Sue Phillips starts her RE classes with some music to put her pupils in the right frame of mind Noa-5 I find music can calm a lively class or generate a sense of drama and anticipation. It signals that something is about to happen. At Bognor Regis Community College, I play music as pupils enter the room for an RE lesson. As they begin to settle, I gently turn the volume down and they automatically face front. Now I can begin. No shouting or shushing, no tension. Everyone feels calm. The music works like the lights going down in the cinema.
I use background music such as natural sounds, barely audible, throughout the teaching part of the lesson. I also use music to signal the beginning and end of activities: writing down their homework or moving the furniture, packing up or taking notes from the board. I play a single track and tell them I expect the task to be completed when the music finishes in so many minutes I fade it down to recall them to attention.
A specific track can alter the mood during a lesson. It might be to create the right atmosphere for quiet reflection or meditation after some writing or discussion. It might be to create a serious mood before looking at a sombre topic such as war, death or poverty. If the words are significant, I put them up on the projector so that pupils really think about them. Music can match the words of a poem or piece of writing, newspaper cutting or picture.
Music can also lift the mood after discussing a sad or serious subject. Using it while pupils pack up at the end of a lesson allows them a few moments to relax and get ready for their next class. Any music from any time or culture may be suitable, not just religious music. This is an opportunity to introduce pupils to genres they might not know, such as jazz, big band, blues and classical. Don’t use it as entertainment or allow pupils to bring their own music. Keep it serious, thoughtful and a planned part of the lesson with an identifiable purpose.
* For lessons on Creation, Big Bang science and religion try Holst’s Planet Suite, or music from films such as Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Mission Impossible.
* For lessons on world religions, try world music CDs from Israel, India, Africa.
* For lessons on Christianity, try gospel music, Greek or Russian Orthodox liturgy, Verdi’s Requiem, Bach.
* For quiet reflection, try sounds from nature: water, the sea, rain forest.
* For atmosphere and calming, try Enya, a compilation of Chilled Ibiza, Enigma Gregorian chants, dance singer Moby, and anything from the Baroque repertoire of composer Albinoni.
Sue Phillips is head of RE, a professional tutor and counsellor at Bognor Regis Community College, West Sussex.
She will be presenting her Theatre of Learning techniques for RE at venues throughout the country in the autumn term. For details of these and courses at the school email her at: njphillips@supanet.com
