Genea Nicole Alexander

"Miss, Who is Going to Make Us Sing?": a Singing Evolution Genea Nicole Alexander

?Miss, who is going to make us sing?? enquired the innocent looking child as he stared, inquisitively, into the eyes of his teacher. The child?s question said it all... Since embarking upon the role of music co-ordinator, I have dreaded the fortnightly ?Singing Practice?. I have only to look out over the sea of disgruntled faces and instantly I feel obliged to launch into my role as stand-up comedienne, motivator and promoter of the ?Singing is Fun!? movement. I strive passionately to transform the ?I?m too old for this? attitude, which emanates from the Year 6?s, into glistening tones of enthusiasm and attempt to indulge them in song. I find myself in a similar role during the staff meeting; exhaustively trying to convince colleagues of the joys of teaching singing... If the grapevine is to be believed, however, then singing is very popular in my school ? oh yes. The children have the chance to get out of ?proper? lessons and the teachers can?t wait to start that mountain of marking in the classroom. So, everyone?s happy, it would seem ? apart from me.? 'A Singing Evolution' is a practitioner-researcher study of the improvement of singing learning and teaching.