We can hardly remember what it's like to go to a big, in-person event – the well-planned journey, the endless takeaway coffees, the excitement, the music, the immense sound of hundreds of people chatting, laughing, and speaking enthusiastically through loudspeakers. The fact that it's been so long since most of us were in this kind of lively face-to-face environment (school doesn't count) makes this year's Music & Drama Education Expo in London all the more thrilling. Taking place on 24 and 25 September – giving you plenty of time of settle into the new academic year – at a new venue, the Business Design Centre (BDC) in Islington, the Expo will be a brilliant opportunity for music educators to come together after such a challenging year, learn new skills, gather ideas, and feel inspired to head back into their practice with confidence.
So, what could your two-day CPD extravaganza look like? Registration is now open online (it's all free), and you can also view the programme and sign up to specific sessions. Here, we'll look at what each day could look like for an intrepid music teacher making the most of the CPD sessions on both the Friday and the Saturday.
Day 1: The 9:30am start in Islington is a breeze for you, accustomed as you are to slurping coffee as you untangle 30 sets of headphones at (what surely must be) dawn, or battling through admin over breakfast before your first instrumental pupil arrives. You're in for a treat, as beatbox tutor and musician Jack Salt kicks off the Expo with a hold-nothing-back-while-being-Covid-secure Beatboxing warm-up, following a brief hello and welcome from heads of content Harriet Clifford and Sarah Lambie.
Sufficiently warmed, you quickly deliberate between the three music sessions running from 10am and 11am, but in the end opt for Making the case for music and wellbeing, run by Charly Richardson and Keith Sykes from Lewisham Music. After a fulfilling session, during which you learnt about Hub-led community music programmes and their role in supporting vulnerable young people, you have 15 minutes to grab a coffee before the next slot at 11:15am.
You go for the Keynote Theatre session with renowned composer and writer Paul Harris, who is leading Sight-reading journeys: a new approach, before you grab an early lunch with a colleague and enjoy some in-person networking and/or general chat. Next up at 12:30pm, it's the Day 1 Symposium, which you've been looking forward to. It's a chance to hear a hot-topic discussion between representative of some of the key organisations in music education, including the Music Education Council, the Musicians' Union, the Incorporated Society of Musicians, and the Music Teachers' Association. Afterwards, you grab a quick drink and head back into the Keynote Theatre for Learn more about ABRSM's Performance Grades with chief examiner John Holmes, which leaves you keen to discuss the exams with some of your students the following week.
There's a lot to take in, so you have a slightly longer break between slots, catching up with a colleague about a session you were sad to miss earlier – Making music online: What did we learn from the pandemic? – before settling into the Workshop Theatre at 2:45pm for Music, diversity and disability – working across difference with Graham Dowdall. After a thought-provoking, engaging session, it's time for your final CPD of the day, which you decide will be Mike Simpson's Using body percussion for your recovery curriculum at 3:45pm. Armed with plenty of practical ideas and food for thought, you emerge from the BDC, ready to rest up and do it all again tomorrow!
Day 2: Fresh-faced and raring to go, you really get into this morning's warm-up, A feast of gathering songs, with Sing for Pleasure's Ula Weber, knowing that the songs will definitely come in handy back in the classroom. At 10:15am, you make your way to the Workshop Theatre for How to teach improvisation with jazz education legend Richard Michael – you've been looking forward to this one, as improvising doesn't come naturally to you. You leave the session feeling much more confident, then head over to The music teacher bias with Benjamin Turner. Listening with an open mind, you find this session really interesting, and you come away with some concrete ideas for revitalising your curriculum to ensure that you're teaching as widely and accessibly as possible.
After a quick bite to eat with a new friend, you're torn between Performance health: What is healthy practice and how can you embed it in your teaching?, Whole class student brass and Digital arts education, but in the end you opt for the latter. After the last 15 months, you feel as though everyone has had enough of online learning (and teaching), but the session gets you thinking about the potential benefits of a longer-term blended approach. After all, you're a bit of a tech whizz by now, so why let that go to waste? At 2pm, you attend Context is key: GCSE and A Level success led by James Manwaring, but make a mental note to catch up with your colleague afterwards because you know he was at Improbable tales: Using musical theatre to tell ‘our’ stories and you're interested to hear the key takeaways.
Making it just in time, you find a seat in the Keynote Theatre for your last CPD of the day. This session is on Empowering young transgender voices through singing, run by Alexander Pullinger, and you're keen to learn as much as you can. After this, you decide to meet your colleague for a coffee, and you both share some of your highlights of the weekend. She teaches younger children and has enjoyed Song writing in the primary school classroom, Frozen the Musical: Fixer Upper movement and music with Disney Teaching Artists, From body sounds to percussion instruments, and Mindful music in KS2-4. She was also able to attend some of the others you couldn't make, and shares her notes on Your voice in action, which she says was really practical, and Running a private music or drama teaching practice, which your (school-based) colleague dropped in on ‘to keep her options open’.
Phew! You've come to the end of the Music & Drama Education Expo 2021. It's been a busy two days and you need some time to process it all, but you're feeling inspired and challenged by everything you heard. Although a little more tiring, you're pleased to finally attend CPD in person again after a year or so of online webinars. It's been great to get involved with the practical sessions, as well as try out new materials and resources at the exhibitor stands. You've also really enjoyed the performances and interviews, which filled the space with sound and energy across the two days. All that's left to do now is make your way home after another brilliant weekend at the Expo.
Register for the Expo for free and sign up to specific sessions at www.musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk. New content, including performances and exhibitor sessions, will be announced soon.
