
The impact so far has been an increase in the engagement
of students in schools across the country, with more students
electing to continue their music studies into KS4. Perhaps, most
critically, it has reminded many music teachers of the reason why
they entered the teaching profession in the first place – to inspire
students with and through music.
Musical Futures supports teachers to improve their practice
through its unique pedagogy, free training events, weekly Twitter
meet-ups (#mufuchat) and via a wealth of teacher-created
resources online.
Musical Futures has recently launched a
free App, which guides music educators
through Musical Futures and contains a
wealth of new material. Search for ‘Musical
Futures’ from the Apple store
(store.apple.com/uk) and Google Play
(play.google.com/store/apps)
For more information about Musical
Futures, visit: www.musicalfutures.org
or @musicalfutures on Twitter
Summer 2014 | 61