Play On, Nadia

Play On is an inclusive music project run by Paragon Music in collaboration with the School of Education at the University of Strathclyde. The project is funded by Creative Scotland and Children in Need and has been running in the University of Strathclyde since May 2013. The project grew out of the 'Who gets to Play?' SEMPRE funded research study By Dr Lio Moscardini, Alastair Wilson and David Barron. This study highlighted the lack of opportunity for many children with Additional Support Needs to learn to play a musical instrument. Ninian Perry, Creative Director at Paragon, used the study findings to secure funding to establish the Play On project in the University. Each year a number of BA Education and PGDE students are involved in the Play On project as part of their degree programme.

Nadia Ghanim, a PGDE Biology student at Strathclyde was keen to find out more about inclusive practice.  She’d heard about the work of Play On and wanted to learn about inclusion from their work.  After participating in their workshops for twenty-six hours, Nadia has learned some valuable lessons.  All participants in Play On are considered to be musicians.

Nadia's Experience

Relevancy, Ownership and Choice 

The tutorials and group work involve the musicians composing their own piece of music on an instrument that they have chosen to work with. The piece of music is inspired by their lives, their mood, their name, or what they did on Friday night. 

The music that is developed by the musicians through collaboration and experimentation is successful due to the full participation of each musician. This involves their commitment to listen and practise the piece.

Often a theme emerges as the music develops and the musicians are given the option to name it or visualise it or even change it. This provides a variety of sensory and collaborative options for the individual members. 

Confidence in your Competence 

Tutors are competent in their instrument which gives them the ability to facilitate the sessions effectively. They are able to be flexible and allow the musicians to venture down any path they choose. This means that in the group sessions whatever the musicians opt to play is recognised, valued and worked into the bigger piece. 

The tutors have the competence to give genuine praise and reassurance; this is in abundance throughout all of the sessions. This harnesses a culture of trust and enables creativity to take place.

Having the competence to understand that not everyone uses the same communication cues and therefore to include a variety of communication styles is important. 

Respect

Every Play On session begins with the group starting altogether. Everyone is welcomed and has a chance to appreciate that they are part of something bigger. The group warm-up ensures that individuals are welcomed and their contributions are valued. At every Play On, the last half hour is dedicated to performance. Students respect each other as musicians and get a chance to show everyone what they have been working on.  The tutors and students are all equal as musicians. When they perform, they perform together. The tutors learn what they have to play from the musicians. In fact, they learn the piece together. 

Lessons learned

I would like to use the strategies I experienced in the sessions to support me in my teaching of biology. I think it will help to break through exclusion. Going to Play On has improved my confidence and familiarity with Additional Support Needs. It has taught me that communication is different for different people and I will endeavour to explore this in my future classes. 

Thank you to everyone at Play On!
Nadia Ghanim