In the middle of March all of us at KILU Music School had the pleasure of welcoming Ms. Janet Greene to a special weeklong workshop for our students. Janet who specializes in early childhood education, has spent decades teaching music in the US in both Elementary schools and her own music school. Her work is deeply influenced by the Orff/Kodaly approach, and integrates music, movement, the language arts into a wholistic musical education that is simultaneously engaging and effective.
A mutual friend, and my beloved college advisor, Will Johnson suggested that I meet Janet before leaving for Bhutan, as I had many questions about teaching music to children, and was seeking advice and suggestions from many different sources. And so a few weeks before my departure, we met at a coffee shop in Sebastopol and clicked right away. I carried the thought with me, that if the opportunity ever came up, it would wonderful to be able to have Janet come and work with the children here in Bhutan.
After being here for a few months, I realized even more clearly, how beneficial it could be for our children, us as teachers, and the entire community here if I could manage to bring Janet over to do workshops for the children and the teachers and inspire all of us with her great approach to musical education.
So, this plan that started as a small seed, magically came into fruition, and Janet was able to come here, on a purely volunteer basis and be with our students for a week. Her classes with our students were a smashing success! It was remarkable to behold how she masterfully engages the children, and catches them under her spell.
Our children were delighted by the time they got to spent with Janet, and all of us at KILU were inspired by watching her teach. I learned so much by observing her teaching, and have continued to utilize many of the songs, games and activities that she shared with us during her time, as our students just love these activities!
Aside from spending time with our students, we also organized a special two day workshop for “regular subject” elementary school teachers on the topic of how to integrate music into the “regular classroom” here in Bhutan. Janet trains teachers all over the world on this very subject, so I thought it was important not to miss this opportunity and share her knowledge and experience with the teachers here, particularly as the government here is very active in a comprehensive reform effort of the education system so that it moves into a more wholistic, integrative approach that truly embodies the values of Gross National Happiness (GNH) which is the guiding philosophy of the Bhutan’s government. We had a remarkable turnout of about 60 teachers from all across Thimphu elementary schools, and the workshop was truly wonderful to be a part of. The feedback that I received from the participants was incredible, and the excitement and enthusiasm that these teachers felt from the activities that Janet with us all was palpable throughtout the entire workshop. In fact, by way of my students who study in different schools, I know that many of the teachers have already been incorporating some of the lessons, and activities that they learned during this special workshop.
On a personal note, I had a wonderful time with Janet, we did a little bit of traveling together during her stay here, which was fantastic and shared many wonderful conversations and music!
In short: THANK YOU, Janet!!!
-Noam
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