An Investigation of Parents' and Children's Perceptions of Applying "Orff-Schulwerk" Approaches to Children's Private Piano Lessons

Abstract

In recent years, Orff-Schulwerk has experienced rapid and widespread acclaim as a holistic and inclusive approach to music education. Yet, despite its success in classroom music education programmes, limited attention has been given to the potential of such approach to be applied to individual instrumental lessons. More importantly, little consideration has been given to children’s and parents’ perspectives of learning their instrument through an Orff Schulwerk approach. This research seeks to respond to these gaps by investigating children’s and parents’ perceptions of applying Orff-Schulwerk principles to individual piano instruction. An instrumental case study was used to examine the perceptions of seven children who were taught Orff-Schulwerk principles alongside their individual piano lessons over an eight week period. In addition, parents’ perceptions were also examined. The findings revealed that both children and parents perceived the Orff-Schulwerk approach to enhance their creativity, musicianship and awareness of ensemble playing. However, it was also found that parents’ preconceived beliefs and agendas for engaging their child in instrumental lessons were a barrier to accepting Orff-Schulwerk as a viable and powerful form of music education. This study demonstrates the potential of applying Orff-Schulwerk methodologies to individual instrumental instruction and also highlights the need for further research to consider the voices and perspectives of parents and children.