Toshiyuki Yamada
Children of Various Personalities in One Classroom
In recent years, the educational world has placed greater focus upon education for
special needs students. A reasonable explanation for this could be that situations
where children of many different needs are learning together in a single classroom
have been increasing.
Within the same classroom, you can find children who are fast or slow runners, those
who are quick or slow at arithmetic, or those who are skilled or poor at singing andplaying instruments. There will be many different kinds of children. With regards todevelopmental disabilities, there are those who are easily distracted and may try torush out of the classroom (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder, commonly known
as ADHD), those who have difficulty engaging in conversation and may suddenly
become angry (Asperger’s syndrome), those who can communicate normally but are
unable to read a textbook (learning disorders, or LD), those who are unable to speak(hearing disabilities), those who are unsettled by changes in plans or schedule(autism), etc. There can be a wide variety of characteristics and conditions from one
child to the next.
Taking this into consideration going forward, there is most likely a need to think ofways to build a society where children of many different personalities can coexist.
Based on this line of thought, I have been putting into action teaching materials thatallow not only children with disabilities, but also those without, to enthusiasticallyenjoy and have fun with communication, which I call ‘Body Percussion Education.’
In ‘Body Percussion,’ various parts of the body are struck like percussion instruments
to create sound, and the different sounds are arranged to create a rhythm ensemble.
Around 25 years ago when I was an elementary school teacher, with a boy who would
now be diagnosed with a developmental disorder (I will refer to him as Boy A) as theimpetus, I began to use Body Percussion as a part of my classroom management
activities. Since that time I have continued to use Body Percussion Education, buttoday I would like to share one of my experiences where, in order to mark the 20thanniversary of its creation, I engaged in Body Percussion Education with students of aspecial needs school.

Let’s Have a Concert with the Special Needs Students andthe NHK Symphony Orchestra!
The first concertmaster of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Mr. Fuminori “Maro”
Shinozaki, has expressed a deep understanding of my thoughts regarding Body
Percussion Education. Thanks to him, elementary and junior high school students
have appeared together with the Orchestra to hold ‘The NHK Symphony Orchestra
and Body Percussion Concerts’ numerous times.

In 2006, it had been around 20 years since I had started Body Percussion Education.
So, as a way to mark the 20th anniversary of its birth, a plan was formed to have aconcert with the top members of the NHK Orchestra. However, this concert would
include not only local elementary and junior high school students, but also around 20
students from the high school division of the special needs school at which I worked
at the time.
At the special needs school, one teacher is needed for every two to three students.
Furthermore, for students in wheelchairs, or those that might suddenly run out of theclassroom, a one-on-one approach is needed. For that reason, it was necessary for me
to request the assistance of over 10 different teachers with a grasp of each student’s
various disabilities.
Regardless of that hurdle, I discussed my idea of having the children of the school
perform with the NHK Orchestra to Mr. Shinozaki. He replied, “In Europe, there areoften concerts where children with handicaps participate. However in Japan, theevent organizers or the managers of the venue are worried by the thought of what
would happen if some kind of trouble were to occur, so currently such events don’tmaterialize. So yes, I too would definitely love to give it a try.” Additionally, it wasdecided what the goal would be: “The NHK Symphony Orchestra and special needs
school students perform Mozart’s Eine kleine Nachtmusik together.”

What Is Important Is the Child’s Own Will
“Just try it!” I resolved to take the first step, and without delay I set out to discuss theidea with the principal of the special needs school, the students of the high school
division, and other related parties. Among the students, there were about 20 boys andgirls with disabilities including autism (pervasive developmental disorder), low-level
developmental disorders, emotional disorders, ADHD, Down syndrome, and cerebral
palsy. After many talks with the teachers, the resulting opinion was: “At the concert
let’s not do a performance where the students are just being allowed to perform, butinstead one where the students are having fun and engaging of their own free will.
Also, let’s try to have the students perform on stage by themselves.” It was anextremely positive idea.
I understood that it was reckless. Properly speaking, if the teachers were placed onstage among the students in a way such that they did not stand out, if some kind ofproblem were to occur the could respond immediately. But doing so wouldn’t bemusic the students were enjoying on their own.
The students choose to participate in the concert of their own volition, stand on stage,
and while listening to the NHK Orchestra’s performance match their hand-clapping to
the music on their own. For the students, I wanted this to be an experience throughwhich they could foster the strength to stand in front of people and express
themselves to others by their own will.
Practice proceeded much better than I had expected. Most all of the students wereclapping their hands happily while listening to the music from the CD. Even on stage,
with the teachers only attending to the students in wheelchairs, the students went onstage themselves and practiced the performance.

Of course, one would expect that standing on stage in front of a full audience in thecity assembly hall would be different than normal, and as a result expect the students
to be nervous to the utmost. Unfortunately, this thought did not occur to me until theday of the concert.

Because The Special Needs Students Are the Lead RoleAt last, the day of the concert had come. The first part of the program was to be a
performance involving the NHK Orchestra as well as a harpsichord. The second part
would be a performance by local elementary and junior high students in addition tostudents from a school for the hearing impaired. And part three would be theperformance of the special needs students.
However, about 30 minutes before the start of the first part of the program, one of theteachers came to me and said, “A few of the boys are in a bit of an excited state. Also,
the autistic students are starting to yell out. If this continues, we may not be able towait until part three.”As it turns out, the harpsichord is an extremely delicate instrument, and at that point it
had just finished being tuned. If we made a change to the program, the harpsichordwould have to be reset and retuned. I didn’t know what to do. I immediately went toMr. Shinozaki and discussed the issue. Upon hearing my concerns he said, “The lead
performer in this concert is not the NHK Symphony Orchestra, it is the students.
Let’s aim for the best performance and have the special needs students perform first.
After that, while the harpsichord is being prepared I’ll give a talk about music to theaudience.” Quickly, the three parts of the program were reorganized, andpreparations were completed 10 minutes before the start. As the students took theirpositions on the stage, they were wrapped in a warm atmosphere from the audience.

The Proud Figures of the Students Following thePerformance
Well, it was finally the start of the program. Hurriedly, an announcement was madewith regards to the program change, and at long last the concert began. Because of
the full audience, a few of the boys were in a bit of an excited state. With my eyes
turned toward the students, I stepped onto the conductor’s podium with as big of asmile as I could. Now, even I myself had frozen. But when I turned to Mr.
Shinozaki, with an earnest look on his face he gave me a big nod. As long as thestudents did as they had in practice everything would be fine. “All right! Let’sbegin!” I called out to myself. I signaled to Concertmaster Shinozaki and swung
down the conductor’s baton.
At that instant, the intro melody of Eine kleine Nachtmuzik flowed into my ears. Thestudents intently watched me, preparing their hands to begin clapping. While making
big swings of the baton, I would signal the timing to begin clapping. “Please come inon time! One, two, three, go!” I shouted out within my heart. The students’ clapping
began simultaneously. Without any time to feel relief, the melody continued to flow.

Would the student with autism get excited and start running around? Could the timid
girl with Down syndrome keep her head up and perform? Would the boys whosometimes yell out be okay? Would the boy who often found things bothersome sit
down during the performance? The practices that we had at the school ran throughmy head.
As the performance pushed forward my concerns were slowly wiped away, and by thesecond half they had completely disappeared. Before I knew it, it was over and,following a brief moment of silence, billowing applause from the audience rang
throughout the hall.
As soon as the performance ended, the students stood proudly on the stage withrefreshed looks on their faces. All the while, the audience continued to applaud.

Body Percussion Education Which All Students Can Enjoy
Together
For me, Body Percussion Education is something that started when, in regards to Boy
A, I thought to myself, “I want to do something about this boy!” But, over 25 yearsof putting this education method into practice, I have personally experienced that it issomething that all students, those both with or without disabilities, can enjoy together.
As a tool to allow friends to experience a feeling of togetherness and allow students toenjoy communication, I absolutely wish to tell the next generation of teachers about
Body Percussion.

Profile of the author■Toshiyuki Yamada
Vice Principal at Kurume City’s Komorino ElementarySchool.
Japanese Kyushu University Graduate School Completion
In November of 1986, as a fourth grade teacher in elementary school,
he began educational activities involving actions such as clapping
hands, slapping the knees, patting the stomach, and using the voice.
Together these actions created a rhythmic form of bodily expression
called “Body Percussion.” From that time forward, as a licensed
teacher he put Body Percussion Education into practice at elementary schools, special needs
schools (for mental disabilities), schools for the hearing impaired, daycare facilities, and various
other educational institutions.
In 2009, he received the NHK Disabled Welfare Awards’ Most Outstanding Award. In 2011 hereceived the Yomiuri Educational Awards’ Most Outstanding Award for the Special Needs
Education Division.
The 2005 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology’s (MEXT) authorizedthird grade elementary school music textbook The Gift of Music (Instructor’s Version) contains
the Body Percussion song Fireworks, and in 2012 the special needs education MEXT edit of thejunior high school music textbook Music☆☆☆☆ will contain the Body Percussion song
Bouquet of Clapping.