by Author Claire Marshall

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We Kept In Time

Music Leader West Midlands ran a day for musicians on the 5th October titled Keeping In Time: Music and Working in SEN Schools. This is the first blog post about that day by Guest Speaker Gus Garside.

On October 5th I had the pleasure to attend and speak at MusicLeader West Midlands training day on Music and SEN schools at mac birmingham.

Around 25 musicians, teachers and others attended providing lively debate and creative input into a range of workshops.

We watched a DVD extract of a performance by JC Jamma, someone who has aimed high in music from school days onwards and has performed in China, Germany, the United Sates and through the UK. Last time I was with him he was performing at the South Bank in London.

We talked about what music is for. I’ve asked this question a number of times but think this discussion came up with some new ideas as well as the stuff everyone, quite rightly, says.

People thoughts on what music is for were:

• Expression • Emotional stability • Co-ordination • Confidence • Pleasure • Curiosity • Community • Communication • Status display • Pride • Outlet • Fun • Healing • Co-operation • Identity • Exploration in a physical sense • Sensory experience • Creativity • Stimulation

I then asked what people felt the barriers to participation were for people with a learning disability. They said:

• Lack of self esteem • Access to a group • Problems of co-ordination • How to communicate effectively • Expectations of others • Judgements about what they can do/pre conceived ideas • Notions of what good music is • Recognising the boundaries • Skill of people delivering • Fixation on rhythm and pulse in music • Cost

Over the last 12 years I’ve consulted with people with a learning disability about what they think the barriers are and the main ones they’ve told me about are:

• Money •  Transport • Support •  Information (accessible information that  gets to them) • Time of sessions • Not feeling welcome

Though the last one doesn’t seem to crop up so much in recent years which shows immense social progress.

We looked at the medical and social models of disability.

The medical model

The 'medical model' of disability sees the disabled person as the problem. They are to be adapted to fit into the world as it is.

The social model The 'social model' of disability views the barriers that prevent disabled people from participating in any situation as what disables them.

The Paralympics offers a great example of what happens when the barriers are removed!

We ended this opening session by looking at some of Soundabout’s work with school children with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Then we came to the exciting bits of the day – the workshops.

Freelance composer, sound artist and music leader Duncan Chapman led us in a voice session using audio mulch software to create layered soundscapes using a light touch to guide us into mixing abstract and themed pieces using any vocal sound.

Louise Braithwaite from the Orchestra of the Swan led us through a session that was part practical and part seminar on approaches to music leading asking questions such as who is it for, who do we need to involve etc. She takes a holistic approach emphasising the need to get buy in from all stakeholders to ensure the best outcomes.

The poet librettist Karen Hayes and musician Lucy Griffiths led a session on poetry, drama and music which sadly I missed – only so many workshops it’s possible to do in a day.

And Richard Hayhow from Open Theatre Company led us through a stimulating improvisation session where music was used to give emotional colour to the exercises.

It was a testament to the quality of these sessions that I had to struggle to keep everyone to time and curb their enthusiasms.

The day ended with a lively panel discussion with questions such as

• how does one involve the shy kid who won’t join in (inevitably this opened out to how to engage the reluctant members of staff) • how does one get to start running one’s own workshops (Sandra Taylor of ‘mac makes music’ intimated that there may be some opportunities from her project on this coming soon – we look forward to her any one else’s blog on this and any related topics) • how does one enable creativity when senior staff are running scared of Ofsted

We rounded up with some reflection. I asked everyone to avoid going away having had an energetic and useful time and then simply getting on with their professional lives by encouraging them to think about one thing that they think they should do now a musician, one thing as a music leader and one thing as someone who works with people with a learning disability.

So please use this blog to feed into an ongoing discussion about the issues raised (and related issues that weren’t raised), tell us your perspective on the day and feel free to share your three points for reflection (but feel free to keep them to yourself – sometimes these things are so intimate their better left to burn inside).

My three are:

As a musician: to become more fluent with first and second position harmonics on the double bass

As a music leader: to extend my repertoire

As someone who works with people with a learning disability: to do more to engage effectively with a more diverse range of participants

Tell us about what you’re doing, what you’re not doing but would like to, what you would like to do but don’t know how or simply want more ideas…

Gus

Oh and here are the two handouts I gave out at the end of the day

Some useful contacts/websites

Soundsense www.soundsense.org A UK-wide development agency developing and supporting community music

Oily Cart www.oilycart.org.uk Excellent interactive multi sensory theatre for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities

Soundabout www.soundabout.org.uk Soundabout uses music and sound to unlock the potential of children, young people and adults with severe and profound and multiple learning disabilities

HeartnSoul www.heartnsoul.co.uk Heart n Soul is a leading creative arts company with learning disability culture at its heart

Art Spider http://www.mencap.org.uk/art-spider/useful-downloads Mencap’s arts website, currently in a temporary home. Its “useful down loads” section contains guides such as “Doing Music” and “A Guide for Musicleaders”, the latter being jointly published with MusicLeader

Skoogmusic www.skoogmusic.com The Skoog - a new accessible musical instrument for children and adults alike. Designed for budding musicians of all ages and abilities - a flexible teaching tool.

Youth Music www.youthmusic.org.uk Youth Music is the leading UK children's charity using music to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people.

Arts Awards http://www.artsaward.org.uk/site/?id=2127 Arts Award inspires young people to grow their arts and leadership talents: it's creative, valuable and accessible. This link will take you straight to the special needs section

Stay Up Late http://stayuplate.org/ Promoting the right for people with a learning disability to have a choice about how they live their lives

Mencap www.mencap.org.uk has some useful material on communication

and of course there is plenty of other stuff, of variable quality, under “Music and learning disability” in Google.

 

Communication Handout

Some things to think about when working with people with complex needs

  • Take time to listen and learn
  • Minimise distractions
  • Imagine people assuming you have nothing to say and moving away before you’ve said it
  • Listen to people who know how a person communicates (eg. carers, support staff)
  • But don’t make assumptions
  • Privacy, dignity and respect
  • Imagine what it is like when your words get stuck and someone jumps in says them for you
  • Imagine someone wrongly assuming what you’ve said and not checking
  • Leave time for reflection

Some aspects of total communication that we can use in arts practice

  • Speech
  • Facial expression and gestures
  • Body language
  • Pictures
  • Reference objects
  • Repetition
  • Feedback

  • Prepare

  • Be flexible

  • Be multi sensory

  • Be person centred

  • Change the space

  • Take risks

  • Be prepared to use all ways of communicating.

  • If using photos make sure you have onsent

  • Follow the lead of the person you are communicating with.

  • Go at the person’s pace

  • Check you have understood.

  • Use accessible language and avoid jargon or long words.

  • Think about your tone of voice and your body language.

  • When working with wheelchair users treat the wheelchair as part of them (do not for instance lean on it)/work at their height

 

All artists are part of a process of discovery, invention and communication.

Working in the arts with people with profound and multiple learning disabilities challenges and rewards everyone involved profoundly.