Inclusive Practice - The Hope Creative, Session 2 2016-17
Hello readers!
Last month I introduced the aim of the blog and gave you a summary of my experience of the first Hope Creative workshop. Please find the last blog post here - http://network.youthmusic.org.uk/posts/inclusive-practice-hope-creative-... This blog post will be a reflective diary of the second Hope Creative session and I'll outline what went well and what we can do to progress in future group sessions.
The second session was more successful than the first in a number of ways.
Firstly, from a personal perspective I knew what to expect and prior to the session I had been to the first inclusive practitioner training course so I understood some basic concepts. As a result, I felt a lot more prepared and put into practice some inclusive practioner skills during the session. For instance, I made sure when I was supervising the playing of the drum kit that each child had the opportunity to have a go. I also followed my mentor’s advice by creating an open 360 degrees environment that facilitates a feeling of inclusivity amongst the children. For example, I was mindful not to turn my back to anyone during the session and keep the musical instruments facing outwards into the center of the room.
Secondly, from a group perspective I felt the planning of the session was more focused. We knew that we were expecting a few new starters so prior to the session we planned to do some group games at the start of the session so that everyone was introduced to each other. One of our music leaders led a very fun singing name game at the start that incorporated rhythm, coordination and singing as well as being inclusive. Although I had also grand plans to lead a group game as well it became clear that the children were restless and decided to break away and do their own activities under the supervision of myself and the music leaders.
During the session I helped one of the new starters play through a cover of jingle bells on the xylophone and then went on to help a couple of the younger children play some basic rhythms on the drum kit and introduce some dynamics into their drumming. At the end of the session the childrens carers arrived and I helped three of the children put on a percussion band performance.
Next time, I hope we can encourage the children to play more group games as it really brought the group together and allowed the children to express themselves and let each individual personality shine through.