World voice is British Council’s global schools/Arts project which supports young people to develop creatively and contributes to wider learning through songs. It is multifaceted, answering to both education and arts agendas, with cultural diversity and acceptance at its heart.
It is a global programme, but in each country selected to be involved, the cultural and educational context is considered and the focus and rollout is adapted.
The world voice programme aims to ensure that, through training, collaboration and the availability of resources, young people have the opportunity to use singing to develop their musicality and support comprehensive learning skills. The world voice aims:
- To share British expertise in singing education with classrooms globally and to promote an exchange of skills, knowledge and understanding between all participating countries.
- To increase knowledge and understanding of diverse cultures, with an emphasis of authenticity.
- To support colleagues from around the world who wish to learn more about singing leadership techniques.
- To provide an network for countries to forge long-lasting relationships.
- To provide resources which teachers and young people can use in the classroom.
- To celebrate singing as a fundamental global expressive art.
The goals of the project are to:
- Share a clear understanding of how a singing curriculum can enhance learning in all subject areas and online practical advice on how to achieve this.
- Create an international network of professionals working together to bring singing education of the highest quality to children across the world.
- Establish a communication infrastructure that uses a full range of multimedia platforms and enables all participants to gain access to the network.
- Develop an online bank of resources, including repertoire and pedagogic help and advice.
- Lay the foundation for a tradition of shared performance, with countries posting performances online and collaborating with their neighbours to give shared performances.
New Global education programme to reach thousands
More than 130,000 Kenyan pupils will benefit from a new global education programme aimed at supporting young learners in schools to use singing to develop their musicality and wider learning, the British Council announced today.
World Voice is an innovative global teacher training programme developed by British Council which is currently running in 15 countries around the World that provides training and resources to enable teachers to use singing in the classroom to aid learning. In Kenya, the British Council and Kenya’s leading boy band Sauti Sol have announced a partnership in which the latter will act as Champions for the programme.
The program was launched in August 2015 at a ceremony at Westland’s Primary School in Nairobi, and was attended by representatives of partnership schools in the British Council’s flagship programme Connecting Classrooms, and other stakeholders in the education sector in Kenya.
World Voice in Kenya will run for three years from September and it is being developed in partnership with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) which will provide training and resources to equip teachers with techniques to use singing in the classroom to aid learning and support young learners to develop creatively.
British Council Director Global Network Team Kate Ewart-Biggs said: “As educators, our responsibility is to prepare every young person for their future in the best possible way. World Voice is multifaceted, answering to both education and arts agendas and aims to offer children a unique and enriching experience of singing in the classroom, using songs from around the world to aid wider learning and enrich cultural awareness. We are delighted that Kenya’s Sauti Sol band, whose talents were spotted and nurtured through some of our past programmes in Kenya, have agreed to be our Champions for this programme in the country.”
Martin Openda, Sauti Sol’s Soma Soma Initiative Director said: “We are delighted to be working with the British Council as World Voice Champions, and are very keen to share with young Kenyan learners the skills of using music to aid in learning. Sauti Sol can trace their humble beginnings to being members of the Upper Hill School choir, where their talents were discovered and nurtured through a British Council sponsored programme WaPI. World Voice also speaks to the wider objectives of our own Soma Soma Initiative which aims to develop a generation of epic thinkers, a ‘SolGeneration’, a generation that understands the value of education rather than merely going through the paces of education. Music nurtures creativity. The greatest asset of any nation is the creativity of its people.”