EP. 45 – Making your international music curriculum inclusive by design w/ Adam Ockelford

Adam Ockelford is Professor of Music and Director of the Applied Music Research Centre at the University of Roehampton, London. Adam and his colleagues developed the Sounds Of Intent framework, a model of musical development that sets out how we all engage with music, from children in the early years to older people with dementia, from those with profound learning difficulties who are still learning to process sound, to others who are regarded as advanced musicians in their culture.

I was introduced to Adam via Anna Gower (you can listen to Anna's MTIIS podcast episode here), an international school music teacher in Bangkok who recently completed a self-directed course looking at the Sounds Of Intent framework. Anna raved about the framework, the course, and Adam's approach and knowledge. We knew we had to get Adam on the show if possible!

Many of us may have had some piece-meal training in special education needs, and often it is quite general and unrelated to the music classroom. This is your chance to hear from one of the world's foremost experts in this area!

In this episode, we explore:

• Adam's research and background teaching music to individuals with a diverse range of special education needs.
• the Sounds Of Intent organisation and framework - an incredible inclusive approach to understand how children, young people and adults engage with music in different way, to differentiate what they do according to people’s varying musical abilities, interests, preferences and needs, and to gauge the impact of their work.
• Loads of music education resources available to teachers from a variety of organisations supporting diverse learners (see resources links below).
• The new Trinity Music Awards model for assessing music learning based on the Sounds Of Intent framework. These are primarily intended for pupils and students those with learning difficulties, across the whole spectrum of abilities and needs, from those with profound learning difficulties to those on the autism spectrum with advanced musicianship skills, for whom traditional examinations are a barrier. This is a game-changer!
• The self-directed learning course available for FREE for any international school music teacher via the Sounds Of Intent website.

There is so much for everyone in this episode! A massive thank you to Adam for sharing his knowledge and expertise with our community 👏🏻

PLEASE check out all of the links below

LISTEN TO/WATCH THIS EPISODE ON:

Get in touch with Adam:

• Email: A.Ockelford@roehampton.ac.uk

Links and resources from this episode:

• More about Adam Ockelford's career: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Ockelford
• Adam's zygonic theory of music: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327968847_Zygonic_Theory_Introduction_Scope_and_Prospects
• The Sounds Of Intent website (MUST VISIT): https://soundsofintent.org
• Resources mentioned in the episode:
  • Count Me In: https://soundsofintent.org/count-me-in/
  • Tuning In: https://amberplus.ambertrust.org/tuning-in-cards/
  • Tuning In Autism: https://www.tuninginautism.com
• Audio visibility - championing the deaf perspective, taps into the ingenuity and brilliance of deaf creativity and musicianship through instrumental performance, visual arts, sign language, creative captioning, technology and music education: https://www.audiovisability.com
• Soundabout.org - using music, sound, and silence to create opportunities where Learning Disabled people with complex support needs thrive: https://www.soundabout.org.uk
• Self-directed learning course on Sounds Of Intent framework: https://soundsofintent.org/en/trinity-music-awards/session-1/introduction
• Post-Graduate Certificate course via Roehamption University: https://www.roehampton.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught-courses/music-and-children-with-special-needs-sounds-of-intent/

Thank you to the episode sponsor Trinity College London. It can sometimes be tricky to navigate the world of music exams for international school students - but Trinity College London love to help make this whole process a lot easier!

Trinity works worldwide to support the music education of hundreds of thousands of students with assessments across a wide spectrum of styles, including Classical, Jazz, Rock & Pop and theory of music. 

If you’re looking for music exams for your students that are super flexible, learner-centred and come with plenty of local on-the-ground support, then Trinity College London could be the perfect option for your international school setting.

As you can see in the image above, Trinity is kindly giving away their ‘Bitesize Theory’ eBook to the MTIIS community! To get your free copy, usually valued at 9GBP, head to https://resources.trinitycollege.com/mtiis