Orff Schulwerk for New Educators

Abstract

Entering the world of music teaching can present challenges. Finding an approach that fits both the style of the teacher and the needs of the classroom is one such challenge. This paper, which accompanies a presentation, provides an introduction to one popular music teaching approach: Orff Schulwerk. The paper includes a review of existing research and provides information on the history of the Schulwerk, the uses and benefits the program provides, and the challenges and successes new teachers find when beginning to use it. The paper further explains and explicates an hour-long presentation. The presentation shows how to incorporate the core pedagogies of the Orff Schulwerk—exploration, imitation, improvisation, and creation—with an existing piece of repertoire from Music for Children in conjunction with the children’s book Wendell the Narwhal by Emily Dove. Furthermore, this paper will go into detail regarding the process that was followed when creating this lesson, and the educational resources that were used.