Meet James Manwaring
James Manwaring is the Director of Music for Windsor Learning Partnership in England. He works with the 4 schools that are part of the academy trust, an amazing model of education that is unique to British schools. He is a FORCE in music education and the intersection of music technology. His blog, Manwaring Music Education Blog, is a vast resource of information for any teacher looking to incorporate technology into their instruction. MusicFirst UK is extremely fortunate to have him on board as an author and consultant, and this past weekend, he was elected as the next President of the Music Teachers Association - the UK equivalent of NAfME.
I had the chance to interview James a year or two ago on my podcast, Profiles in Teaching with Technology. I was immediately impressed with his pedagogical outlook, his subject area knowledge, and his passion for making music with his students. Like me, he uses technology to support his teaching - not replace. If he is teaching students about a specific topic, he thinks of ways that technology can help foster student learning - making the topic more engaging by allowing students the opportunity to have a hands-on experience.
During our conversation, he mentioned his blog and the resources that he posts there. After visiting his site for the first time, I realized that James’ blog is simply amazing. He has TONS of resources on a wide variety of software, including Soundtrap, Focus On Sound, Noteflight, Flat, and many more. One of his recent posts focuses on Composing for Learning. It is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. He focuses on the what, why and how of teaching composition - an area of music that can be intimidating for teachers who have little or no experience composing music of their own. He shares MANY ways to incorporate composition into an existing music curriculum, and provides lots of resources for further inquiry. I love the way he breaks down a complex area of study into easily digestible advice. I know that teachers come away from posts like these feeling like they can do it. In my opinion, that is a very special talent. James is a master educator.
We are THRILLED that James does some consulting and writing for our MusicFirst UK division. We featured the Windsor Boys’ School as one of our Lighthouse Institutions. i strongly recommend checking out all of the amazing work that James is doing by visiting and bookmarking the Manwaring Music Education Blog. Keep up the amazing work, James!