The time is drawing nigh

Please all take a moment and put me in your thoughts for today marks the last 6-day weekend I have for the rest of the terms...sigh

But I guess it's a good thing because my internship starts in a little over a week! Now my schedule will include Mondays, Wednesday AND Thursday (how could they do this to a super-senior). Andrew, Laura and I went down to Vauxhall to meet Brendon, the director of Lambeth Music Service. I guess I should take a little time to describe LMS and the UK education system for you...

LMS was started about 7 years back as an effort by the government to expose students to better quality music curriculum. Before the service the majority of students had very little chance to progress with music unless they took private lessons on their own. So for a lot of those students it was near impossible to afford these lessons. The public schools here are different then the States. You leave secondary school at 16. Think of elementary school when you picture their system, in and of that they have one teacher for year. This teacher will teach every subject for a particular year, including music. You can appreciate the fact that there were quite a few teachers just didn't have the training, time or experience to be able to start a band, orchestra or choir, except, perhaps, in the very best of schools.

In comes LMS to the rescue! (well, sort of) It's still a work in progress but from what I've heard of the program it is definitely filling a void in the schools and student's musical literacy. The service hires musicians to go into the schools and teach their specialties. The teachers will typically spend half a day then move to a different school. In each school they team-teach. So typically will be the Brass specialist, there will be a woodwind specialist and a percussion specialist. But of course things aren't that simple for the three of us. Since Ithaca has prepared us well beyond what they do in the UK University, we'll be doing just about everything. According to Brendon there is no formal Music Education degree in University here. It's almost poetic: there are teachers who haven't been trained in music and musicians who haven't been trained to teach. Now be clear I am NOT saying these people are bad teachers. Of course Brendon has to hire competent musician/teachers for this service to be effective. The way I understand it is that Laura, Andrew and I have the most comprehensive training (we've played and have been taught to teach every instrument). So this works out beautifully for us. Here's my schedule:

Monday (Bonneville school in the AM, Corpus Christi school in the PM)
10:30- teach recorder/djembe/glockenspiel
11:30- brass lessons
12:30- run as quickly as I can and catch a bus to CC
whenever- brass lessons
2:00- Band
3:00- Brass lessons

Wednesday (Richard Atkins/St. John's Angelltown [yes, two "L"s])
10:30- teach recorder/djembe/glockenspiel
11:30- strings (AHHHHHHH!!!!...thank goodness Maeve is here)
12:30- lunch and stroll to St. John's
1:30- teach recorder/djembe/glockenspiel
2:30- Band
3:30- Percussion lessons

Thursday
Jazz Ensemble night rehearsal at a secondary school

Phew, I get tired just looking at it. But this is exactly what I wanted to be involved in. This is definitely a symbiotic relationship. The Service gets our (limited) experience and awesome IC training and we get to participate in a very well organized, program designed solely to teach music. I feel a little like a guinea pig but I have high hopes for the semester. I haven't decided if I'll start another blog for my reflections of teaching or if they'll be mixed in here.

Wow, looking back on this this is kind of long. I was planning to put a couple more things in here but I'll spare you until the next one...which I will probably start right after breakfast. I'm off to make a breakfast sandwich using my delicious 18 pence beigels! Man I can't wait for the market again on Sunday.

Much Love,

O