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Read about the European Mentorship Programme 2019 below
Reflections
After the final meeting with programme team and mentees in Mooste, Estonia, the mentees wrote their reflections about the whole experience. They had four guiding questions to think about.
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Can you talk about three impulses from the mentorship program that will now inform your teaching practice?
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In what areas will you choose to invest energy to grow and improve?
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Do you have concrete ideas for next steps in mind?
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What would be helpful for us to improve the program for the coming year?
Elin Bergdal
Clara Horbach
Elina Simes
Ezgi Tatar
Elin Bergdal
It has been a privilege to get the opportunity to be apart of this mentorship programme. It’s the first of it’s kind and we have seen everything take shape. I hope this programme can continue and give new pedagogues the chance to develop their teaching skills with the help of great mentors.
1. Soili asked us to choose three impulses from the programme that have made a mark in our teaching. The first thing that comes to mind is analysing. During this programme we have had different tasks involving observing teaching from different points of view. These tasks have developed my way of analysing and also made me question decisions in teaching. Why did you choose this path? What did this part of the lesson bring to the whole session? This is something that I’m sure will help me develop my own teaching all through my career.
The second impulse that has made an impact on my teaching is getting a better understanding of music and movement, specifically dance. I’ve studied to be a music teacher, I have also studied music and movement, but dance itself has always been a bit scary and unknown for me. Teaching dance has been a challenge when I see myself more as a musician. Getting feedback from Christa and learning to observe teaching through the eyes of a dancer has given me a lot of insight in what I need to think about when teaching movement.
And last but not least, one of the greatest opportunities this programme has given us is the chance to see a lot of different teachers teach. I find the most interesting and also comforting thing in observing a bunch of Orff-teachers is seeing how unique every teacher is. The philosophy behind it all is the same but the end result is so different. It is comforting because often you find yourself admiring your mentor’s way of teaching, wishing you could do it in the same way. But you can’t, you have to teach in your own way with your own personality.
2. I am facing a new challenge this autumn, teaching in a new school children between the ages 7-16. I would like to improve my skills in creating a good process with my students even if the classrooms are small, groups are large and time is limited. To find the process in playing band instruments. To make Orff a natural part in all my teaching.
3. The next step for me as a music teacher is getting a hold of the job and using Orff to help me reach my and my students goal in music. After this mentorship programme I hope to continue teaching teachers whenever possible. Me and Elina are going to teach in September at Jasesoi’s autumn seminar. That will be interesting and exciting! I also hope to have contact with my new teacher friends in Germany and Turkey! The plan is to plan a workshop with the four of us that we could offer to different places. Maybe some of our Music Village friends would like us to visit their Orff association?
4. For future mentorship programmes there are some things that come to mind. Because of the fact that this was a pilot the assignments and deadlines were given now and then by mail. For me as a working teacher I would have appreciated if all the assignments and deadlines etc. would have been ready when the programme started. In that way it would be easier to plan the work hours for the programme. I also think that it would be good to have an own platform for communication in the programme. Mail gets easily lost and it’s often time consuming to find the information you are searching for. It would be easier to overview if all the information was in one place. Meeting and working with the mentees has been inspiring and helpful. Hopefully the programme can get funding so that the mentees could observe each others teaching! That would be lovely.
But these are just small details. This mentorship programme has given us mentees so many new experiences, tools to develop our teaching and new colleagues to collaborate with over borders! Thank you so much to all the mentors who have made this programme possible!!! Hope to see you soon!!
Love, Elin
Clara Horbach
First of all, thank you so much for all the opportunity and support you offered us with this program. It was really an honour to be part of it and it was also great to see your dedication to the project!
1.
CONNECTIONS – FLOW
For me it was very interesting to become even more aware of the connections in the teaching processes – how the different steps and details of the material are connected. I find it always fascinating to experience ‚flow‘ in a lesson (watching someone or in my own teaching) – and I think an important point for that are the connections: those you think about in detail in your preparation and those which come spontaneously during your teaching when you react to what happens in the group.
SEEING DIFFERENT TEACHERS
It was great and inspiring to see so many different teachers with their different ways of teaching and also to talk with you about your ideas and thoughts! It reminded me that everybody is different and that I have to find my own personal way and ‚style‘.
TEACHING TEACHERS
I have worked with many different groups before – from one-year-olds to seniors. But it was a new experience to teach teachers and to recognize and to learn what to consider when working with these groups:
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to accept that it happens that some of them will sit in the side or choose their own way of participating..
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to always try to involve everybody with different tasks – even if they are just watching
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to be prepared for kinds of questions and comments
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to be able to talk analytically about your ideas and thoughts behind your plans and your teaching approach and process
2. I would like to improve how I prepare for my lessons. Sometimes I just decide what I would like to teach – not how – and then improvise. And sometimes I get lost in details and I start to think too theoretically. I want to find a good balance between these two extremes – the planning for Estonia was a good start! We prepared very detailed but with always practicing the whole think we kept it practical.
Also, I would like to work on my movement skills – for myself and to be able to teach movement and be a better model in class.
A third thing for me would be to collect more material, – interesting and versatile things – to study it and to develop different possibilities to teach it.
3. I am really looking forward to teach with Christa and Ezgi in Istanbul! We already made some plans and I think it’s going to be very interesting and diversified. We will again teach our unit from Estonia and I am excited about what will be different with the group in Istanbul.
Also, it would be so nice to have a workshop with all the mentees together. I think we could start planning after the summer break and then maybe teach a weekend in spring. It would be great anyway to stay in contact and talk about our teaching and art experiences!
A big plan for myself would be that I want to find ways to teach the ‚normal‘ music curriculum in secondary school through the Orff Schulwerk approach. I still have one and a half year to go in the teacher training in secondary school and as I said the contents and the way of teaching we learn is very academic. I want to try to change that a little bit and do it more creative and open!
4. It might have been easier to know the assignments or maybe just the deadlines before. Sometimes I had such a busy time that it was not so easy to finish the homeworks. Also, for me an own communication platform would have been great – I often miss mails..
Of course it would have been great to have more time together – mentors and mentors – but that is a financial question.
I am excited to hear about how the program will go on and develop and I hope it will be as wonderful, inspiring, supporting and enriching for others as it was for us! ❤
Elina Simes
Thank you Soili for finding beauty and music in every little thing in the world.
Thank you Elisa for your aestethics. It has driven me to reach higher from the day we met.
Thank you Christa for making and waking art wherever you go.
Thank you, my fellow mentees. I will have something from each of you to carry with me.
This experience has given me a boatload of confidence, a carload of analysing skills and a fistful of carpe diem while teaching. I can't believe I was working with these amazing teachers, among them. I'm now in Croatia, thinking of you, and feeling stronger!
1. Can you talk about three impulses from the mentorship program that will now inform your teaching practice?
ANALYSING. The assingments were unbelievably useful to write. I felt that I took a step towards a better and more precise reflection of my own teaching while analysing your teaching.
FIND YOUR ENDING. Sounds very simple, but I felt this Christa's advise to be the most helpful thing to bring something to an end. I also appreciate Christa for making me think the aspects of instrumental/vocal improvisation compared to dance improvisation. They should be treated as equal.
FIND THE BEAUTIFUL THING AND DRAW ATTENTION TO IT. Again, Christa's wisdom. It's something I do with the kids, but I should take it to the world of grown-ups as well. Somehow it's easier for me to point a child and tell the whole group how fine they are doing, but with adults I feel a bit shy about it. I will improve in this!
2. In what areas will you choose to invest energy to grow and improve?
I will try to invest more energy into my music playschool groups, and the processes I do with them. I have found it hard to paying attention to their use of their bodies in terms of dancing, but I think I have more tools for that now, thanks to Christa.
3. Do you have concrete ideas for next steps in mind?
I'm right now in Croatia getting ready to teach in the course. In september me and Elin will have the honour to teach in JaSeSoi's seminar. It's a pleasure to work with Elin, so we thought that we would connect our teaching during the school year in some ways. And of course we would like to meet with all of the mentees and organize something during the spring 2020.
4. What would be helpful for us to improve the program for the coming year?
I'm sure the whole programme is going to be more clear to everybody the next time. I agree with Elin – if all the assignments and dates are there right from the beginning, it's going to be easier for the mentees. The most valuable things for me were the assignments of analysing teaching units, and of course seeing mentors and mentees teach and talking about that.
Best,
Elina
Ezgi Tatar
1. Can you talk about three impulses from the mentorship program that will now inform your teaching practice?
Thinking about the details
During my visit to Christa in Munich, we’ve studied on my planning for Salzburg and our discussion that night was unforgettable, talking about the details, why is it important to teach the idea, how should be the teaching steps, how could it be better and how should I make the idea more clear for participants, what should I say exactly for instance? After planning the main structure of the lesson, going in deep and making clear every single little step. This makes me feel –as a teacher – and also participants more confident.
The connection between music and dance
The other impulse for me is being aware of the connection between music and dance during the planning the lesson also teaching at the moment. Looking for more musicality even if working on a movement exercise. When I participated Elisa and Soili’s lessons, I felt this connection so powerfully, which made me go in the flow and get the idea more easily. Also in Christa’s; even if she works on more movement aspects, music is always there – you feel it when she gives the phrase with her voice or on her body language and so you can transfer it easily to your body. During the workshops in Music Village, I found it so important and I will definitely be thinking about it on each of my teaching planning’s.
Thinking about the material deeply
The last impulse that I’d like to mention is thinking about the material which is chosen for teaching, a poem or a song for instance. For me it was first time to attend Polo’s lesson and what I like on his teaching is he uses the core of the song and make the participants to feel the atmosphere, it doesn’t have to be so complicated or high level etc. These aspects affect also the musicality as far as I see. Because participants feel the soul of the music, so they can express it through their voice or body. One more thing, after having first session with one of the groups, Christa said her second lesson would be in a high level for this group, so she prepared a new lesson plan for them – I found it so precious! Her idea was ending the class with a choreography about a poem (As far as I remember) and she didn’t say that “Ok this is what I planned, so I will do it whether participants would get it or not” Even at the teaching moment, thinking about the material according to group readiness, it was so great to see it.
2. In what areas will you choose to invest energy to grow and improve?
I will try to invest more energy into my music school students, also adults for Anatolia Orff Project. It’s great that the Anatolia Orff Project is still continuing so I could transfer my knowledge and new experiences when the information are still fresh, so I’ll work on my teaching and planning more in detail for children and adults.
3. Do you have concrete ideas for next steps in mind?
I’m so excited about teaching adults and we are going to teach in Istanbul together with Christa and Clara soon! We also talked about to teach together with my new friends, this is going to be fantastic! If we could keep in touch and work together as we planned, we could carry the Mentorship Program knowledge and experiences to the future, so exciting!
4. What would be helpful for us to improve the program for the coming year?
As I used to share my idea with you in one of our meetings, being together with group members, observing each other’s teaching process and after the class sharing ideas could be helpful for the last teaching assignment. Hopefully the Mentorship Program can get the funding so these details could be done easily! I was also thinking about the last teaching assignment for the very end of the project, could it be possible to teach personally even for half an hour? What makes me to think about it is, we all are different, we learn and teach in a different way and this could be a great preparation for the future I guess. I’m so happy for having the group teaching task and I learnt many things for sure, it could also be a great experience to have some private teaching and get feedbacks from great teachers!
For me it was so sad to not being present in the beginning of the project, Russia. I was ready to be out of the idea, even not waiting to be in, but I became so happy when Christa asked me if I’d like to participate again! So, firstly, I’m so thankful that you gave me a second chance to be here. This project made me think about in Orff- Schulwerk more analytically, more deeply and more in a holistic way. I feel I get closer to the Orff idea with the whole reading, writing, observing and teaching assignments. I also appreciate that; you spend so much time, to share your knowledge and experiences with young teachers and we are truly lucky to have this opportunity! So thank you, Christa, Elisa, Soili and Helen for this amazing project! You have touched our lives! And my mentee friends, Elin, Elina and Clara; can’t wait to see you and teach together again!
Love, Ezgi