In that time there have been terrorist attacks, a messed up general election and hideous social media.
I've been anaemic and depressed and as soon as I thought of anything to write everything changed and it didn't seem relevant anymore.
As I watched the coverage of the election a phrase from my childhood kept running through my head: "Are we having fun yet?". Normally, I love an election. It appeals to my geeky, spreadsheet loving side. Right from letting the dog have a wee up the polling station sign first thing, to seeing more people walking, to the smell of the wobbly booths and short stubby pencils on string (honestly, who would steal that pencil?) the whole election day feels like it could be the start of something exciting and then the results come in and it's.....well. it's just nothing. It should be settled but it's not.
In the early eighties everyone sarcastically said, "Are we having fun yet," anytime you did anything slightly dull. People wore Garfield T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan and would point at their chest and wink knowingly. I was trying to remember if the phrase came from a TV programme or a sitcom but a google search tells me it was this cartoon from 1979.
It's not a cartoon I remember and probably not one I understand. As songs go, it seems to have as many lyrics as are currently popular and the audience say they like it. Obviously, the violin playing is squeaky because he is bowing in completely the wrong place.
This year, it would be fair to say that I have lost some of my bounce and I haven't been having fun.
When Dad and I started the Youth Orchestra the one thing we were both insistent on was that it had to be fun. It became a mantra. He would often quote our aim, "to enable children of all ages and abilities to have fun making music together," randomly whenever we were together (driving my mum mad). It became my philosophy when I started working in school, as well.
Yesterday, at a music teacher conference we were asked to discuss what we value in teaching music. The room of music teachers came out with a whole list of things like having fun, teaching things that were relevant to the children, encouraging good quality, performing skills, confidence. Few of them mentioned the things that they actually measure. The session was taken by an academic (using us for his research) and many teachers came out frustrated that they hadn't been given a 'how to' session on assessment. Teaching has become so focused on weighing the pig that we have forgotten that feeding it is important. Teachers who aren't constantly measuring feel guilty (or if they are like me, rebellious). He then asked us if we planned our lessons around the things we value.
For most of the teachers the answer was a resounding, 'no'. Most couldn't wait until something was over (exams, assemblies, shows) so that they could get back to having 'fun' lessons. I felt differently. I told the group I was working with that I always planned with the idea that the lesson had to be fun. I said, "If the children aren't going to enjoy it, there's no point doing it."
One lady got quite cross with me. "That's ridiculous," she said, "Not everything can be fun."
I explained that I was only talking about me. I value fun and I plan from a point of fun but she wasn't going to let me off the hook that easily. She wanted me to know that I had to 'teach' theory first and children needed a set of knowledge that they had to be indoctrinated with if they were to succeed.
Maybe she was thinking that my idea of fun was letting the kids run riot around the classroom, doing nothing. One of the senior school teachers explained that it wasn't an option for them, as they had exams to get their children through and I said that I would argue that not passing exams isn't fun but passing exams is. The children I work with take exams and perform in concerts in a way that isn't stressful. They are properly prepared and are going along to show just how brilliant they are and to share their enjoyment with other people.
It was nice to be reminded of my motivation.
This week is our school summer music concert and it could be stressful because I'm not as prepared as usual. People who say things like, "Oh well, it doesn't matter. Parents just love it whatever they do," are missing the point. It's no fun if everyone knows it's bad. So, over the next few days we will work our socks off, talking about what we are going to wear, how we will receive our applause and enjoying the excitement. If I seem a little stressed then just ask me, "Are we having fun yet?"
No comments:
Post a Comment