Ajuste de los parámetros de la ley de fluencia de tipo Voce

Music teachers are warned not to approach the teaching of world music as an opportunity to broadcast a selection of interesting musical facts, or worse, by providing a one-sided, stereotypical opinion of unusual musical cultures. The inclusion of world music into music syllabi should be seen as an opportunity to see and understand one’s own musical traditions better, with new eyes, and to listen to it with new ears (Stock, 2002: 182). Being raised within a certain cultural heritage caused us to develop certain musical habits and concepts. These often become so common-place in our daily lives that we do not see perceive them anymore and they are being overlooked. By engaging and studying with a different musical culture, we are forced to pay these elements attention and it encourages a deeper understanding of the music of our own culture (Stock, 2002: 182). The benefits of studying world music are often misunderstood by music teachers.

Understanding the meaning of the word “music” is the most important consideration in engaging in this field of study. People from all cultures around the world have their own, individual ways of defining and understanding music. People from different times, different social classes and educational backgrounds (often within the same culture), define music in different ways. When teachers and pupils are exposed to a different musical culture for the first time, they perceive it as strange and it often leads to doubting their our own definitions of music. Stock felt that the common definition of music has its limitations. What is acceptable for the classically trained European as a definition of music, may not be appropriate for the African traditional practitioner. He felt that it is, therefore, important to get insight into the conception of what music is to that particular musical culture. Social situations, cultural beliefs, language and musical instruments need to be considered and analysed (2002: 184) in the quest to uncover the meaning of music for the musical tradition that is being studied.

75 When listening to the music of another culture, it is expected to hear that it is vastly different from one’s own musical tradition. It is a common mistake to see “ours” as somehow more valid, more natural and more developed than “theirs”. In such a case, one’s “own” is used as a yardstick against which all others are measured. Music evolves and what might be viewed as “high culture” now, may be viewed through different lenses in the future and therefore, the music being performed today, may not necessarily be better than any music that was performed in different times in the past, in different cultural settings. The point is to acknowledge all kinds of music and to realise that humanity organises its sound to suit specific tasks within specific social systems. Unless these tasks are clearly understood, it will not be possible to clearly formulate a meaningful evaluation of the music in question.

When one engages with music from other cultures, it can help one to transform one’s own understanding of learning and, consequently, ourselves and the world around us. This relies on discarding the “west is best” perspective that permeates the music education of many countries with colonial pasts. Western music stresses music literacy that indirectly diminishes the value of those music traditions that rely on oral and aural traditions. A student’s attitude towards the study of multicultural music is greatly influenced “by implicit cultural assumptions, frames of reference, perspectives and biases” and these attitudes have not been the subject of much research (Joseph & Southcott, 2009: 458). Teacher training should reflect the altering societies we live in and cultural diversity must be taken into account by both educators and students. The needs of the diverse classroom communities and cultures that exist within multicultural societies, must be met by teachers. In tertiary education and professional development, the necessity for authenticity and cultural context is of paramount importance and should endeavour to transform teachers’ understanding of inclusivity (Joseph & Southcott, 2009: 459).

When including traditional and popular musics of the world in music education programs at secondary and tertiary education levels, in a post-colonial and post- apartheid society such as South Africa, there are certain ethical considerations that should be considered. Kartomi (1999: 166) argued the importance of moral and ethical issues in the training of students in the areas of music performance, musicology, composition, sound technology, music business and tourism.

76 After the completion of the Creative Arts course that ends at the end of Grade 9 in South African schools, pupils are expected to have an understanding of the concept of culture. Pupils are taught to understand how cultures function in, and develop communities and must be able to explain factors that can influence cultural change in society without chauvinism, whilst still being conscious of gender, race, class, cultural and religious differences in cultural experiences. Such a curriculum has far- reaching and idealistic effects for pupils in secondary schools (Kartomi, 1999: 167). MacKinlay highlighted the importance of being aware of the realities of colonialism and the larger concerns such as race, power and privilege. She felt that this might be uncomfortable terrain for the white music teacher who can easily dismiss these issues as not applicable to their situation (2011: 18). These concerns, she felt, had bearing on teaching practice in classrooms. She wrote:

“These are about the ethics of what we do in our classrooms, and the social and moral responsibilities we hold as white music educators to do ‘something different’ in relation to our work with Indigenous Australian students, people, knowledges and cultures.” (2011: 19)

She felt that the most powerfully transformative teaching and learning resources for music education rest in the multi-faceted potential of “relationship” – an “interpersonal bond”. This relationship should be built on mutual respect, friendship, trust and a willingness to learn of the “Self in relation to the Other”, shared histories, empathy and on-going conversation (MacKinlay, 2011:20).

3.6 Conclusion

This chapter highlighted a range of topics that have bearing on good music teacher training. It outlined the paradigmatic orientations on which teacher training courses around the world are built, what content is important to include in a music teacher training course and the importance of practical teaching experiences.

Furthermore, the characteristics of good support models, in the form of mentoring and induction programmes, was discussed, as well as the value of pedagogical knowledge and skills pertaining to the music classroom.

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CHAPTER 4

Research Design and Methodology

4.1 Introduction

In this chapter the methodology of this research, will be outlined. A description of the underlying paradigm, procedures used for data collection, as well as the research techniques will be described. Furthermore, a profile of the research respondents will be provided.

The course of research action chosen by any researcher, is based on what the researcher wants to know and how she will go about finding out about the phenomenon in question. Therefore, the purpose of both the research design and research methods used, was to find answers to the research questions and whilst the research design deals with the planning of the research and indicates the type of study undertaken, the research methods indicate the steps taken, instruments used and techniques implemented to complete the process.