Musical Monday!: Education Through Music

A Brief History of Education Through Music​

Mary Helen Richards founded the Richards Institute of Education and Research and created Education Through Music (ETM).  Mary Helen was a music teacher that wanted to create an approach to teaching music that was more hands-on.  Even though ETM was originally created as an approach to music literacy, classroom teachers realized the benefits of ETM and began to use it in their classrooms to help build literacy skills in their students.  The students of ETM come from all walks of life - music teachers, classroom teachers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech-language pathologists, social workers, peditricians, librarians, and caregivers studying the work of ETM. 

The body of work that makes up ETM is comprised of English folksongs.  The folksongs have been set to Song Experience Games (SEGs).  The SEGs of ETM have a structure and routine that is designed to support a child’s development and learning process.

ETM teaches caregivers (I am using this term very broadly but it applies to anyone that works with or cares for children) how to: 

• build regard and healthy adult/child relationships
• stabilize and motivate children 
• teach children how to…
  • take turns
  • manage their disappointment
  • how to read by providing caregivers with a foundation of understanding the latest research in brain development in children

For the librarians reading this - ETM is also a wonderful vehicle for literacy.  It meets children where they are at developmentally and fills them with joyful experiences that will help them develop literacy skills that are essential to becoming a lifelong reader.

How I Found ETM, or, How ETM Found Me

​My discovery of ETM was kismet.  As the saying goes, I was “in the right place at the right time.”

It was 2009 and there were no teaching jobs to be found (#GreatRecession). I was a freshly minted graduate with a degree in elementary education and a minor in music. Until I could secure a full-time teaching gig, I kept myself busy working as a substitute teacher in the district where I student taught and moonlighted as a children’s associate at my local library.  In June of 2010, I finally landed my first teaching gig as a first through third-grade music teacher.  I was elated!

​Shortly after receiving the good news, I happily went off to a teaching conference where I attended a session called “Education Through Music.”  I don’t remember exactly what was said or done during that session, but I left feeling intrigued and excited.  This approach was so different than anything else I had seen.  I needed to know more!

​When August rolled around and it was time to meet my 325 students I began to feel a small sort of panic set in.  How on earth was I going to learn 325 names?  How was I going to connect with 325 very different individuals?  Then I remembered this name song called “Oh, Here We Are Together” we sang and played in the ETM session at the conference.  By the middle of September, I had all 325 names down. I was able to call my students by name in the hallway or when I was doing bus duty.  The way that their faces lit up when I took the time to notice and connect with them was my Eureka! moment. I was eager to learn as much as I could about this approach because I knew in my soul that it was going to have a profound effect on the way that I work with children.

I knew that I needed to learn more so I signed myself up for the winter course.  The more ETM I brought back to my students, the more they asked for it.  There was something about it that kept them (and me) very intrigued.  I worked with several English Language Learners that were often quiet in music class, but when we played “Oats, Peas, Beans” or “Rig a Jig Jig” they were all in. By the end of the year, they were not only singing but confidently engaging in conversation with me. 

Through my study, I have learned about neuroscience, attachment, child development, and motivation.  I have also learned about how ETM can be a vehicle to building early literacy skills in children.  Even though I have been studying this “working of a work” for nine years, I still have a great deal more to learn. 

Singing in the Stacks

In 2015, I decided to leave the classroom to work as a children’s library associate at a public library.  I am given Storytime programming and I am racking my brain as to how I am going to approach my programs.  I find Storytime Underground, Jbrary, and Storytime Katie.  I am grateful to them because I have no idea how to plan a Storytime.  I can lesson plan, but planning a Storytime?  Totes different.

As I became more comfortable and confident in my new role, I began exploring how I can use ETM in my programming. I also learn about ALSC's Every Child Ready to Read and have another Eureka! moment.  ETM and ECRR2 go together like peanut butter and jelly.

How?  Tune in next week to find out!

P.S. While you wait for next week's post - watch this awesome video made by my friend George!