Sensory Educational Needs - IVACON 2024

This week, I attended the University of Edinburgh to teach a class at the Institute for Vocal Advancement’s (IVA) international conference, IVACON. I have been a long-time admirer of IVA, and the experience I had as a guest teacher was second to none. Their care, support and attention to detail was of the highest quality.

My class was about sensory educational needs and disabilities within singing teaching. When I first began working with this population, I felt overwhelmed and nervous about putting a step wrong. Especially as singing is multisensory. If the activity you teach is multisensory, how can we navigate sensory sensitivity? Themes that arose include intentional practice, voice pedagogy, sensory play, ethical considerations and creative pedagogy. I have run several workshops of this kind, all from different angles and with a different emphasis. I am always excited about finding out something new when facilitating these classes, which happens when voice teachers come together. Thank you to the singing teachers who came to my class and allowed us to explore different ideas and considerations about voice pedagogy.

My main goal is to begin a conversation so that singing teachers feel safe enough to ask for help where needed, to discuss where boundaries and roles begin and end, and to ensure we can serve our students in the best way. This is important in all contexts, and particularly so when working within marginalised groups. All too often in the field of voice, one can fall down the comparison trap. It’s not possible to be all things to all people, and we all have our own areas of expertise. I believe this is where collaboration can come in; there is space for all of us, and by finding out where your own strengths lie, you can attract the work that matters to you, find your own niche in the voice world and help to transfer this empowerment to your students, who will then thrive. After all, that is what we all want.

If you are interested in finding out more about the mentoring, peer support and workshops I offer around sensory educational needs, disabilities and intentional practice, please get in touch.