Working in ‘Drop in’ or ‘Stay and Play’ sessions by Trish Keelan/Power (Triangle Project Music Leader)

A few years ago I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in a long research project led by Dr Susan Young.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to be asked to take part in a long research project led by Dr Susan Young. The project involved working with mostly Muslim women and their children. We were exploring the kind of musical interactions which the mother could have at home with their children, and aiming to share ideas in the setting. The project took place in four ‘Stay and Play’ settings in different parts of the country, with a different artist working in each setting. My setting was based in Birmingham.

It struck me that there were many women who came to the centre who did not interact with anybody at all. They would sit with their child in one of the specifically laid out areas: creative table, blocks, car track, books etc.  Obviously, I manned the music area.  Some of the women seemed to use the areas almost to isolate themselves as they were too shy to interact.  This bothered me. I chatted to the women.  Quite a few were from Yemen and Somalia. 

During the course of the project I met up with my fellow artists on a regular basis to share findings, talk about our experiences and offer suggestions.  This was very useful.  A colleague in Oxford had succeeded in engaging all the families she was working with by spreading a sheet onto the table.  The mothers were invited to draw on it. They shared images of their native countries, drawing pictures of village life etc.  I copied the idea in my setting.  It was very successful.

I wanted to do activities that would engage all of us as a group.  I brought in a large map and invited the parents to put stickers up of where they were from. 

We made dough figurines, again sitting around a large table.

Another idea was that, as well as having music areas where the families could choose to go or not, we had a large communal singing session with everybody involved.  I negotiated with the staff to move some of the activities that were laid out – basically to de-clutter the room.

I brought in a Dholki, a type of drum from Asia, and the parents played to each other, sharing their songs.

As the ‘Play and Stay’ was very busy it was difficult to remember names.  We asked the parents whether they would object to having a name tag pinned to them. They were happy to. This encouraged people to chat to each other and we all quickly got know each other. It can be very embarrassing when you have had a long discussion with a parent one week, but the next time you see them you have forgotten their name.

After about six weeks we all knew each other.  Parents really looked forward to the singing sessions and various musical activities – especially using lycra!

I learned a lot from this project which I have been able to use in my current work – luckily I had the time and space to be able to reflect with the practitioners and my fellow musical colleagues.  This enabled us to bring about change.

The Muslim women that I worked with were very keen to learn traditional English songs.  The women really enjoyed group activities and the use of name tags helped everyone learn each other’s name.  Having fewer activities laid out meant that those that were, were chosen carefully, and we had more space for group sessions, especially during movement activities.

The ‘Stay and Play’ became very busy, with word spreading by word of mouth about the music group session.

Another interesting aspect that came of this project was that the teacher I was working with thought that mothers revealed a lot more to me than to her.  Maybe, as an artist, I was not seen as a figure of authority, or perhaps it was because I did not have a clip-board in my hand with a questionnaire!