Abstract:
Students arrive in our secondary classrooms with great diversity of experience, preconceived musical identities, and expectations about what this subject of “Music” will be. Navigating existing curriculum structures, elective timetabling, and students who are hesitant to sing, we may wonder if Kodály-inspired music learning is something students must encounter in the primary years, and it is now “too late” to begin. This interactive workshop offers a pathway forward, celebrating the opportunities ahead. If our students cannot begin their Kodály journey “nine months before the birth of the mother”, the second best time is now.
Designed for teachers working with secondary students who have not previously learned through a Kodály approach, the session shares practical, embodied, and inclusive strategies that can be integrated into existing music programs, supporting students to gain confidence using their voices, bodies, ears, and ideas. Rather than proposing a wholesale curriculum overhaul, the workshop models how elements of Kodály pedagogy can be woven into current practice as a complementary and flexible approach.
Participants will engage in hands-on musical activities that introduce, dig into, and creatively extend repertoire. Examples will demonstrate how aspects of gradual musicianship, inner hearing, and creativity can be supported through selective Kodály planning approaches. The session also explores ways we can incorporate contemporary technologies and genres when teaching musicianship, supporting differentiation and student agency.
The aim of this workshop is to build teacher confidence and provide concrete, adaptable strategies for beginning, deepening, and sustaining musicianship learning with secondary students. Outcomes include practical classroom activities, ideas for Kodály-informed lesson and unit planning, and approaches to building singing into the classroom in welcoming, low-stakes ways that respect student vulnerability while encouraging musical risk-taking.
