To describe your profession can sometimes be hard. Everyone knows what a music teacher is and what her work includes. But what about a eurhythmic teacher - who knows what she does? By experience my answer is: not many. In
this essay I have outlined differences in method and lecture planning between a eurhythmic and a music teacher, to be able to find out the answer to my research question - what a eurhythmic teacher can contribute to the school subject music.
I chose an observation research where I observed a mixed class with children from fourth and fifth grade. After five observations visits, I rewrote the teachers lecture preparations to my own choice of method, from a eurhythmic teacher's point of view to outline the differences and therefore find out what a eurhythmic teacher can contribute.
When I looked at the music teacher's and my lecture planning's, I discovered that we chose a similar way of making the first four lessons which was a "rewrite songs theme". But when it came to our single lesson of singing, it showed that we didn't share the same thoughts. The music teacher sang many different songs while I chose to concentrate on one in many different ways.
Play and movement are two very important foundations in the eurhythmic method and plays a major part in the learning technique. The amount of fantasy and play in a lesson depends on the age of the children. Play is more natural to small children than older. But it is as important to any age since play develop us in many different ways.
My conclusions are that eurhythmic teachers can contribute with a holistic way of thinking in teaching. During a lesson, a eurhythmic teacher put lots of different small goals on the way to the final goal, to develop people in many different ways, which is enriching the children's schoolwork. To base a lesson on a story and bring the children in to a fantasy world is very exiting and a good way of getting everyone's attention and interests. To play your way to knowledge is to me a very fun way of learning.
The inspiration for choosing this subject comes from my own encounters with the eurhythmic method. Encounters that recreated my own joy...
