AIM
Teacher Learning through the Spark of Action Research
Francis Gagliardi, Program Director, Nucleo, London, England; member of first Firebird team at the Academy for Impact Through Music
How can I contribute to making something that’s already great even better?
That was the question I asked myself when I took on the challenge of carrying out the first Academy for Impact Through Music (AIM) Chispa, in Caracas, Venezuela, in December 2024.
Last Call! Apply for the Fire Up – The Field Teaching Artist Residency
Fire Up – The Field is a free five-month program from the Academy for Impact through Music (AIM) in collaboration with LA Phil’s Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (YOLA) and its National Accelerator program.
AIM Performance Videos Challenge the Status Quo
The Academy for Impact through Music‘s performance videos invite teaching artists to challenge the status quo in rehearsal and concert formats.
Growing AIM’s Firebird Fellowship into an Alumni Program
Eric Booth, AIM Senior Faculty, with help from Director Fiona Cunningham and Alumni and Young Artists Program Manager Marco Chimini
“Your alumni will become your best assets for your mission.” That’s what social entrepreneurs from Changemaker Fellowships told AIM’s leadership when we began in 2018. So far, we agree.
Building Continual Improvement into Our Teaching
José Ángel Salazar Marín, conductor; Artistic Director, El Sistema Greece; AIM FAR Lab Leader, and Eric Booth, Cofounder, The Ensemble; leadership team, AIM (Academy for Impact through Music)
Action research is widely used in professional research, but unlike most academic research methodology, action research doesn’t stand back and wait for non-practitioners to deliver findings. Action research is led by the people inside the work, with ongoing hypotheses, experiments, and discoveries leading to improved practice along the way.
Lessons from Firebird Fellows
Kai Jack, Teaching Artist in Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine; Daniel Bermúdez Tamayo, member, mentor, and FAR Lab Leader, Iberacademy; and Francis Gagliardi, Director, Young Leaders Program, El Sistema Greece
Ensemble editors spoke with three Firebirds about which teaching muscles have been most transformed, asking them to describe a specific change that they attribute to their experience in the Fellowship. Their responses were rich, thoughtful, and relevant in any classroom.
Applications Are Open for the AIM Teaching Awards 2022
The Academy for Impact through Music (AIM) is accepting applications for its 2022 Teaching Awards, which will recognize up to nine music educators who demonstrate a distinct connection to AIM’s pedagogical framework—the Five Pillars you read about on our site last month.
AIMing Forward: Introducing the Academy for Impact through Music
Eric Booth, Cofounder, The Ensemble; Senior Advisor/Lead Faculty, AIM
The global field of music for social change is committed, smart, resilient, and brimming with talented teachers, administrators, and students—that’s a lot of assets! But it isn’t organized to learn well and get better as a field. Indeed, as I traveled during the past decade to 25 countries to observe good programs in action, I consistently heard that their two greatest challenges were finances and faculty. These problems haven’t been getting better.
