Interaction Creates Learning: Engaging Learners with Special Educational Needs through Orff-Schulwerk

Abstract

We consider the individual and the collective as fundamentally interdependent. Interaction leads to learning and therefore theories of interaction are of importance. For a music teacher, the achieved awareness can lead to practical advances. Discovering the most productive interactional strategy and understanding the consequences of actions within the actual learning situation can be helpful in creating interaction and learning. However, as interaction is dynamic and complex, especially those practitioners working with students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) may not be satisfied with the respective conceptual frameworks on interaction processes.

In the present article, we reason that on close inspection it is possible to develop a conceptual approach that meets the diversified challenges of pedagogical interaction. We also suggest that pedagogical interaction with students with SEN can be grounded on the insights of Orff-Schulwerk.

First, we briefly describe some of the key principles of Orff-Schulwerk. After the theoretical background the article continues with real case examples with a view to illustrating the applications of the approach and some of the advances of the Orff-Schulwerk perspective in special music educational environments. We close with a summary, presenting some views on the potential of Orff-Schulwerk in pedagogical interaction with students with SEN.