Meet the Staff: Dunja Gelineo Kajević, Music Teacher and Certified Montessori Educator

In this "Meet the Staff" interview, Dunja Gelineo Kajević, a longtime teacher of musical culture and performing arts in Bloom, talks about her experiences of combining different methods such as Montessori and Stave House in her teaching practice.

Please introduce yourself to our blog readers.

I am Dunja Gelineo Kajević, a graduate professor of music theory subjects and certified Montessori educator, as well as a teacher of music culture at Bloom, a long-time member of the Sarajevo Opera Choir of the National Theater in Sarajevo and one of the music tutors at Superar - a center that provides free music education for children and young people.

It's clear that you've always had a love for music, but did you also want to be a teacher?

I was always attracted to working with children: for a short time I shared my love for music by working with children at the Herman Gmeiner Center which was also attended by children from the SOS village; but my journey as a teacher of music culture actually began in Bloom in 2011.

Through my work at Bloom school, I met the founder and creator of the music theory teaching method "Stave House", Mrs. Ruth Travers, and I was delighted! In agreement with Bloom's director, I completed my Stave House education and I now apply that method when I teach music theory. Through my work at Superar, I further expanded my musical and educational horizons, socializing and exchanging ideas with great musical and pedagogical experts in both Sarajevo and Vienna.

Can you tell us how combining these different methods (including the Montessori approach) creates a unique approach to teaching?

I integrate a variety of methods into my daily practice, drawing from my training in the theoretical and pedagogical aspects at the Music Academy in Sarajevo, my Montessori diploma program, experience with the Stave House method, and involvement with the Superar association. All of these methods have a common link: the active participation of the child in the educational process and an individualized approach to education.

My Montessori education taught me the skill of observing the child's needs and to adapt the curriculum to the individual needs of each child. Through the Stave House method I learned that play, songs and storytelling are tools with which children can learn to write, read and play musical notes. And finally, at Superar, I learned how to develop listening and singing skills when working with children's choirs.

By applying and combining all of these methods and knowledge, my goal is to help every child to use music as a tool for the expression and regulation of their emotions and needs; to develop aesthetic values; to acquire creative thinking skills through musical upbringing and education; and to complete their development holistically.

Over the years at Bloom, you have worked with students in many different capacities on various types of projects. Do you have a project for which you have particularly fond memories?

One of my favorite projects was guiding Bloom students through the process of creating the film "Blame it on the draft". The students created this film following a one-month period of research on the assassination of the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne Prince Ferdinand and on Bosnian folk customs and beliefs. The students wrote the script for the film; acted; created costumes; selected and recorded the music; played the role of cameraman; and finally edited film. They carried out the entire process themselves, under the watchful eye of an entire team of teachers, and I am particularly proud of that.

What do you like most about teaching?

Although my role as a teacher is to lead the process of raising and educating students, what brings me joy time and time again is how much I learn and grow through that same process. My students have taught me to never give up, to believe in each child individually above all else. They have reminded me of the importance the process itself; they have taught me patience; they have taught me love!

Thank you very much Dunja for your time!