Browsing by Author "Von Mollendorf, Marissa"

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    Shaping identity and educating male choristers: exploring the music teacher's influence on male singers' self-perception during the voice change.
    (2021-12) Von Mollendorf, Marissa; Berger, Martin; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Music.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : In a country known for its cultural heritage and high standard of choir singing at school and university level, it is unsettling to realize that the number of South African high school boys participating in choral, or any other form of musical activities, is declining. The investigation towards understanding the reasons behind this phenomenon led to the identification of two central themes requiring further research. Firstly, male identity shaping during adolescence is explored, including a study on different masculinities, as well as the role of the possible selves framework, as described by Markus and Nurius (1986). Furthermore, the different roles of the music teachers and choir conductors are discussed in order to understand the influence they have on boys during adolescence. Little research has been done locally to address the reasons behind boys’ apparent lack of participation in music activities at high school level. Hence, to gain a South African perspective, questionnaires were given out to more than 250 high school boys in three different provinces in the country. The participants had to answer text-based questions on their experience dealing with voice change, their views on their respective school choirs, as well as their impressions of certain stereotypical assumptions, such as the opinion that singing is a feminine activity. Additionally, they had to complete a drawing of themselves before and after voice change. This last section utilizes a methodology that has (to my knowledge) not yet been done in this context in South Africa. In observing the drawings, I aimed to combine both the verbal and non-verbal commentary on voice change in order to gain a holistic perception of the participants’ views and opinions on this matter. By comparing the existing literature to the findings emerging from this study, I was thus able to make certain recommendations for practical application in South African schools in order to assist teachers in keeping high school boys in choral programmes.