The Performing Arts in Ghanaian Education: Junior High School and Beyond (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
The Performing Arts play a pivotal role in the traditional and contemporary life of the Ghanaian. Among its numerous importance and benefits are academic development, career development, transmission and preservation of cultural values, and promotion of tourism. In spite of some knowledge that has been created about these benefits and importance, the significance of the Performing Arts in the Ghanaian society is downplayed. The aim of this paper is to re-emphasise the role as well as the benefits and importance of the Performing Arts in Ghana and its implication for formal education. Article visualizations:
IJCIRAS, 2024
The importance of providing learning experiences that enable the African child to acquire knowledge and understanding of the traditional music, dance, and drama of their environment and those of their neighbors' is now generally recognized. However, for a while, without this preparation, they will not be able to participate in the life of the communities to which they belong. This study was conducted to look at the status of performing arts education in public primary schools within the Sunyani Municipality. A descriptive survey was used for this study. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect information from 40 (30 teachers and 10 head teachers) participants. The teachers and head teachers were selected using purposive sampling techniques, respectively. The interview scripts were interpreted using an inductive data analysis technique to identify themes. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v. 24) was used for the quantitative data. The study showed that there is insufficient time allocated for performing arts in the school schedule, lack of available resources (e.g., instruments, textbooks, materials) to support performing arts, and teachers receive insufficient training and professional development in performing arts. It is therefore recommended that the challenges hindering the effective teaching and learning of the performing arts strands and the Creative Arts in the public basic schools be addressed to elevate the status of arts education in the municipality.
Abstract Fear for a loss of relevance – a need for urgent discussion among exponents of the Musical Art education in Nigeria is more serious an issue than it appears. Perhaps, globalization, propelled by the awareness of a changing landscape in educational practice is the factor responsible. The fact is, the present state of the Musical Arts Education in our dear country is moribund as a result of the waves of change sweeping across the educational system - a situation which calls for the provision of a framework within which an understanding can be reach to make room for the adjustments needed to brace up to the challenge of the time. It is the purpose of this paper to show how the change taking place in and around the musical Arts practices in Nigeria has adversely affected its growth and inhibits its relevance to society. To provide data for this work, personal experience as a teacher as well as the survey method was relied upon. The findings of this study showed a neglect of musical art education due to society’s perception of music as an area that does not need to be studied in school and suggest some practical steps to correct this perception.
On the Assessment of Musical Behaviors in Ghanaian Public Universities: A Critical Reflection
2015
have had their plays kept on the shelves in the library and departmental offices. It is also to ascertain whether some of the plays have ever been staged or not. Based on documentation theory, the objective of this paper is to discover and put on record the number of playwrights and their produced plays from 1980 to 2014. The study is basically Qualitative Methodology; a library research, one-on-one, and group informal conversation with some lecturers, students, both past and present, of the Department of Theatre Arts, and personal observations. In the end, it was discovered that four (4) out of seventy (72) plays identified have been produced for an audience. The paper, therefore, presents the clear picture of "artistic waste", and makes recommendations for the School authorities to encourage prospective directing students to endeavor and direct some of the potential scripts for their practical.
In Search for Comprehensive Philosophy of Music Education in Ghana
Journal of Education and Practice, 2020
One of the critical issues in the philosophy of music involves a study of basic questions regarding understanding music or musical meaning; what music is, how people perceive music in the context of their culture, how cultural perceptions influence music and what is the relationship between music and emotions. One discipline that is so complex to define is music. Many philosophers and ethnomusicologists did a lot of works in defining music yet the fact still remains that none of these giants was able to holistically define what music really is. Many people have different views and definitions about music. These differences emanate from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. No person defines music better than the one from that particular cultural setting. "Music is an immersive sonic and social phenomenon that is at once both physical and emotional. Communication takes place through the processes of musical creation, performance and response (processes which are by no means discrete from each other), and music carries multiple meanings, communal and individual, intentional and unpredictable. People turn to music every day throughout their lives to create a sense of identity, to connect with others and to express, reflect and change their emotions. Music is a pervasive feature of life. Music engagement both underpins and accompanies many of our day-today activities from our earliest years as well as marking the significant moments of individual and collective life." (https://elissamilne.wordpress.com/2010/12/15/defining-music-in-the-national-arts-curriculum-to-conclude/). This paper focuses on the Philosophy of Music Education like any other discipline and I tried to express my opinion from the Ghanaian cultural perspective. There are people who define music as pleasant sound that appeals to the ear. However, what sounds pleasant in one cultural setting will possibly be a noise in other setting. Others define music as singing and dancing neglecting very vital constituents of the discipline. In this paper, the definition of music is based on the cultural perception of what music really is to the performers. The definition embedded how the focused setting value music and how their perception influences music. Just as I agree partly with the above definitions, it is important to look at the definition of Music as "an art of expressing human thoughts and feelings in orderly manner involving, singing, drumming, and body movements. In this definition, poetry even though rhythmic, is not music because it is non-musically aesthetically organized. Poetry therefore serves as text base set to music. Again, language is not music but language can be musically expressed. E.g. drum language in terms of talking drums. In the above definition, the central issue "expressing of thoughts and feelings" is very paramount in the understanding and defining music in a particular cultural setting. It gives the opportunity to any researcher to find out the meaning of music in relation to general thinking processes and how these are expressed through tonal and aesthetic forms. Quite complex though, however, it is possible to see clearly this concept through the value system of the said setting. In other words what values does the focused setting attached to music. Taking the cultural setting of this paper, I tried to look at why music is valued which expresses the thought process and how this translates into music as the feeling component. The foundation of any philosophy of music education must answer the question about why music has value. There are many reasons why people value music. These values could be social, religious, educational, economic and socio-political. In Ghana for example, music performed is often grouped into three; occasional, incidental and recreational according to the purpose and event for which it is performed. Ghanaian traditional music is music made up of all musical types that are closely linked to Ghanaian socio-political institutions. There are often cause and effect occurrences of music in the society. There are music performed that are connected with life cycle events which include birth rites, naming ceremonies, puberty rites, marriage ceremonies and funeral rites. There are others that are linked with sociopolitical institutions like entoolment and destoolment and some others are associated with religious activities for example "Yeve cult practiced in some part of the Volta Region. There are also economic values for music in Ghana as well.
Ghana Studies, 2017
The extent to which education is successful in any setting depends largely on the extent to which it is able to capture and develop the core values of that culture. Music is, undoubtedly, one of the most cherished values within Ghanaian society. In spite of the plurality of musical forms that exist concurrently, popular music genres have continuously emerged as the most preferred in weekly charts and in studies on music preference(s). Popular music in Ghana has been explored for political, religious, social, emotional, and other significant purposes. It stands to reason that such a pervasive art would form a core part of Ghanaian popular education in terms of training people to become aesthetically, cognitively, and emotionally responsive to it. But is this really the case? In this paper, I engage in a critical reflection on this question. I examine the place of popular music at various levels of public education and recommend, based on its marginalized status, that much should be done to improve popular music studies in order to better satisfy the value it holds in the society.
The relevance of music education to the Ethiopian educational system
The research paper places of interest the weight of music education to the Ethiopian educational system. It identifies the prospects, problems and proffered possible solutions to them. In achieving its objectives the study uses ethnographic and qualitative methods with simple percentages for eliciting and collation of data. The paper suggests that the society, the curriculum planners, and the government have much to do so music education is appreciated in Ethiopia. It proposes as part of its recommendations that the government provide necessary facilities and personnel for music to thrive as a vocational subject; and that parents and the larger society must become educated on the usefulness of music as a career subject worth pursuing by pupils. The reset interest of the paper is narrated about music education in Ethiopia and contributors for the development.
Centering on African Practice in Musical Arts Education
The study investigates factors associated with music students’ academic performance at NCE level using Oyo State College of Education, Oyo, as case study. Purposive sampling procedure was used to administer a questionnaire to all final-year music students. Interview sessions were also held with the educators in the department. The questionnaires were analysed using simple percentage and Spearman’s rank correlation method. The result of the statistical analyses showed that students’ interest in music, followed by parental influence, correlated with students’ performance in music. The outcome of the teachers’ interviews revealed the problems of inadequate staffing, poor infrastructure as well as the problem of lack of interest as factors associated with poor academic performance of students. Review of entry requirements as a means of selecting students based on their interest in music, adequate funding, staffing and personnel capacity-building were some of the suggestions made to provide the much-desired enabling environment for learning.
Disparate Trajectories in Pre-Tertiary Music Education in Ghana: Implication for Holistic Education
2019
This paper investigates an obvious paradox in the pre-tertiary music/aesthetic education of Ghana, which defies the pedagogical principles of continuity and progression. This paradox involves the simultaneous disappearance and growth of music/aesthetic education at the foundational basic schools and high schools respectively. Growth at the high schools is evinced by rising number of schools, students and teachers offering and teaching the subject, as well as registering for and writing the West African Examinations Council’s West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examinations since 1990. The initial assumption, based on the logic of educational continuity and progression, is that private tuition and basic schools are responsible for the growing interest in music at the high schools since public schools have literally failed in that regard. This paper argues, based on fieldwork findings, that the assumption that lower levels of education must necessarily be responsible for future d...
Some Issues in Formal Music Education in Nigeria: A Case Study of Kwara State
British Journal of Music Education, 2011
Every educational system has its goals and objectives, curricula and modes of implementation. There is however the need for periodic assessment and evaluation. Specifically, this research paper sets out to evaluate the success or otherwise of the music education delivery system in Kwara state of Nigeria and its implications for the goals of music education in Nigeria. Data were gathered primarily from field situations using empirical and deductive methodologies and secondarily from government publications and other publications related to the subject matter. The paper observes that the noble idea of bi-musicality, a concept that stresses musical literacy in both one's own culture and that of the West is hampered by lopsidedness, crisis of perspectives and inadequate resource materials and persons. There is also a structural defect in the vertical relationship between the various levels of music education in the state. The paper further identifies public perception of music as a Christian subject as one of the obstacles to an effective music education delivery system in Nigeria. The paper concludes that until significant musical theories and conceptual approaches emerge from extensive fieldwork into Nigeria's diverse musical cultures, it will be difficult to develop and sustain an authentic and functional music education framework in Nigeria.