Sound Connections Concludes Transformative Three-Year Inclusive Music Practice Programme with South East London Music Hubs
Inclusive Ensembles CPD session, Oct 2022 - Southwark Music Hub
From 2021 to 2024, Sound Connections collaborated with four Music Education Hubs within the South Riverside Music Partnership—Royal Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Southwark—to deliver a transformative three-year Inclusive Practice Training and Mentoring Programme.
Generously supported by The Scops Arts Trust, this initiative aimed to empower music educators across the four South East London boroughs, including peripatetic tutors, classroom teachers, and community musicians. The programme increased music educators’ teaching skills, knowledge and confidence in inclusive practice and provided opportunities for them to learn, reflect and connect. This programme was especially crucial in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent shifts within the Music Hub landscape.
Each component of the programme was developed in close collaboration with hub leaders and based on a comprehensive needs analysis. The initiative featured four primary elements:
1. Twilight Training Sessions
A series of twilight training sessions covered vital topics such as trauma-informed practice, decolonising the curriculum, inclusive ensembles, including pupils with additional needs in whole class teaching, demystifying music technology, promoting anti-racist spaces in music education, and youth voice in instrumental and vocal teaching. These workshops combined theoretical knowledge with practical application, featuring leading voices in the field, including Nate Holder, Stuart Swann, Isabella Mayne, Jenetta Hurst, Liz Ikamba, Ben Sellers, Natasha Hendry, Orchestras for All and Emily Foulkes.
This session was excellent. I had a really bad teaching day (today) and was doubting my ability -coming to this training session gave me a lot of hope, and taught me to be kinder to myself.
Really interesting research session, thanks! Made me reframe my teaching.
2. Bespoke Inclusive Practice Training Course
In response to a consultation process, Sound Connections created a four-day inclusive practice course. This course, spread over four months, allowed participants to delve deeper into the theoretical and practical aspects of inclusive music education. Led by Graham Dowdall, with guest speakers Roshi Nasehi and Bela Emerson, the course covered key principles of inclusive practice and extended into real-world applications in both formal and informal learning environments. It also addressed working in healthcare settings and with refugee communities, providing a comprehensive approach to inclusive music education.
This course has immediately informed my understanding of best practices in inclusive music making. I’ve already shared some of the exercises with my team of tutors.
Being part of this course was a real privilege... we covered a wide range of topics and were also able to have complex and thought-provoking discussions around some of the more challenging topics in music education… The learning from the course has had a direct impact on my current work as well as potential future pathways in music education.
Networking session, July 2022 - Lewisham Music Hub
3. Mentoring
Practitioners took part in year-long mentoring programmes, being carefully matched with mentors who had specialised experience in mentees’ areas of interest. These areas included
Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND), trauma informed practice, mental health, young people at risk of offending, Early Years, inclusive recruitment and management of hub tutors, decolonising the curriculum, gender diversity in music tech and young people in challenging circumstances. In addition to 1:1 mentoring, mentees took part in facilitated peer networking sessions to bring them together as a cohort to share and exchange practice and challenges.
The mentoring has allowed me to reflect on my practice and pinpoint areas where I need to build confidence. It’s encouraged me to approach my work in a more creative and experimental way.
I believe I have gained the skills needed to make a positive impact on young people with music. I was able to see that I had a severe case of "imposter syndrome" but my mentor helped a lot in tackling this.
4. Networking Events
Sound Connections organised networking events for locally-based music educators to come together to learn, share practice and gain valuable peer support. These gatherings employed an ‘open space technology’ methodology, allowing attendees to set the agenda based on the topics they wanted to explore. This flexible format empowered individuals to share and connect on the issues that mattered most to them; the outcomes of which directly informed future programme activity.
Gordon Maguire, Head of Southwark Music, praised the programme’s impact:
The quality and range of opportunities the inclusive practice programme has provided has made a real difference for the Southwark Music Education Hub. It has impacted, not only on our delivery of music education, but how we think about music education. Across the three years, a wide range of our hub partners, senior management team and tutors have engaged and learned from the many thoughtful and inspirational speakers and presenters. The feedback and evaluations show that meaningful change has taken place. What we have learned and continue to learn will prove invaluable as we move to a new era of music hubs. Thanks to this three year programme, South East London Music Hub will be better placed to provide equitable and inclusive music education for all our children and young people.
By the end of the programme, music educators across South East London have significantly enhanced their skills, knowledge, and confidence in inclusive practice, fostering a more inclusive and equitable music education across the region.
Discover how Sound Connections can help develop your work here.
More from Professional Development
Read other recent Professional Development articles from Sound Connections.
