With Term 4
upon us, we enter into a season of seminars, and celebrations! As we move into this busy election period, we
will be in touch more often than our monthly ENews with updates, and tools to
empower the community to lobby at local levels.
Inquiry Implementation Update
Following the Inquiry into Music Education The Bastow Institute
will host the first in a series of Twilight Seminars: http://www.bastow.vic.edu.au/leadership-courses/Pages/Events-and-Short-Courses.aspx Professor
Gary McPherson will be the key note speaker - "Realising the Potential of
Music Education". To book click here: https://register.eventarc.com/26056/realising-the-potential-of-music-education. Please
forward the invitation to school leaders, principals and school councilors.
sMAG then cordially invites attendees to gather at The Leveson www.theleveson.com 46 Leveson Street
North Melbourne VIC
3051
where we can continue the conversation. This pub is a short
drive from The Bastow Institute. We will be in the front room, and all
drinks/meals at bar prices. All welcome.
Further, the DEECD will be forming an expert reference group by
invitation, and will have their inaugural meeting in early October. The role of this group is to provide
guidance, information, strategic direction for actions arising from the Victorian
Inquiry into the Extent, Benefits and Potential of Music Education. This
group will provide feedback and advice to inform the development, delivery and
evaluation of policy, programs and resources in relation to music education.
Victorian election
sMAG,
as a bi-partisan lobby group, has approached key ministers and staff from both
the Coalition and Labor as we head towards the Victorian election campaign. Letter writing and personal meetings have
taken place. In each we have encouraged
political support of the Inquiry and a commitment to its implementation as part
of each parties education platform. We
are seeking commitments from both the Coalition and Labor to implement the
recommendations from the Inquiry.
Further, we seek a strengthening of commitment through provision of an
aspiration, strategic framework, accountability structure and financial support
during the next four years of a new parliament.
LOCAL LOBBYING
We are currently putting together a
pack for individuals to bring the Victorian Inquiry and it’s implementation to
the attention of their local candidates.
Generic letters for both sides of parliament along with their contact
details in a database, coupled with pdf fliers will be created and distributed
for everyone in the music community to assist with your local advocacy efforts
during this crucial time – the Victorian Election.
MUSIC COUNT US IN
One of the most effective tools for
lobbying and promoting the positive music education work throughout the nation is
the Music Count Us In Project scheduled for October 30th at 12.30
pm. http://www.musiccountusin.org.au/ The project grabs the attention
of the media at local and National levels: http://www.musiccountusin.org.au/media1 The Music Toolkit http://moremusictoolkit.org.au/ provides readily usable print releases that any music teacher can
utilise to promote and lobby for music education at the local level.
sMAG hopes that the music community
will take hold of this opportunity to highlight the need for more music across
ALL schools.
RICHARD GILL’S
NATIONAL MENTORING PROGRAM
Federal funding for Primary Music Teacher Mentoring.
Richard Gill OAM, has been successful in obtaining $360K grant
over three years to establish a mentorship program for master teachers to work
with a cluster groups of primary teachers in each State. This pilot
scheme would assist primary teachers to implement a P - Year 2 classroom music
program based on the curriculum currently in use in a particular state.
This program will be administered in Melbourne by the Australian Youth
Orchestra. States to take up this opportunity at this stage include New
South Wales and Queensland with other South Australia and Victorian at the
discussion stage. To take part in this ‘pilot’ States will also be
required to contribute funding for a mentor teacher.
CELEBRATIONS
Our
former and founding chair, Dr. Anne Lierse was
awarded a Fellowship of the Australian Society for Music Education on Sept 24th
at Graduate House, Melbourne University, for her valuable and
long-standing contributions to Music Education. http://www.asme.edu.au/awards.html Anne's tireless work
in research and advocacy was named in this substantial acknowledgement. We
congratulate Anne, and extend our gratitude for her work in establishing sMAG.
…
aMuse Spring Colloquium
aMuse will honour many of our sMAG members both past and present through
the inaugural aMuse Music Education Hall of Fame for their influence on the
music education landscape in Victoria: Richard Gill OAM, Ian Harvey, Deborah
Smith, and Prof. Robin Stevens. Other music professionals to be honored
will be Peter Lee, Lorraine Milne and Katie Wardrobe. Presentations will occur
at the aMuse Spring Colloquium, Metropole Hotel, October 20 at 6 pm. http://www.metropole.org/location.htm Address: 44 Brunswick Street, Firzroy. To purchase a ticket go to: http://www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=102393
ACMI – Alive Inside –
A documentary by Michael Rossato – Bennett
Next Charity Limited are hosting
the premiere screening of the internationally acclaimed and award winning
documentary “Alive Inside” on Sunday 19th October. Winner of Best Documentary
at the 2014 Milan International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the
2014 Sundance Film Festival, Alive Inside follows the work of American social
worker Dan Cohen as he showcases music's ability to ease the lived experience
of people with brain related disorders and those who care for them. The
premiere will screen in Cinema 1 of ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne at
7.30pm on Sunday, 19th October. The screening will conclude with a panel
discussion and Q and A.
THE MUSIC INSTINCT
An online research project, dedicating one department to music. Various films outlining the benefits of music
engagement are all listed: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/musicinstinct/category/video/
SPOTLIGHT
Doveton College engages an experiential, engaging program
approach to learning. Students want to
be in the musical classroom, where peer to peer learning is encouraged. The Musical Futures approach underpins the
teacher’s professional practice. A clear
communication video with student voice, teacher voice and Director Ken Owen can
be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvCki3ugkDc Celebration of the learning occurs in
public performances supported by the Principal class at Doveton College. The approach taken aligns with
operationalised learning discussed in new thinking in education: http://www.newpedagogies.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/New_Pedagogies_for_Deep%20Learning_Whitepaper.pdf
Doveton
is also highlighted in this YouTube clip by Roland HS-5 Session
Mixer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n5QTEc4LKE Managing the sound
output from any music classroom can go a long way to winning the support of
Principals and Department Heads. As in
any school, many subjects require a quiet learning space. If a music room happens to be placed adjacent
to these learning areas, the Roland HS-5 Session Mixer can go a long way to
managing the sound. For the music room,
several Session Mixers, means that you can have several bands rehearsing
simultaneously and in close proximity!
What a great ICT innovation!
WHAT YOU
CAN DO
As you meet your local election hopefuls, raise awareness of the
inquiry with each personally. As
previously mentioned, we will release our generic
assistance packages for you. We will be
emailing you more often throughout October.
Please forward the information about the Twilight Seminar to
your local principals with a personal invitation to attend.
LOCAL MUSIC EDUCATION NETWORKS
News of music teachers forming DEECD professional networks has
come through to us. Great news! We hope to hear of more such networks being
developed through Melbourne municipalities and regional Victoria, as it will
bring such strength to our community. If
you would like support or information about getting one started talk to your
Principal or email us at: smag.schoolmusicactiongroup@gmail.com.
AITSL
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership
provide a wide variety of resources to support and develop teachers. Personalised learning (mentioned in the
video) has been a key characteristic for music practitioners over many years as
curriculum approaches have included open-ended compositional tasks etc. Technology is also an area, which has readily
been embraced by music teachers and music industry. Aitsl have released a video ‘Horizon Scan of
Global Trends’ http://www.aitsl.edu.au/professional-growth/research/horizon-scan providing
further research and ideas around utilising collaborative online platforms to
develop personalised learning approaches.
Embracing these opportunities may see music rooms develop rapidly,
producing higher student outcomes.
RESEARCH
Anita Collins regularly publishes
research into Neuroscience and Music Education.
Website: http://www.anitacollinsmusic.com/neuroandmused/ and Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BiggerBetterBrainsProject
SUMMER SCHOOLS
The
6th Annual Piano Accompanist Summer School is set for Melbourne
Jan 19 –22nd.
Playing for AMEB, VCE and other examinations is a skill required
of accompanists across Australia. The Piano Accompanist Summer School will
focus on a range of vocal repertoire in 2015, to assist accompanists from
early-in-career to professional, playing for vocalists at all levels of
development. There will be daily hands-on tuition with four outstanding leaders
to help you develop and refine your skills to work collaboratively with the
soloists you accompany. You will learn also from others’ development in
tutorials and from the master class. You will have plenty of opportunity to
share experiences and to network with pianist colleagues.
The school is intended for piano students from schools and
universities, solo pianists and accompanists interested in extending their
skills, amateur musicians and as professional development (attendance
certificate provided) for singing and piano teachers and school music teachers.
See the ACCET website for full details.
Extension
for any instrumentalist wanting to spend time with like minded peers.
SOCIAL MEDIA
CONNECTIONS
Please pass these connections to colleagues that use these
platforms – particularly graduate teachers!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sMAGVic Twitter: @sMAG_Vic
Social Media assistance: Should there be a willing volunteer
amongst you, with skills in the social media paradigm, we would be happy to
hear from you. Please send an email
through to smag.schoolmusicactiongroup@gmail.com if you are
willing to contribute in this space.
Thank you for your continued support. We hope
to make significant progress over the next 3 months as we press forward into a
Victorian Election campaign. Please forward to colleagues you believe
would be interested in supporting sMAG.
