Education Through Music: Towards A South African Approach

1993 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-261
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Oehrle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Music Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Intercultural Education ◽  
Western Music ◽  
African Music ◽  
Paradoxical Situation ◽  
Music Making

Music making in Africa has been, and is, an essential aspect of living. The philosophy and process of music making in South African schools bares no relevance to this idea. The present situation is that South African music educators are propagating western music education methods, while so-called ‘western’ music educators are turning to Africa to find answers to their perplexing problems. This paradoxical situation highlights the importance of evolving a philosophy and process of intercultural education through music for South Africa which draws upon research into music making in Africa.

Challenges in Music Education Facing the New South Africa

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Oehrle
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Music Education ◽  
New South ◽  
Informal Institutions ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Formal Sector ◽  
Dynamic Changes ◽  
Relevant Today ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Practices

South Africa is undergoing dynamic changes affecting all aspects of life, and legacies of the previous regime have a bearing on these changes. Music educators informal institutions face many challenges. Music-making in the informal sector is extensive, ongoing and relevant. Today, one of the greatest challenges for music educators in the formal sector is to realise the importance and value of developing a philosophy and process of music education that emanates and evolves from musics and musical practices existing in southern Africa.

Creativity: Support for and Forces against this Basic Educational Idea in Western Music Education

1986 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Oehrle
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Western Music ◽  
American Education ◽  
African Music ◽  
Creative Potential ◽  
Western Education ◽  
Creativity Support ◽  
Economic Studies

A challenge was issued, in the first International Journal of Music Education, to find ways to achieve a principle of music education which progressive music educators and traditional African music education have in common:‘an all-round development of the child’. This paper takes up this challenge by exploring the idea that creativity is an essential part of western education. Even though this idea receives the unprecedented support of widely respected western educators of the 20th century and of the Tanglewood Symposium, ‘…those with creative potential are neglected, if not discriminated against, at all levels in American education’ (MacKinnon, 1978, p. 169.) To ascertain why this is so, socio-economic studies are presented which reveal how closely linked the issue of creativity in education is to issues which are beyond the realm of music education or of education in general. The suggestion is that these connections adversely effect the all-round development of the child.

Could There Be Deleuzian Assessment in Music Education?

2019 ◽  
pp. 121-136
Author(s):  
Lauren Kapalka Richerme
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Continuous Assessment ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Philosophical Inquiry ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Practices ◽  
Contemporary Education

Authors of contemporary education and arts education policies tend to emphasize the adoption of formal, summative assessment practices. Poststructuralist philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s emphasis on ongoing differing and imaginative possibilities may at first glance appear incompatible with these overarching, codified assessments. While Deleuze criticizes the increasing use of ongoing assessments as a form of control, he posits a more nuanced explanation of measurement. This philosophical inquiry examines four measurement-related themes from Deleuze’s writings and explores how they might inform concepts and practices of assessment in various music teaching and learning contexts. The first theme suggests that each group of connective relations, what Deleuze terms a “plane of immanence,” demands its own forms of measurement. Second, Deleuze emphasizes varieties of measurement. Third, those with power, what Deleuze terms the “majority,” always set the standard for measurement. Fourth, Deleuze derides continuous assessment. His writings suggest that music educators might consider that assessments created for one musical practice or style should not transcend their own “plane of immanence,” that a variety of nonstandardized assessments is desirable, that the effect of measurement on “minoritarian” musical practices must be examined carefully, and that it is essential to ponder the potentials of unmeasured music making.

Creating Virtual Ensembles: Common Approaches from Research and Practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 107 (3) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Christopher Cayari
Keyword(s):  
Music Education ◽  
Music Teachers ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Research And Practice ◽  
Music Production ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Online Music ◽  
Education Courses

A virtual ensemble is a digital musical product that uses multiple recordings edited together to form a musical ensemble. Creating virtual ensembles can be a way for music educators to engage students through online music-making. This article presents eight steps for creating virtual ensembles in music education courses and classrooms. The steps are (1) identifying objectives and desired outcomes, (2) selecting repertoire, (3) developing learning resources, (4) creating an anchor for synchronizing, (5) choosing a recording method, (6) setting up a collection platform, (7) editing in postproduction, and (8) distributing the product. As online music production becomes more prevalent, projects like virtual ensembles can provide creative and exciting experiences for music teachers and students, whether produced in the classroom or through remote means on the Internet.

Trans Voices Speak: Suggestions from Trans Educators about Working with Trans Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-56
Author(s):  
Christopher Cayari ◽  
Felix A. Graham ◽  
Emma Joy Jampole ◽  
Jared O’Leary
Keyword(s):  
Identity Development ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Gender Nonconforming ◽  
The Past ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Trans People ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Music Classrooms

The social climate in the past decade has seen a rise in visibility of trans students in music classrooms and ensembles, leading to a need for scholarship on how to serve this growing population. Literature is being published to address this topic; however, the lack of scholarship by trans educators might lead many music educators to conclusions and practices that can be, at the very least, discouraging to some trans students and may disrupt their learning experiences. This article was written by four educators who identify as part of the trans community (a genderfluid and gender-nonconforming individual, a trans man, a trans woman, and a gender-nonbinary person) to fill this gap in the literature by illuminating some of the pitfalls inherent in the lack of discussion on (and by) trans people in music education. In addition, this article provides five actionable suggestions for working with trans students: (1) Learn about the trans community, (2) inspect your language and biases, (3) represent the diversity of trans people in your teaching, (4) promote healthy music-making and identity development, and (5) model allyship.

Intercultural exchanges in South Africa: Exploring music teacher experiences, understandings, and practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 252-266
Author(s):  
Catherine Bennett Walling
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
South African ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Teacher Experiences ◽  
Vast Array ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Pedagogical Approaches

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of four US music educators during and after a 3-week adult choir camp in South Africa. Findings reveal that the camp positively influenced music teacher understandings and practices, both during and after the exchange. Throughout the camp, participants navigated race, privilege and prejudice and expressed value for a vast array of shared experiences with choir mates, teachers, and homestays. Participants reflected regularly on processes of learning new musics, describing growth through authentic and at times challenging activities. Furthermore, all participants recognized that firsthand experiences were essential to deep learning. During the camp, all participants expressed hopes of bringing new ideas and music home; 2 months after returning to their classrooms, 3 of the 4 participants reported the teaching of South African songs along with modified pedagogical approaches. Ultimately, participants shared that the trip had impacted them in various personal ways, noting increased tolerance, patience, kindness, confidence and hope.

Popular Indian South African music: division in diversity

Popular Music ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melveen Jackson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South Asia ◽  
South African ◽  
Homogeneous Group ◽  
African Music ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Political Status ◽  
Cultural Processes ◽  
Unity In Diversity

It is frequently claimed that cultural processes in South Asia are best understood as being informed by an ethos of ‘Unity in Diversity’. The same cannot be said for culture as it has been, and still is, experienced by Indian South Africans. Far from being the homogeneous group to which apartheid South Africa relegated Indian South Africans in 1948 for the purposes of political control, the ‘Community’, as it is euphemistically called by politicians of all kinds, is plagued by sectarianism and conflict. This contest engages individuals and genuine communities who are seeking to establish a freely chosen identity, economic stability and political status.

Beyond Memory

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Max Mojapelo ◽  
Sello Galane
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
South African ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
African Music ◽  
The South ◽  
Accurate Picture ◽  
History Of ◽  
South African Music

South Africa possesses one of the richest popular music traditions in the world - from marabi to mbaqanga, from boeremusiek to bubblegum, from kwela to kwaito. Yet the risk that future generations of South Africans will not know their musical roots is very real. Of all the recordings made here since the 1930s, thousands have been lost for ever, for the powers-that-be never deemed them worthy of preservation. And if one peruses the books that exist on South African popular music, one still finds that their authors have on occasion jumped to conclusions that were not as foregone as they had assumed. Yet the fault lies not with them, rather in the fact that there has been precious little documentation in South Africa of who played what, or who recorded what, with whom, and when. This is true of all music-making in this country, though it is most striking in the musics of the black communities. Beyond Memory: Recording the History, Moments and Memories of South African Music is an invaluable publication because it offers a first-hand account of the South African music scene of the past decades from the pen of a man, Max Thamagana Mojapelo, who was situated in the very thick of things, thanks to his job as a deejay at the South African Broadcasting Corporation. This book - astonishing for the breadth of its coverage - is based on his diaries, on interviews he conducted and on numerous other sources, and we find in it not only the well-known names of recent South African music but a countless host of others whose contribution must be recorded if we and future generations are to gain an accurate picture of South African music history of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

scholarly journals Initiatives in Astronomy Education in South Africa

2001 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-130
Author(s):  
Case L. Rijsdijk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Science Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
School Level ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Large Telescope ◽  
Astronomy Education ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
Education Initiative

AbstractA brief review of the issues affecting the current status of science education in general, and astronomy education in particular, is given. The paper looks at the present situation at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. South Africa has unique educational problems and the initiatives by local observatories and universities at school level are described. The problems encountered by the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) Science Education Initiative (SEI) are typical, as is the SEI approach to addressing some of these. The experience of the SEI is described, as are some of the resources developed by them for primary and secondary schools. Finally a brief look is taken at future developments, in particular, ways in which the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) can contribute to astronomy and science education.

scholarly journals Faith and South African realities in practising forgiveness

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudy A. Denton
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
African Society ◽  
The South ◽  
Relationship With God ◽  
Christian Doctrine ◽  
South African Society

The invocation and necessity of a forgiveness process have become complicated and multifaceted within the South African society with its realities of crime, poverty, racism, injustice and abuse. The rhythms of forgiveness compel us to identify our present situation. Individuals, as well as larger social groups, should begin to reflect on the importance of forgiveness to deal with transgression, violence, revenge and bitterness. I suggest that forgiveness within the Christian doctrine needs to be situated and embodied in specific habits and practices of Christian life within the South African society. In response, people in South Africa are called to remember past transgressions while pursuing the repairing and healing of the brokenness and separations in relationships by embodying forgiveness. It directs the importance of the Church’s prophetic task to proclaim the boundless gift of a constructive and transformative relationship with God, one another and God’s creation. Practising forgiveness includes a process of seeking to embody Christian forgiveness that involves the transformation of people’s lives, their world and their capability to restore communion within the field of social relations.

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