This resource for educational establishments is part of the digital strategy of the Auditorio de Tenerife

 

The Educational and Social Department of the Auditorio de Tenerife is presenting Caja de Música (Music Box), the first digital project in Spain carried out by a public cultural institution. The project focuses on providing teachers with artistic and musical resources that enrich students' experiences at all stages of their education. The details were announced today (Tuesday 6) by the vice-president and minister for Culture of the Island Council of Tenerife, José Carlos Acha, the island minister for Education, Efraín Medina, and the artistic director of the Auditorio de Tenerife, José Luis Rivero.

José Carlos Acha emphasised the pioneering nature of this initiative "which is part of the process of digital transformation of the Auditorio de Tenerife and included in the strategic plan of the public company”. “Caja de Música encompasses all levels of education and has a flexible and scalable approach to offer effective and quality musical education" added the island minister, who presented his perspective as a teacher: “I truly value these types of resources which don't create more work but rather make the work of teachers easier”.

Efraín Medina emphasised the "cross-cutting and coordinated work of the Culture and Education departments of the Island Council. Together they carry out enriching projects like this one”. “We feel proud, and at the Department for Education, we will not only maintain but will rather increase the budget allowances for the projects carried out with the Educational and Social Department of the Auditorium. They are greatly needed" stated the minister, referring to Caja de Música as "a musical tool that will undoubtedly create a lot of happiness”.

José Luis Rivero explained that the "Educational and Social Department of the Auditorium was very strong and had been working with the departments of Education and Culture for 20 years, bringing together these two ways of understanding the world which are essential to us”. “Our working universe begins with creation because we believe that music is an effective tool for all these stages" added the artistic director, who summarised Caja de Música as a "great musical container that we are putting at the service of the teaching community and open to everyone who speaks Spanish”.

The artistic director of the Auditorio highlighted some of the main assets of Caja de Música, like the quality of the resources offered based on excellence, which have been agreed beforehand with teachers; the great scientific value that the project is based on to make resources useful and fun (music pedagogy, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience…). He also highlighted its usefulness and flexibility, "as we are all interested in improving the quality of teaching in classrooms and integrating all children, taking into account the different processes of maturing”. For Rivero, these resources are not restricted to music as a subject, but they can "be used as a means of support to explain other types of content”. On the other hand, he outlined the commitment to develop the regional talent, from the website developers to the composers, and the young musicians who perform in the resources.

This project follows the criteria of the Department of Education of the Government of the Canary Islands and generally adheres to the basic strategic guidelines defined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for effective and quality education.

Caja de Música provides schools and teachers with access to artistic, cultural and training materials that facilitate and enrich their work, harnessing the digital tools available to them. This content will be produced specifically for Caja de Música and performed by the Orquesta Filarmónica Juvenil de Tenerife Miguel Jaubert (Tenerife Youth Philharmonic Orchestra Miguel Jaubert). They will come in audio and video formats and will be available on the project's website: www.cajademusica.edu.es

These resources tackle matters such as types of instruments, musical families and other groups, and also relate to analysis and periods of music history. In addition, they can be used in other areas of knowledge where music resources act to enhance their content. They also provide access to some recordings of the production of the Auditorio de Tenerife.

This audio-visual material serves as support to create educational proposals that focus on the emotional connection of children to musical stimulation, with themselves, their classmates and teachers through music, prioritising the active experience of the child individually and collectively, through their own body and the use of classroom materials.

The main purpose of the Auditorio de Tenerife with Caja de Música is to have a cross-cutting pedagogical musical project specially designed for the school audience. Likewise, to disseminate and bring musical resources to the maximum number of schools possible.

The first phase is focused on pupils under the age of six, that is to say, the two cycles of Pre-School Education. Tatatachán is launching 51 activities along with a theoretical training section where teachers will find the essential points regarding the theoretical foundations of the initiative. Thus, the aim is to support teachers with educational resources linked to the criteria established by the Department of Education of the Government of the Canaries which are of great artistic and cultural value. Their implementation turns preschool education classrooms into environments that are sensitive to sound, silence, and music.

Some examples of these resources are fun presentations of orchestra instruments with the dynamic and familiar language of the members of the Orquesta Filarmónica Juvenil de Tenerife Miguel Jaubert; recordings of the symphony, chamber and solo repertoire of great artistic and cultural value, with works by authors such as Orlando di Lasso, Saint Saëns, Mozart, Cesar Frank, Bárbara Kolb and Handel. Likewise, popular pieces, small pieces created for educational purposes and sound resources in video and audio format will be used.

Tatatachán takes inspiration from the studies carried out over the last three decades in education and pedagogy, developmental psychology in the field of music and neuroscience linked to music, sound and movement in infancy, making the child an active agent in its learning experiences at each stage of maturation.

The Tatatachán project got underway with a gathering for listening and analysis among those in charge of Caja de Música and a selection of preschool education teachers from Tenerife. This initial phase serves as a starting point to listen to the responses of teachers about the content and accessibility of the platform. It also aims to understand how to suit the needs of the classroom and the curriculum and adapt and expand the content for the 2024-2025 school year. This working line will be continued in the future at the following educational levels.