Excitement breeds excitement.

Not long after I first began my teaching career, I was timetabled with a class of S3 students. These were young people who had chosen music as a subject, and were all very motivated to learn. One pupil in particular was very keen to explore her music through songwriting. At the time, computer recording was starting to become a reality and we had recently invested in a classroom recording setup. We spent some time after school recording one of the pupils songs, which turned out very well. What happened next was unexpected. Slowly but surely all other members of the class decided that they would like to write their own songs and suddenly I had a class of pupils all engaged in writing and recording their own music. So much so that we had enough material to make a class album which we launched in the school community.

The pupils worked collaboratively, sharing ideas. Where one was maybe a keen instrumentalist, they would pair up with a singer and bring their own skills to the process. We had a fantastic and very creative year which has impacted on my career to date.

This process was uncontrolled. That is to say that I did not set barriers or ceilings to what the pupils were to compose. I did not set deadlines and where possible I tried to help the pupils achieve their vision of their own work. What else became apparent was that the pupils were getting together outside of school to write and compose music. Generating and developing ideas and bringing them back into the classroom. They shared ideas across groups and acted as support and an audience for each other.

I would like to say that all my classes are like this, however that is not the case. This class had a particular group dynamic and had strong bonds of identity and friendship. They were comfortable with being creative with each other and felt safe that they would not be judged. Not only in a creative end product, but through the trials and tribulations of the process. Problem solving together, using imagination and reflecting on what they had done and what should happen next.

The principal of working in social groups is something which I still use in my own practice. Learners have to feel comfortable with each other to be able share their ideas. Composing music can make us feel vulnerable and exposed, it needs to be handled sensitively but it can bring young people together as it allows them to play and experiment.