Teaching Strategies and Lesson Ideas
What Direction?
For a subject that does not have a textbook, the approach for teachers can be daunting. It is our recommendation that you are guided by skills. Yes, there are assessment components and there are essential frameworks that you need to consider in the design of the course, but these areas should act as guidance, as you shape a curriculum that will be most beneficial for your students. Further, the input that you receive from them should be equally important in helping you to navigate the direction that you will ultimately take.
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What To Cover?
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The course has no prescribed content or material. This does not mean that musical skills and proficiencies are not addressed. Quite the contrary, students should be researching, creating, and performing relevant material that can connect across contexts. In other words, students must apply their skills and proficiencies in imaginative and useful ways. Through this process, they make their learning personal.
It's like combining ingredients. One still has to know the material, but combining it to create and perform something unique and personal must be demonstrated. This will most likely vary from student to student. After all, we have our tastes and backgrounds.
There is a range of teaching strategies that we recommend that you adopt as you deliver the content. We have also framed in this section a range of skills that fall under each of the important Approaches to Learning (ATLs). The IB has categorised these as follows:
- Communication Skills
- Research Skills
- Self-Management Skills
- Social Skills
- Thinking Skills
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In each of the above, we have provided activities that you may wish to attempt with your students to illustrate these particular skills in greater depth.
There is also information in this chapter on the Approaches to Teaching (ATT), along with the Pedagogcial Principles of the Diploma Programme and the Learner Profile.