Havrutav (חַברוּתָו) – A New Concept of Music Education in Elementary Schools

Havrutav (חַברוּתָו) – a new concept of music education in elementary schools

Submission category: Demonstration/workshop

Sub-category: Cultivating the imagination and promoting pedagogic change

Author: Eran El-Bar, composer and educator, and leader of the team of musicians who developed the Havrutav method. A graduate of the Mandel Educational leadership institute.

Abstract

This submission will demonstrate and explain the aims, methodology, positive impact and potential of the Havrutav pedagogic method for teaching music. The method aims to cultivate the musical imagination of pupils and teachers alike while developing skills such as listening, consideration, sensitivity, responsibility, and artistic excellence.

Background | The Havrutav method, in practice for a decade in several elementary schools in Israel,, was developed within the Mandel Leadership Institute, by a team of musicians who were also music educators. Since its inception, the program has engaged over 2,000 children and trained 50 teachers. Many of its alumni continue to study music in conservatories and lead active musical lives. Many of these students come from families with no musical background.

A three years` program begins with Piano workshops for three children at the same time as well as Recorder and Poetry workshops. All third grade`s children are experiencing the three workshops.

Purpose and content of the workshop | The purpose of the workshop will be to explain the methodology and components of the program highlighting its uniqueness and efficacy.

Method| Havrutav rests on three concepts:

1. Music should be taught in pedagogical interaction with another field of knowledge, in this case poetry, so that music is not isolated but fully integrated in the educational agenda of the school;
2. All the children in the school should be exposed to the program and actively experience its meaningful artistic process;
3. Group learning experiences facilitates “comparative learning” –.

Live demonstrations during the workshop will actively involve the audience.

Applications for music education | Traditionally only 1% of the children learning to play an instrument develop a professional interest in music. Havrutav is different in that it focuses on the extra-musical skills acquired while learning to play an instrument. These include listening, cooperating, and interacting socially. It emphasizes the social experience of artistic creation whilst not relinquishing the experience of performing music or the attempt to achieve professional excellence. Its vision, therefore, promotes more gentle, moral, joyful society, through the study of music. This turns the traditional method of music education upside-down.