Orff meet Reg’ … he will gliss’ you
I hustle my way up the steps to my demountable—I mean portable. In haste, I unlock the door as it is freezing outside and with all my might heave against its jam to open. The room is just as cold as outside, the guitars are definitely going to need retuning today. I unpack my snow gear—boots, gloves, toque, and leave them in a lump by the door. I cross my fingers that today the big-wig Kristy is willing to spend some money to heat our schools. In opening the classroom blinds, I begin to ponder about these Reggio happenings in my program. I think about where I was a few years ago with my conservative pedagogies—the traditions of music teaching from the 19th century that music teachers can’t seem to shake off. I get distracted by the cold.
Shi-vvvv-er-ing, I head over to the heater and crank it up, hoping that it will kick in. While getting my room ready for the school day, I head over to my desk and turn on the radio to continue listen to Jolly Rick Cluff, from the car ride in this morning. Instead someone has changed the receiver on the stereo and I hear Miley Cyrus’s wrecking ball. I roll my eyes and laugh, hoping a wrecking ball takes down this portable so I can get a new functioning classroom. The furnace finally kicks in and I gun it towards a vent. Standing there I rub the palms of my hands together, hoping to heat up, and listen to Miley as I continue to reflect on these changes in my practice.
I taught, through orff and other ways
melodies, never asking why
I sought, to change these boring ways.
The need, I could see why.
Don’t see a point, in these teachings
For german Kinder-musik
It’ll never feel right
I can’t teach like this, what have I become
Argh! The heat only lasts for a few moments to tease me with its warmth. I need a distraction to keep me going and head over to the documentation wall at the far end of the room to continue my thoughts. I think about Reggio pedagogy and practice that I have adapted, not those of basket weaving that are overly woven by American and Canadian teachers these days, but those that exemplify the teacher, the child and their identity—those that allow for co-constructivist learning and explorations. The chorus of the tune cuts in and I get distracted.
Reg’ came in like a glissando
never slid so fast before
All I wanted was to break these ways
All Orff ever did was dull me
Yeah, it it dulled me
My mind darts back to reality, and I survey more pictures on the wall and ponder these changes for a few more minutes before get cut off by the bell and the roar of children as they gather outside my door awaiting to scurry in.