Art-Based Methods: Voice Activities in Social Services

Throughout my years as a music teacher in primary schools in Greece and as a Greek language teacher in Finland, I had to find ways to approach my pupils. Many of my students did not speak Greek or English, and I did not speak any Finnish or their native language. During my practical placement, in social services, at a non-profit organization, I had to think of fresh ideas to communicate with my clients as well as with other interns working in the organization. For all these situations...
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Throughout my years as a music teacher in primary schools in Greece and as a Greek language teacher in Finland, I had to find ways to approach my pupils. Many of my students did not speak Greek or English, and I did not speak any Finnish or their native language. During my practical placement, in social services, at a non-profit organization, I had to think of fresh ideas to communicate with my clients as well as with other interns working in the organization. For all these situations that verbal communication was difficult, there was always the path of non-verbal communication, available--this was the beginning of implementing the voice activities of this guidebook.The main benefit is that this guidebook and its voice activities can be used by people with limited or no prior studies in music or singing. The guidebook comes with detailed instructions for the implementation of every voice activity. It gives possible variations while the facilitator is encouraged to adjust and alter the activities according to the context or the general "mood" or needs of the group. This guidebook was written mainly for social services work. However, it can be useful in other fields as well, like in music therapy, education, counselling, corporate environments and different contexts.I hope you find the activities useful for your work.