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Conference Introduction
When I first suggested the idea of a conference on Boys & Music Education,
it was for selfish reasons. I had been teaching at Melbourne High School
for a couple of years and was hungry to find fresh ways to engage and
invigorate these boys in music. With the fine team of teachers in the
music faculty, I wanted to help build a healthy culture where adolescents
do not just HAVE to do music at school. They should be inspired and passionately
choose to make music part of their lives. On top of that, I wanted the
teachers of other faculties, the principals and the parents to understand
this philosophy and to play a role in nurturing such a culture. Music
is not separate from but integral to the holistic development of people,
young and old. These are lofty goals. I thought, what could be better
than bringing together, over one weekend, teachers for whom I have great
admiration, and who have been particularly successful in implementing
different aspects of this subject, so I can get a few more ideas. Thanks
to Kevin Kelley, this conference now is, obviously, not just for me, but
is most relevant to our musical and the wider educational community. I
hope this event will not be a one-off, but the beginning of a great evolving
series (not unlike the multiple episodes of Star Wars or Harry Potter
books) on thinking and communicating: a continual search of a sound language
for us to use in teaching music. We would benefit from a recurrent event
that brings together educators from around the country to share their
wild ideas, their own progress, and their successes in teaching boys.
Naturalist and author Charles Darwin elegantly expressed this necessity,
ÔIt is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent,
but the one most responsive to change.Õ We teachers all want to keep building
on our good work and help each other develop a more musical and hopefully
sensitive society. Music essentially exists to make us happy. LetÕs make
happiness accessible to everyone. On behalf of aMuse, I would like to
acknowledge and thank Sue Bell, a devoted principal that allows a musical
and sensitive culture to flourish at MHS. She has also given the support
to an event that has made it possible for educators from everywhere to
gather and share.
Sonny Chua, aMuse vice president
CLICK ONTHE LINKS BELOW TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE NOTES, SUMMARIES
OR PAPERS FROM THE SESSIONS.
FRIDAY 26 NOVEMBER
Invigorating the Education of Boys
The good, the bad and the ugly: Boys in school- Michael Carr-Gregg, Adolescent
Psychologist
Boys and learning - Susan Bell, Acting Principal, Melbourne High School
Boys and the arts - Wesley Imms, The University of Melbourne
SATURDAY 27 NOVEMBER
Boys to Men: Keeping the Music Alive Beyond the Early Years
Performing and expressive arts in the education
of boys - Colin Black, Headmaster, Camberwell Grammar School
Cohesion and creativity - Helen Thomas and Linda "Toots" Wostry
with the Camberwell Grammar Junior School Choir and Middle School Stage
Band
Sweet Boys and Noisy Girls
Sweet boys and noisy girls: The deconstruction of male gender stereotypes
in the early years - Clare Hall, Trinity Grammar School
Active and varied: Upper primary music for boys - Trevor Jones, St KevinÕs
College
SwinginÕ, ya singin: Fun warm ups, jazz, music theatre and improvisation
- Curtis Bayliss, Melbourne High School
Sonic Spaces: The Virtual Classroom Project
Boyz Noyz
Boyz Noyz: Thoughts on how country kids can access a range of music -
Janet Turewicz, Wodonga High School
Beats, boys and bongos: A multi-cultural approach - Nisha Heath
Are we having fun yet? - Sonny Chua with the enchanting Melbourne High
School Chorale
Download Quicktime movie version of Sonny's
presentation
Download summary of Sonny Chua's presentation
PRESENTERS
Curtis Bayliss
Curtis teaches vocal studies in the Music Theatre course at the Victorian
College of Arts and is currently the Director of Choral Music at Melbourne
High School. Curtis is responsible for the massed singing program at Melbourne
High School and coaches boys for solo and ensemble performances, musical
theatre, rock band singing and cadet yelling. Curtis is in demand nationally
as an adjudicator and presenter of choral and vocal training. As well,
he regularly works as a music theatre and voice clinician for Melbourne
Youth Music and Youth Music Australia.
Susan Bell
Susan Bell is currently Acting Principal at Melbourne High School and
has been Assistant Principal at the only all boys state school in Victoria
for ten years and is the first woman appointed to these positions. Her
teaching history of 27 years has been in a variety of teaching environments
for both boys and girls, from a technical school in a lower socio economic
area to a state selective school with 1370 students. Her main areas of
interest are the professional development of teachers and research and
application of the latest findings on how students best learn.
Colin Black
A graduate of the Universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, Colin Black has
been Headmaster of Camberwell Grammar School for the last 17 years, and
has been involved in boysÕ schools for most of his professional life.
As well as promoting the arts in the schools in which he has worked, he
has regularly directed student productions, including five large-scale
musicals in the Camberwell Grammar School Performing Arts Complex.
Michael Carr-Gregg
Described recently by the Sunday Age, as one of the countryÕs leading
authorities on teenage behaviour, Michael is an Adolescent Psychologist
working at the Albert Road Centre for Health in Melbourne. He specialises
in the area of parenting adolescents and adolescent mental health. Michael
is the Consultant Psychologist to the Victorian Secondary Schools PrincipalÕs
Association, the Australian Ballet School and Melbourne Girls College.
Helen Champion
Helen is currently acting manager of Arts Curriculum at VCAA. HelenÕs
current projects include development of the Arts component of the Essential
Learning Framework and preparation of a CD-ROM focusing on Design for
Year 9 and 10 teachers across the curriculum.
Sonny Chua
Sonny ChuaÕs music and pedagogical work are well known to teachers and
students at all levels. His original works are extensively listed in all
Australian music examination syllabi, regularly heard on the radio and
stage and are currently published by Allans Publishing. Sonny is currently
teaching and developing a compulsory music classroom program (secondary
level) and writing choral music for high school boys.
Clare Hall
Clare Hall has taught specialist music at all levels and is currently
a music teacher at Trinity Grammar School and Caulfield Grammar School.
She has recently completed masterÕs research in gender stereotyping and
boysÕ singing in early childhood.
Nisha Heath
Nisha is the author of the World Beat Learning ÔTapas SeriesÕ, world music
ideas for children of all ages, linking practical activities with music
appreciation. She has taught primary and secondary students for many years,
and was Head of Junior School Music at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School
1999-2004.
Wesley Imms
Dr Wesley Imms is a lecturer in Visual Art Education at the University
of Melbourne. After teaching for a number of years in all-boy schools,
his research has centred on the interplay of masculinity, curriculum and
art education. A keen advocate of using grassroots classroom strategies
to engage boys, Wesley is currently the National Research Director of
the Boys Education Lighthouse Schools Project.
Trevor Jones
Trevor Jones currently teaches Upper Primary music, singing and choirs
at St KevinÕs College, Toorak. He is also the National President of the
Australian National Choral Association. Until late last year, Trevor was
the Deputy Artistic Director of the Australian Boys Choir and he currently
conducts the Monash University Choral Society. He has presented at conferences
for the VCAA, ANCA and ACCET in the areas of curriculum and assessment,
boys singing and choral conducting.
Mandy Stefanakis
Mandy is the President of aMuse and has taught at boys only and co-ed
schools and across the range of sectors, including primary, secondary
and tertiary. She has contributed over a long time to the development
and implementation of music curriculum. Mandy is the author of Turn it
Up! Books 1 and 2, music resources for middle years students with an Australian
music focus.
Helen Thomas
Helen is Assistant Director of Music at Camberwell Grammar School with
responsibility for the Junior School program from Prep to Year 5. Initially
trained as a secondary music specialist, Helen taught in NSW at Balgowlah
Boys High School and at Shore. After several years as a private piano
teacher, Helen retrained in Victoria as a primary teacher and music specialist.
She encourages students to be actively involved in music through song,
dance and drama and has developed choral and instrumental programs in
Junior School that allow boys to be confident learners and performers.
Janet Turewicz
Janet Turewicz was educated in Tasmania and had the good fortune to study
with Rex Hobcroft, Jan Sedivka and James Christiansen. She completed her
DipEd in Melbourne, married a musician and moved to the growing area Ñ
Albury Wodonga. Janet is the Music Coordinator at Wodonga High school
and teaches VCE Solo and Group Performance. She accompanies students for
Eisteddfods, AMEB and VCE exams and is a founding member of the Murray
Conservatorium Choir and the Wodonga SchoolsÕ Music Support Group. Wodonga
High School runs a Quality Music Program which encourages and enhances
studentsÕ musical development and supports their diverse musical interests.
Linda Wostry
Linda "Toots" Wostry has worked extensively in the folk-blues
and professional music-theatre scenes performing, writing and recording.
She has held a variety of teaching positions since graduating with a B.Ed
from Melbourne State College and is currently working at Camberwell Grammar
School and Carey Grammar School where she teaches woodwind. Linda now
focuses on fostering ensemble skills, whilst exploring the possibilities
of improvisation with students in the jazz-rock area.
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