What We Do…

Gunild Keetman & Carl Orff

“Elemental music is never just music.
It’s bound up with movement, dance and speech,
and so it is a form of music in which one must participate,
in which one is involved not as a listener but as a co-performer. ”
— Carl Orff
“This unity, that even today is quite natural to many cultures and needs no special fostering, has, in most civilised lands been entirely lost, and only carried on in an unbroken line by children. To preserve and develop this unity for children is one of the main tasks that Orff-Schulwerk has set itself.”
— Gunild Keetman

The Orff Schulwerk Association of South Australia was founded in 1984 and has been providing professional development to teachers in SA for over 30 years. We are a not-for-profit professional association for music educators made up of experienced and trained music and arts teachers led by a volunteer board. OSASA is a member of the Australian National Council of Orff Schulwerk Inc. (ANCOS) and the International Orff-Schulwerk Forum Salzburg (IOSFS).

Orff Schulwerk is a creative approach to music education founded by German composer Carl Orff and developed by his colleague Gunild Keetman. Hence the interesting name combining Orff after Carl Orff and Schulwerk the German word for ‘schoolwork’, to describe a pedagogical approach for music and movement education.

The Orff Schulwerk approach focuses on nourishing the musicality of each child through elemental activities in music and movement through play and exploration. Students make music using speech, singing, body percussion, instruments, found objects, movement, drama and dance.  

Inclusivity is a hallmark of the approach: age is no limit. It is an approach where all may contribute and experience success.  The social value of group music making is fundamental, as is the importance of individual creative contributions.

We are joined by our belief that learning about music – learning to sing and play, to listen and understand, to move and create – should be an active and joyful experience. 

Our Mission

Pedagogy

Improve music pedagogy, knowledge and practice through the provision of professional learning programs

Communication

Share learning and research using the Orff Schulwerk Approach to other educators

Mentoring

Structure mentoring opportunities to promote and improve practice between educators and their students

This is achieved by…

Workshops

  • Professional learning workshops held each term on a Saturday

  • Practical workshops that allow participants to be immersed in singing, dancing and playing

  • Lesson ideas that can be adapted for many different teaching contexts

  • Experienced local and national
    Orff Schulwerk presenters

  • Sessions suitable for all teachers including specialists, classroom & relief teachers and tertiary education students

  • Notes are provided for all sessions

  • Resources available for purchase on the day of the workshop

Levels Courses

  • Nationally accredited Levels Courses taught by Orff Schulwerk experts, typically run for 1 week during the school holidays

  • Develop knowledge of Orff Schulwerk Pedagogy, Orchestration, Movement, Recorder, Vocal and Technique & Improvisation

Teacher Support

  • Online members blog: The OSASA Beat

  • Members only events online and in person

  • Scholarship opportunities for members

  • Every 12 years run the Australian National Conference for Orff Schulwerk

  • Provide Foundation, Intermediate / Continuing and Initial Teacher Education professional development packages in music education in collaboration with the Department for Education: Music Education Strategy

Carl Orff quote from Orff-Schulwerk: Past and Future, p.144 in the book ‘Texts on Theory and Practice of Orff-Schulwerk. Basic Texts from the Years 1932-2010’. Edited by Barbara Haselbach with Esther Bacher, 2011 (1963).

Gunild Keetman quote from the book ‘Elementaria: First acquaintance with Orff-Schulwerk’ by Gunild Keetman (English Translation Margaret Murray 1974) 1970