Orff Schulwerk - Spread

Spread

In 1923 Carl Orff met Dorothee Günther while working at a theater in Munich, Germany. Günther “believed that most students did not get enough chances to do art and music and movement activities”. Because of her extensive background in gymnastics and the arts Gunter was able to open the Gunter-Schule in 1924. Even though Carl Orff never worked with the students of the Gunter-Schule directly, this was the first institution to teach what would later be known as the Orff Approach.

Students of the Günther-Schule later went on to be dancers and teachers of note. One of these students, Gunild Keetman, began as a student and became a teacher at the school. The Gunter-Schule originally only taught older students; however, Keetman later worked on developing the ideas of the school to teach younger children as well. Together she and Carl Orff created the five volume series "Music for Children" which is still used by teachers today. The Gunter-Schule ran until 1944 when Nazis confiscated it. In 1945 the building was destroyed in an Allied bomb attack and all materials (instruments, costumes, photographs, and its library and archives) were destroyed.

After the war, two serendipitous events brought Orff's approach back into the educational field. A series of radio programs aimed at children was broadcast in Bavaria. Orff wrote the music and re-united with Keetman to work on these broadcasts. The second event was the Mozartariums' request to have Keetman teach classes to children between 8 and 10 years old. Traude Schrattenecker who was also a graduate of the Gunter-Schule, joined Keetman in running this school.

There are Orff Schulwerk associations in different countries across the world including America, Germany, Australia, Korea, the United Kingdom, South Africa, France, Finland, and Canada. All of the organizations are adamant about the teachings of Carl Orff and the spread of the Approach. Through all of these organizations teachers interested in teaching the Orff Approach can become certified in the Approach. The American Orff-Schulwerk Association offers three different levels of training, each of which takes 60 hours to complete. Level one focuses on the “necessary skills to plan and implement a variety of Orff Schulwerk music and movement activities in the classroom.” “Levels two and three are concerned with development of conceptual understanding of music and movement elements as they are presented in the Schulwerk elemental music context, as well as the skill needed to implement them”.