PRESTO: ‘Practices and Resources for Equipping Schools to Teach Music Online’ Erasmus Project

Project Title

PRESTO: ‘Practices and Resources for Equipping Schools to Teach Music Online’

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Pedagogy and didactics; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Creativity and culture

Project Summary

Music-making in school education has been devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. What was formerly among the safest educational and cultural activities has become lethal due to the capacity of singing and many musical instruments to transmit the deadly virus. Moreover, the need for physical distancing and restrictions on indoor gatherings have destroyed the close human proximity that is central to collective music performance. Consequently, students of school education are denied the opportunity to sing in the singing class, to play music in the music class.

Research has demonstrated the immense contribution that music education can make to people’s lives. The benefits are artistic, creative, and expressive, but equally important are the effects on personal wellbeing and social integration. Music education influences psychological and general health, inclusion, friendship, and togetherness. Furthermore, music tuition can impact curriculum areas beyond music and thus can make a substantial contribution to the cognitive functions and development of people. All of these benefits have been gravely endangered by the cessation of normal musical activity.

Thousands of music teachers have been struggling for the right approach of how to adjust their teaching techniques to the new challenges. There has been unprecedented sharing of ideas online during the pandemic, however the sheer amount of information of variable quality discourages school music teachers, as a great deal of this information is uncurated and lacks sector-specific guidance for this area.

The objective of the PRESTO project is to chart a path forward for the continuation of music education through and beyond this crisis, by developing flexible and adaptable solutions for remote or restricted musical activity by schools. Internationally renowned musicians and leaders in their fields have been and will be creating innovative digital resources with expert guidance, specially tailored for all areas of school music education: classroom education, choral education, and instrumental education. Resources include demonstration videos for creative music-teaching approaches, for remote use of the Kodály HUB, the Move mi music application and the Colourstrings instrumental teaching method; creative piano pedagogy, musicianship courses and singing games for children to engage in remotely and in non-contact classroom activities.

Prior to the pandemic, choral concerts and music performances marked the major milestones of the academic year in many schools. Now, such important artistic and social activities are impossible. The project will investigate suitable cutting-edge methods for remote concert performance and will provide accessible techniques and resources to bring back these important events in the life of a school. Open-source digital tools for the development of school choir conductors and for independent learning by young singers will be made available along with models of online choir performance and rehearsal, guidance on repertoire selection and new, innovative choral compositions, specially created to overcome the limitations of musical performance via the internet.

The consortium comprises a coherent, colorful alliance of music educational institutions: there are two HEIs: Liszt Academy of Music (Hungary), DCU (Ireland); two national choral associations: Sing Ireland, National Youth Choir of Scotland; and a private Finnish enterprise: Caprice Oy, an online education company with significant experience in remote music teaching. The partnership is founded on a firm belief in the values of European cultural heritage and within that the proven educational concept of Hungarian composer and educator Zoltán Kodály, which is a registered Safeguarding Practice by UNESCO. This groundbreaking pedagogical approach places the joyful and active musical experiences (mainly singing) into the centre of music learning and teaching as the most important source for reception and appreciation of musical art. It is the foundation on which the PRESTO partnership is firmly built as all partners have a deep connection with the concept and its implementation in their own countries and around the world.

All demonstration videos, open-source tools, practical guidance, and new compositions will be shared globally via the popular Kodály HUB online knowledge centre, www.kodalyhub.com, thus sustaining and enhancing the functionality of this website, which was produced in an earlier Erasmus+ Strategic Partnership project. The outputs will be distributed and disseminated through the extensive educational and choral networks of the project partners. The transferability of the digital resources will ensure long-term use in both school-based and independent music learning activities in the uncertain future, and will allow seamless adaptation for educational contexts all over the world for thousands of music teachers delivering the joy of music.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 269635 Eur

Project Coordinator

LISZT FERENC ZENEMŰVÉSZETI EGYETEM & Country: HU

Project Partners

• DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY
• Caprice Oy
• National Youth Choir of Scotland
• CUMANN NAISIUNTA NA GCOR