1 Music and dyslexia: Recent information, greetings and links From the British Dyslexia Association Music Committee No 2. November 2012 The contents of this newsletter can be summarised as follows: Apology The committee – including new people p.2 Our baby – a book! p.4 Dyslexia Friendly Good Practice Guide p.6 Information: a booklet p.6 Contact with the Music Publishers’ Association p.7 Accessible formatting p.8 Courses supported by BDA Music p.8 Music Expo 2013 p.9 If this sounds as if BDA Music is doing a lot – it is!! Which leads to the apology… That this 2nd newsletter is nearly 10 months after first one! Just too busy, both with work and BDA business! 2 The BDA Music Committee has recently been joined by a new member, Rosemary Hodi. There are also 2 other new people, currently observers, who, it is hoped will become full members of the committee shortly: Dan Jones & Anna Pitt This is us at the Dyslexia Teaching Centre, having a meeting (& biscuits)! Sally Dan Margaret Christine Karen Paula Rosemary Plus Katie who wasn’t at this meeting in June 2012 Anna 3 Some information about us: Paula Bishop-Liebler is an additional support tutor and assessor working with students from various institutions including the Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Royal Academy of Music and the Dyslexia Teaching Centre. She is completing doctoral research in music and dyslexia within HE Sally Daunt is a support tutor at The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts and Liverpool Hope University and previously also at the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester. She taught music and performing arts at secondary and FE level, plays piano and is a choral singer. She is currently Chair of BDA Music. Rosemary Hodi is a music graduate of the University of Birmingham. She is a solo singer and a primary teacher with class teaching experience including music work using Kodály principles. She has written reviews & articles for the Musical Times & Music Teacher. She is an individual dyslexia teacher at primary level and delivers training in dyslexia for school staff and parents. Dan Jones attended York Minster School and Leeds College of Music after which he spent many years teaching in primary, secondary and further education. In 2008 he was awarded the National Music Teacher of the Year Award at the Royal Albert Hall. Dan is now Managing Director of The Mix Music Education. Margaret Malpas is joint Chair of the B.D.A. and also a volunteer in which capacity she uses her previous professional training (Chartered F.C.I.P.D.) and specialist teacher A.M.B.D.A. (F.E.) to act as workplace lead for the organisation. Her music interests include playing the piano, singing and attending classical and jazz concerts. 4 Karen Marshall is a practising classroom, peripatetic and private music teacher in York, working with students of all abilities and ages, from 5 to 70. She specialises in multi-sensory teaching and is a Kodály practitioner. Karen trains music teachers nationally to work with students who have SpLDs. She has had a book published for adults returning to the piano and writes for the Music Teacher magazine. Christine McRitchie Pratt has always been, and still is, involved in music teaching and music making in Cambridgeshire, working in a wide field of all ages and instruments. She is a founder member of the Cambridge Youth Music Competition and lectures on music and dyslexia to schools, music agencies and on the A.B.R.S.M. Certificate of Teaching course. Katie Overy is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh with research interests in the potential effects of music on other areas of learning, including dyslexic children’s language and literacy skills. Anna Pitt is a postdoctoral Research Psychologist at the University of Oxford and Chartered Psychologist for the Dyslexia Research Trust. Her main research interests are in the auditory deficits of dyslexia, and how different levels of education impact on dyslexia. She helps people of all ages to fully understand their own individual form of dyslexia and create strategies which will help them. So – we have a wide ranging base of interests and expertise, but we are also quite a fun group of people! Our baby – a book! The BDA has recently published a set of 10 new books, one of which is: Music, other Performing Arts and Dyslexia. It is available from the BDA shop @ £15 and is currently selling well. Contact: http://www.bdastore.org.uk/ 5 Chapters in it are: ‘What is dyslexia’ Margaret Malpas ‘Issue and strategies that can be applied to most areas of the performing arts’ Sally Daunt ‘A bank of ideas for classroom teaching with the dyslexic pupil in mind’ Karen Marshall ‘You are never too old to learn: instrumental teaching for all ages’ Christine McRitchie Pratt ‘Music in Higher Education’ Paula Bishop-Liebler and Sally Daunt ‘Dyslexia and sight-reading for actors’ Deborah Leveroy ‘Dance: an overview’ Sally Daunt ‘Difficulties in drawing, music and dance: common areas and the development of The Creative Mentor Foundation’ Qona Rankin ‘Assistive technology: improved learning for those with dyslexia’ Dan Jones ‘Reasonable adjustments in performing arts examinations’ Sally Daunt If you haven’t yet had a look at it (or bought it, or persuaded a local school, library or college to buy it), please do so! Everything in it was thoroughly researched and peer reviewed and, as far as I know, it is the only book of its kind in the UK, certainly – possibly the world! As you can see, most of the material in the book is by members of the committee. Additionally we had invaluable help from Deborah Leveroy, who 6 trained as an actor at Drama Studio London. She is currently involved in a practice-based PhD at the University of Kent which looks at best practice for dyslexic learners in the acting profession and in training. She is an associate lecturer in acting at the University of Kent and runs ‘The Dyslexia Toolbox’ at the Actors Centre in London. Another contributor is Qona Rankin. Qona is currently the dyslexia coordinator at the Royal College of Art. She studied three-dimensional design and design education and for many years taught on a Product Design B.A. course. It was great to have them ‘on board’ with this project and also to have the support and advice from Edel Quin, the Programme Leader in MSc Dance Science at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. It is good to explore links with other performing arts and we look forward to more such collaboration. It can only be positive. Dyslexia Friendly Good Practice Guide This is a chunky guide which has been produced by the B.D.A. for distribution to schools (and others). There is a small chapter (2 pages and a bit) about accessible music teaching, based on material in our book and information booklet. [Ch. 12 ‘Dyslexia Friendly Music Teaching’] Information – a booklet As a further initiative in the important area of communication, BDA Music has produced an information booklet: Music and inclusive teaching: information from the British Dyslexia Association Music Committee. This is sent by email to people who enquire. 7 It will be available to buy as a small, low-priced booklet. It has been available on the Music Teachers.co.uk website: http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/ This site, in conjunction with the Musicians’ Union, is well worth looking at, even though our information booklet is not currently on it. The aim of the booklet is to help anyone – student, teacher, performer, parent or anyone interested in music, who may be curious or concerned about the implications of dyslexia… Contact with the Music Publishers’ Association B.D.A. Music has had some very positive contact with the M.P.A. in the last few months. When writing the book, we found ourselves having to recommend repeatedly, that, if people want to copy music on to tinted paper or enlarge it for public performance, including exams, this needs to be done with careful consideration of the law as such a practice is, at present, illegal, except in very particular circumstances. We contacted the M.P.A. about the situation. They are revising their Code of Fair Practice and asked for our advice. The revised Code will include references to the various adjustments available to people with a ‘cognitive impairment’ such as (but not limited to) dyslexia. The advice is likely to be that copying on to coloured paper and/or enlargement of 8 music (for example) for the purposes of accessibility will be OK as long as the original copy is in the person’s possession. Good news. Accessible formatting Sally Daunt has been co-opted on to a new music subject area group formed by the United Kingdon Association of Accessible Formatting (U.K.A.A.F.). This is an organisation which is ‘passionate about the right of all individuals to be able to read independently, and that all accessible formats should be of the same standard as the equivalent print information’. This group has only just been formed by Sally Zimmermann of the R.N.I.B. with a view to looking at modified stave notation, large print music, talking scores, Braille music and modified Braille music. Although there will be an emphasis within the group on the accessibility of music for blind and visually impaired people, the difficulties encountered by dyslexic people and others with SpLDs will be explored. The development of modified stave notation is particularly good news for dyslexic people as this format is far better than merely enlarging music. Watch this space for more news. Courses supported by BDA Music Karen Marshall has been extremely busy working on 2 music courses, both of which emphasise accessible music. Level 4 Certificate for Music Educators is in its final stages of development. BDA level 2/3 qualification This course should be ready for approval by the end of 2012 – for accreditation by OCNCredit4learning. Delivery is then planned from May 2013. 9 It will be possible to do a Level 2 qualification first. This will involve 3 days of work, including one on music. A Level 3 qualification will include 3 days on music. It is aimed at music teachers in the following categories: Secondary music teachers; peripatetic music teachers; those at private schools and music specialists of other kinds. It will cover teaching work with ages 5 to 18 and will be based on practical strategies. There will be no pre-requirement for the course. Karen Marshall and Cyrilla Rowsell from the British Kodály Academy will provide the input. Music Expo The Music Education Expo will be held at the Barbican Centre, London on 20th – 21st March 2013. This event has superseded ‘Music Live’ and is cheaper: the event will be free for teachers. It is, according to the Musicians’ Union, ‘the largest conference and training event for music teachers ever to be held in the UK’. It will include a ‘fully comprehensive exhibition and trade show – as well as over 50 seminars and workshops for primary, secondary and instrumental teachers’ (see the Musicians’ Union web page: http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/news-events/2012/09/25/musiceducation-expo-20-21-march-2013/). BDA Music will be there throughout, offering chat and advice and copies of the book and the information booklet (as well as other material) will be available for sale. We are hoping to have striking T-shirts. We will be sharing the ‘Music-Mix’ stand and are very grateful to Dan Jones for this help. Come and talk to us! Contact us Please contact us if you have queries, ideas or suggestions for new contacts. Sally Daunt: s.daunt@lipa.ac.uk or via the BDA: helpline@bdadyslexia.org.uk