Since 1988 Paul Whittaker has been running Music and the Deaf, a registered charity, based in Huddersfield, that defines its mission as ‘helping deaf people of all ages and degrees of hearing loss to access music and the performing arts’.
Profoundly deaf himself from birth, and an Oxford graduate in music and an Associate of the Royal College of Organists, he sees education as a key objective of the organisation’s work. Children are encouraged by dedicated and enthusiastic communicators to discover the potential that music has to enrich their lives. They are then able to join their hearing friends in classes, workshops and performances, and their confidence and self-esteem are thereby raised.
Workshops led by Paul and by Danny Lane, another profoundly deaf musician, are attended by hearing-impaired children in schools for the deaf and in mainstream schools. However, not every deaf child across the country can be reached in this way, and the organisation is regularly approached by teachers asking for help to deliver music to deaf children as part of the National Curriculum. This has led to the publication of ‘Unlocking the National Curriculum: Keys to Music with Deaf Children’, which addresses the National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2, including reception class children. It provides a practical guide for non-specialist music teachers, encouraging them to explore the world of music in the classroom and giving them the ideas and support to help them provide the same access to music for their deaf pupils as is afforded to hearing children.
Programmes of study and schemes of work with deaf children were researched in a range of primary schools, both hearing-impaired units and schools for the deaf. These have been adapted to suit the needs of deaf pupils and a six-month programme of visits to schools has been conducted to assess the suitability of these revised resources. Teachers were encouraged to use the new schemes of work themselves and assess their strengths and suitability, and feedback and comments were also sought from the children. The guide itself includes a wide range of lesson plans, worksheets and ideas to help both teachers and deaf children to enjoy music in school. The schemes of work can be used with any number of deaf children, from small groups to a full class, and elements can be used with a mixed class or group of deaf and hearing children.
This project is now being further developed to include Key Stages 3 and 4. As well as this, after-school music clubs for deaf children are being set up and several are now established in West Yorkshire; but more leaders are needed if these are to be spread further afield and bring the power of music to more children – both deaf and hearing.
Paul Whittaker is Artistic Director of Music and the Deaf. t: 01484 483115
(voice + minicom); f: 01484 483116;
e: nationalcurriculum@matd.org.uk