This Post is a post script to the last. I must not forget special educational needs, and the very important role that teaching music has here.
From the Prologue
Music is good for the soul. Whether playing or just listening, it is something you should learn at school. As Anthony Storr illustrated in his book Music and the Mind it can have a special value for children with learning difficulties. I am indebted to my music teacher who played records to us with, as I recall it, fibre tipped needles. Once learned at school, it will last a lifetime. It has for me. With great Music like great Art you can touch eternity. These are moments that will last for ever.
***
Today classrooms are populated by far too many bully boys and girls.Teachers may have too little time and sometimes too little training as well. Supply teachers are here today and gone tomorrow. Teaching assistants don’t always know how to stretch children in the way that trained teachers do and, in many cases, do not improve attainment. Ironically they can create a sense of exclusion in an inclusive environment, stigmatising pupils in the process. Teachers are not always trained to relate to them.
My underlining here
From Notes & Quotes
David could not tie his shoe-laces
Anthony Storr writes “David, a six-year-old autistic boy, suffered from chronic anxiety and poor visual-motor co-ordination. For nine months, efforts had been made to teach him to tie his shoe-laces without avail. However, it was discovered that his audio motor co-ordination was excellent. He could beat quite complex rhythms on a drum, and was clearly musically gifted. When a student therapist put the process of tying his shoe-laces into a song, David succeeded at the second attempt.”
QUOD ERAT DEMONSTRANDUM
By the way, my own music teacher was called Mr. Kirk. I gladly dedicate Act One Scene 4 to his memory.