AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PRACTICE OF CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE PEDAGOGY IN SELECTED SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOL CHOIRS: FIVE CASE STUDIES
Date
2024-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
The Republic of South Africa is a nation with a diverse and inclusive democracy that embraces and values the diverse races and cultures of its people. The diversity of South African public school choirs should reflect the image of a free and fair society. However, the reality is that there are still inequalities in access to formal choral music education of good quality. When formal music education is available, it is often guided by European epistemologies and teaching approaches that only target one cultural group of learners, rather than taking a holistic and culture-oriented approach. To address this problem, the concept of culturally responsive teaching proposes a student-centred approach that considers learners' lived cultural experiences in the classroom, including in the context of public school choirs. This approach aims to promote social cohesion in the school choir context by recognizing and addressing social justice issues and acknowledging the diverse cultures represented in the school choir. In this work, five case studies are compiled to examine the implementation of culture-oriented pedagogy by school choir teachers. The research focuses on five choral teachers from different
socio-economic and cultural backgrounds in the Stellenbosch and Cape Winelands region who were interviewed by use of semi-structured interviews. The research Findings are discussed in relation to current international choral pedagogy research. The results show different practical approaches towards culturally responsive teaching and this thesis will discuss and evaluate these approaches. Additionally, the study raises the question of what tools and knowledge are needed to apply culturally responsive teaching in a way that addresses social justice issues.
Description
Thesis (MMus)--Stellenbosch University, 2024.