Activity Resource 1: Reflecting on your current practice

This resource asks you to reflect on the extent to which you already use effective principles and strategies for creative teaching. As part of the process, it will point you to a range of external websites as well as to ideas from within the KS3 music programme.

After this reflection, you may want to:

• develop your exploration of these key principles by reading more;
• continue with this unit by exploring good practice in creative teaching and learning.

1. Does your teaching currently reflect the requirements of National Curriculum (2008):

   • in terms of the music key concept ‘Creativity’
   • in terms of the generic ‘Personal, learning and thinking' skills
   • in terms of the development of ‘Personal, learning and thinking' skills in music
      
     

     Follow the links to the QCA web sites above, and consider how well your teaching already addresses these issues.

2. To what extent does your teaching currently build on pupils’ prior musical and non-musical experiences? You might want to consider not only the prior musical learning pupils have had in your own school, but also the opportunities for musical learning outside school. All of these can be a good starting point for firing pupils' imagination.
    
   You may find information about existing or potential music-making opportunities that your pupils have participated in, nationally or in your local area, by visiting:
    
   www.musicmanifesto.co.uk; www.musicalfutures.org.uk; www.youthmusic.org.uk

3. To what extent do you explicitly make clear potential freedoms and constraints to pupils? Creativity is sometimes equated with ‘freedom of expression’. However, in reality creative people usually work within specific constraints (i.e. to a clear brief), leaving sufficient freedom for them to use their imagination to meet the brief in an original way.
    
   To aid your reflection, you can watch a video clip and then undertake some guided thinking on whether your own practice incorporates similar thinking.

4. To what extent do you provide opportunities for creative thinking in all musical activities, or are such opportunities generally restricted to composing activities?
    
   To aid your reflection, read this explanation and the guided thinking that follows on the use of creative teaching strategies across the whole of your KS3 music curriculum