Fifty teachers from primary schools in Meppel will also be in school themselves in the coming weeks. They go to guitar lessons. This should lower the threshold for music in the classroom.
If the master or teacher can handle a guitar well, there is a good chance that children will also become musical. That is why the Promes education foundation calls on them to take music lessons. Within two days, 43 teachers had already registered and that number has risen to fifty. One of the teachers who immediately registered with enthusiasm was Miss Lianne Lubbinge: “When I read this I immediately thought: what a great opportunity. Then we can make music together with the children. What could be more fun than using an instrument? “
The first songs can already be heard from Lubbinge’s guitar. Is she a quick learner? “I am not disappointed. It goes well with a cheat sheet. I will find it exciting to play in the class for the first time. But with well-known songs and the help of the students it should be fine. The wheels of the bus be a good entry, who knows what will happen next.”
Her colleague teacher Ruben Scholten is already planning a party in his class. “I think kids really enjoy it. Music lessons with an instrument are much more inspiring than something on the blackboard.” His baptism of fire with the guitar in the classroom will soon follow. “I’ll start with a simple song. You want to be good at what you do.”
“It’s a nice addition to your music lesson,” adds Lubbinge. “This creates excitement and show. And maybe it makes children enthusiastic to learn an instrument as well.” The latter is precisely the goal of education director Niels Strolenberg. “Making music is not only fun, it also provides a creative challenge, relaxation and connection in the school and classroom,” he says.
He continues: “In many schools in the Netherlands, music receives less attention, at Promes not. Research shows that music creates a connection between children. Music can help to deal with emotions or ensure that they are evoked. Different types of music also provide recognition and understanding of children for other cultures. Through music, stories come together.”
220 teachers and support staff work for more than 1300 students within Promes. Strolenberg: “About 100 teachers could already play an instrument. Now another 50 teachers will be added. That means that about two out of three teachers can play an instrument in class and school. That is of course super cool.”
Strolenberg took a look himself this week, and the musical progress was appreciated. “I think it’s fantastic. The great thing is that you also see insecurity in teachers, the same that children experience when they learn something new. Insecure at first, but then a wow feeling. I can do it!”