Teachers Bring International Influence to Schoolwide Music Program

Music students at ICS are set to benefit from global influence and inspiration.

Teachers from the elementary, middle, and high schools traveled to Chicago to take part in one of the world’s most elaborate, comprehensive, and cutting-edge conferences for musical learning. Participants were able to learn in specialized workshops, join performances, and exchange with other teachers. ICS teachers also visited schools in the region to collaborate with leading educators.

“Professional learning allows us to gain knowledge from experts in our field and also gives teachers new perspectives in which to approach teaching and learning,” Teacher Janine Plunkett said. “By constantly evolving our practice, we improve and focus our teaching, which is completely for the benefit of our students learning in more effective ways.”

Alongside 18,000+ musicians and educators, ICS teachers explored leading teaching methodologies, technology integration into music classrooms, the benefit of music education on academics and emotions, as well as several other topics.

With students on a life-long learning journey, it is important for the teachers in all school sections to attend the conference as a collaborative team. Together, they were able to digest, reflect, and apply their learning at the conference to further align ICS’s approach to teaching music to our youngest learners all the way through our Diploma Programme musicians.

“My biggest takeaway from the workshop was how to design concept-based music lessons and how these concepts connect to other academic subjects, skills, and daily life,” Elementary Teacher Adane Asnake said. “In order to better understand what is happening at each level, we plan to continue to meet more regularly and collaborate together in the future.”

Of course, at such a mass gathering of professional musicians, there was no shortage of opportunities to participate in and enjoy performances. Middle School Teacher Carolina Poblete specialized in strings workshops, where she worked with musicians, composers, and authors while playing the double bass. Carolina said the opportunity to engage with and watch performances from top bands and orchestras left her feeling inspired.

“The biggest takeaway for me was that the experience filled my heart with so much love for music,” Carolina said. “It was fantastic to see in person how music programs bring excellence to their schools. I will work to transfer that passion and apply a variety of the techniques to improve the sound quality and expressive playing of our ICS bands.”

To find out more about student and professional learning at ICS, visit our Learn page.