Teachers can get hands-on with a range of exhibitors at Music Education Expo

A spoonful of...CPD!

We look at the latest trends explored at the 2016 Music Education Expo and Musical Theatre & Drama Education Show

Posted by Stephanie Broad | February 02, 2016 | Events

• #music-education-expo
• #musical-theatre-and-drama-education-show
• #london-olympia
• #haybridge-high-school
• #windsor-upper-schools

How do I successfully integrate technology into my classroom? Can I unlock the potential of online learning? How can I enliven my music lessons at minimal expense? What can I do to maximise contact time with my students? And how can I ensure I cater more for kinaesthetic learners? 

They’re common conundrums, but the solutions might surprise you; particularly as they involve spoons, hula hoops, Moogs, Japanese inflatable balls, and starting lessons with homework first!

Music and drama teachers often draw the short straw when it comes to a multi-staffed department support network and available resources. But that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone and forego opportunities to develop and share ideas. Pick up a spoon and join your peers at the next Music Education Expo and Musical Theatre & Drama Education Show (Olympia London 25–26 February 2016) and you’ll find plenty of ways to refresh your teaching. Here’s our pick of the top sessions on offer:

Flipped Learning: A new approach

Flipped learning is a new approach which promises to maximise contact time with students and successfully utilises the internet as a tool for teaching. Keith Burt, Head of Drama at Haybridge High School, advises on the practical application of starting music and drama lessons with homework first.

Spoons workshop

Spoon playing is fun and accessible for all ages, and helps to develop lots of skills (with minimum expense), including rhythm, co-ordination, fine motor skills, listening, mimicking, performance, teamwork, discipline and creativity. Develop performance technique, get creative, improvise and find out how the most humble of kitchen cutlery can be used with just about any age group and ability.

Entry is free if you register online

Reshaping the Musical Culture

In this inspiring session, Music Teacher Awards for Excellence nominee James Manwaring of Windsor Upper Schools shares his top tips for creating an exciting, sustainable and outstanding music department. He will draw on his own experiences, unlocking the strategies he’s used in his career so far to ensure that as many students as possible have access to music, and looking at how best to pack in the extra-curricular whilst maintaining the curricular.

Forbidden Fruit: Integrating Assessment for Learning

This practical workshop explores the assessment for learning opportunities that inherently lie within a drama lesson and its existing dynamics.

Lively Listening: Active listening through movement

‘In order to be able to listen to longer and more complex works, children should get to know one piece of music very well.’

Music Teacher Award for Excellence winner from 2014, Jane Cutler, tests this thesis in her current research, and presents her ongoing work in this practical session focused on using movement to explore active listening.

Using a range of fun props and games including bean bags, Japanese inflatable balls and musical chairs, participants will explore a selection of repertoire chosen with specific age groups in mind (one exercise per age range), leaving with a number of ‘ready to go’ exercises pertinent to each key stage.

The role of character education in the development of young people

Discover the role that performing arts teachers can play in developing the seven key ‘performance’ character traits: zest, grit, self-control, curiosity, optimism, social intelligence and gratitude.

Inclusive music: A fresh approach

A hands-on session using a variety of music tech gear to demonstrate a lesson where ‘access for all’ can be a reality.

The Music Education Expo and Musical Theatre & Drama Education Show takes place at London Olympia, 25–26 February 2016. Entry is free when you register online.

For more information visit: www.musiceducationexpo.co.uk