Pedagogy: Orff Master Class - What's in a Song? (Webinar)

Course Description

What’s in a Song? Unpacking the Songs We Teach

Webinar with Kim Friesen Wiens

Songs that were once considered standard repertoire in music programs across the country are now being identified as including derogatory, misogynistic, and/or harmful texts. What tools do we need to examine our repertoire selections and make informed choices about what to include and what to leave out of our teaching materials?

Music teachers need to do the work of selecting songs themselves with purposeful intent to research and acknowledge the “origins, lyrics and ways that the music is presented and represented” (Kelly-McHale, 2018, p. 62). The question being raised by music teachers across the country now is 'How can we do this well?!'

This two-day session will provide background information on why we are examining our repertoire. We will explore ways to search out information on songs and music materials. Participants will have the opportunity to bring their own song lists with time allotted to begin researching songs that we regularly use in the music room. A collective database will be initiated with the opportunity to continue adding content after the workshop is over.

Come prepared to actively engage in dialogue with music colleagues from across the country on this timely and important topic!

Kim Friesen Wiens

Kim Friesen Wiens has taught elementary music in Edmonton, Alberta for over twenty years. She is a movement teacher educator for the Orff Levels at the University of Alberta, having taught graduate and undergraduate students since 2014. She is currently working on her PhD in elementary music education at the University of Alberta with a focus on critical music pedagogy and culturally sustaining and revitalizing music teaching. Kim is an active clinician, having presented over 50 sessions in Canada, United States, and Nepal.