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About
Us
The
World Music Drumming Pilot Project
In
the spring of 1996 I began an eighteen-month pilot project
primarily funded by REMO, Inc. which addressed the following
goals:
- Bring
the excitement of world music and drumming to
middle school (and grades 3-5, 9-12) curriculums
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Teach African and Latin-American culture
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Build important work and community skills:
- communication and listening
- cooperative teamwork
- respect for others
To accomplish these goals, the project set out to:
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Develop a 30-lesson curriculum for middle school
general music classes that works in:
- 6 or 9 week units (wheel)
- 9 to 18 week A/B day structures
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Establish strong connections with other subjects
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Use the excitement and motivation of drumming
from Africa and
the Caribbean
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Engage students through an active, hands-on
approach
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Pilot Project – Phase One
In the first twelve months, five middle school teachers
from the Milwaukee Public Schools worked with me to
develop the thirty-lesson curriculum. All of these schools
had at least a fifty-percent minority student population.
The teachers were: Ijoister Harris, Athene Kralik, Audrey
Murphy, Michael Saindon, and James Wilson.
During the fall and spring semesters of that school year, the team
of teachers, project assistant Sheila Feay-Shaw, and I met weekly
to work out and edit the first draft of the thirty-lesson curriculum.
At these weekly meetings team teachers reported back on what worked
and what didn’t. In addition, visits were made to the schools
to observe classes, and teachers made video tapes of their teaching.
That spring, special stakeholder sessions were held
with school administrators, parents, teachers of other
subjects in the schools, and school support staff such
as guidance counselors, curriculum specialists, and
assistant principals (discipline). These stakeholder
sessions shared the goals and objectives of the project,
involved those individuals in actual drumming experiences
from the curriculum, and solicited their comments on
how World Music Drumming fit into the needs of the children’s
lives as well as the needs of the school community.
Work with stakeholders benefited from the advice and
counsel of Michael George, Executive Director of the
Wisconsin School Music Association. More information
on this important subject is given on pages 90-93 of
the World Music Drumming Teacher's Book.
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Pilot
Project – Phase Two
In the summer of 1997, fifteen additional pilot teachers and schools
were chosen from throughout the United States and Canada. Every attempt
was made to pick schools with different socio-economic profiles including
inner city, suburban, mid-size city and small city/rural. These fifteen
new teachers plus the five original Milwaukee teachers attended a
week-long training workshop at Conference Point, on Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin taught by Ghanaian master drummer, Sowah Mensah and myself.
The World Music Drumming workshop, offered each summer at the end
of June, provides participants with the tools and skills for teaching
World Music Drumming in their classrooms.
Throughout
the fall, all twenty pilot teachers taught the curriculum to one
or more classes—providing feedback in the form of teaching
logs, videos, and e-mail. Significant changes were made in the thirty
lessons on the basis of their suggestions. Principals, parents, and
other stakeholders in the pilot schools also provided valuable feedback
regarding the impact of World Music Drumming on their lives and school
communities.
National Music Standards
In all phases of this project, there has been a strong focus on how
World Music Drumming could help students meet the National Music
Standards—now adopted or modified and in use in most states
in the United States. Most of these standards are threaded through
the curriculum and the objectives below.
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World Music Drumming Objectives
Upon completion of the curriculum students will:
- Communicate
better with their fellow students and others by having learned:
- how to listen to others
- respect for the need of others to have their own musical and
personal space
- the importance of leaving spaces (silence) for others to
drum (speak)
- how to lead and how to follow (solo and back– up)
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Understand and demonstrate the value and techniques of
cooperative teamwork
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Demonstrate techniques for playing various types of drums and
other percussion equipment
- Sing
songs with percussion and other instruments from various multicultural
traditions
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Improvise new drumming ensemble patterns which are complementary
to those played by other students
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Create (with a small group of fellow students) new drum ensembles
(circles) in the style of various drumming traditions
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Create (with a small group of fellow students) new drum ensembles
(circles) in the style of various drumming traditions
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Listen actively and critically to various styles of music which
include percussion. While listening, students will:
- echo drum and singing patterns played by others
- identify the type of instruments being played
- recognize and label styles of music
- identify the probable culture from which the music comes
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Understand and place greater value on the peoples and musical
cultures of Africa and the Caribbean. Students will:
- describe the way drumming is done in at least two contrasting
traditions
- discuss how traditional drumming may be the same or different
from contemporary styles in various cultures
- have greater respect for the people represented by the traditions
studied
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Understand how music reflects similar cultural themes and patterns
found in art, dance, literature, social patterns, work, etc.
of the cultures studied
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World Music Drumming — For Whom?
Check out some of the scenarios below and see the variety
of teaching situations that World Music Drumming was
designed to help.
- 6th,
7th, or 8th grade general music classes whose students:
- are not turned on by the usual passive curriculum often characterized
by worksheets
- live in the “land of the gland” and are always
moving, fidgeting,
or impatient
- would rather be anywhere else but in general music class
- wish they could do something “cool” like play drums
- have too often been considered the “leftovers”
not in band, choir, or orchestra
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Band, orchestra, or choir teachers who:
- “have to” teach general music — but would
really rather be doing their main interest
- are looking for a way to turn general music into something
interesting for both themselves and their students
- believe that an “active” approach is a better way
to get to the heart of music making
- are looking for some interesting ways to spice up what they
do in band, choir, or orchestra
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3rd, 4th, or 5th grade general music teachers who would like
to involve their students in a more multicultural curriculum
by doing African or Caribbean drumming and singing
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9th–12th grade music teachers who are looking for a new
elective for general students
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Teachers of adults who are looking for a popular new course option
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Parents of students who are learning World Music Drumming in
school — when they hear how much fun it is, they will want
to
do it too
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Other teachers in your school who seem to be dropping by your
room increasingly often after you get the new drums — they
will want to form their own drum circle
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Churches or other religious institutions as well as clubs and
organizations looking for healthy alternatives for kids
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Businesses who want to build better teamwork among their employees
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Website
design - Kyle Schmid, Website
architecture - Larry Van Mersbergen www.larryvanmersbergen.com |
