Orff-Schulwerk: Background of the Pedagogy
"Music begins in the individual..."
"Music begins in the individual..."
This was the primary thought that prompted Carl Orff to formulate the fundamental principles of a music pedagogical concept that has earned worldwide notice. He generated impulses and ideas for reforms that have become quintessential to music education today.
The name "Schulwerk," which was coined in 1930, is still a clear, modern and relevant theorem of music education. The active music making presupposes that all individuals possess a creative potential that must be accessed and developed. This development serves as the aesthetic framework for which all music learning is constructed.
The Schulwerk must not be seen as a method because there are no fixed, standardized steps prescribed for the curriculum. Discovering a curriculum and adapting it to each respective situation lies within the pedagogical responsibility of the teacher. The interaction between the teachers and their students leads to a work process that can produce new or individual results every time. The musical works, dances and songs written by Orff and Keetman must also be seen in this light. They are perfect examples of how personal creative results could be. These are not musical works to be reproduced note for note, in a misunderstood attempt at "faithfulness to the original," but rather "improvisations fixed according to their nature ... a collection of models that aim to lead to the return path back to their source, back to improvisation" (Carl Orff).
21st Century Skills and Differentiated Instruction. The facile and constructivist nature of the Schulwerk supports a differentiated learning model and 21st Century Skills. Songs, dances and spoken verse provide the impetus for the construction of new knowledge in the arena of active music creation. In the process of exploration and creation, the learner chooses and permutes the knowledge, constructs hypotheses, makes decisions, and while performing these, relies on cognitive structuring. This cognitive structure caters for grasping the meaning and organization of the experiences, and enables the learner to "go beyond the given information." Thus, The Schulwerk is continually evolving with original pieces created by learner and the process is universal for all.
The Orff Schulwerk also plays a critical role today in social development. The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction and collaboration. The Schulwerk fosters a learning environment where the individual competencies must function to support and strengthen the competencies of the ensemble. In this collaborative environment there is a set of social skills children need in order to be successful academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
*Article taken from BethAnn Hepburn workshop notes for "Purposeful Pathways: Exploration on the Journey", September 27, 2014
The name "Schulwerk," which was coined in 1930, is still a clear, modern and relevant theorem of music education. The active music making presupposes that all individuals possess a creative potential that must be accessed and developed. This development serves as the aesthetic framework for which all music learning is constructed.
The Schulwerk must not be seen as a method because there are no fixed, standardized steps prescribed for the curriculum. Discovering a curriculum and adapting it to each respective situation lies within the pedagogical responsibility of the teacher. The interaction between the teachers and their students leads to a work process that can produce new or individual results every time. The musical works, dances and songs written by Orff and Keetman must also be seen in this light. They are perfect examples of how personal creative results could be. These are not musical works to be reproduced note for note, in a misunderstood attempt at "faithfulness to the original," but rather "improvisations fixed according to their nature ... a collection of models that aim to lead to the return path back to their source, back to improvisation" (Carl Orff).
21st Century Skills and Differentiated Instruction. The facile and constructivist nature of the Schulwerk supports a differentiated learning model and 21st Century Skills. Songs, dances and spoken verse provide the impetus for the construction of new knowledge in the arena of active music creation. In the process of exploration and creation, the learner chooses and permutes the knowledge, constructs hypotheses, makes decisions, and while performing these, relies on cognitive structuring. This cognitive structure caters for grasping the meaning and organization of the experiences, and enables the learner to "go beyond the given information." Thus, The Schulwerk is continually evolving with original pieces created by learner and the process is universal for all.
The Orff Schulwerk also plays a critical role today in social development. The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction and collaboration. The Schulwerk fosters a learning environment where the individual competencies must function to support and strengthen the competencies of the ensemble. In this collaborative environment there is a set of social skills children need in order to be successful academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
*Article taken from BethAnn Hepburn workshop notes for "Purposeful Pathways: Exploration on the Journey", September 27, 2014