Music Education Curriculum

These lessons for use in the middle-school classroom are designed to be fun, engaging and to promote musical literacy. The activities focus on: Performance, Listening and Composition however each film comes with a brief synopsis and additional information about instrumentation and people of interest. These lessons have not been designed to be ‘about’ the films, but use the music from the films to enable students to learn about the music elements.
Each of the films have been organised into genres however it is important for teachers to choose the sequence that they would like to teach them in. The films can be taught in any order and have not been designed to be sequential. Teachers may choose to spend more time on certain lessons and omit others from their teaching and learning program.
Some of the films included in this text book have ratings that may not suit the age of the students. It is important to note that the lessons are designed so that the films do not have to be watched. If teachers wish to add viewing as part of the process this can of course be included but it is advised to be aware of the film rating.
Although each of the active listening activities are provided so that a mark out of 20 can be awarded, they are designed as learning tools to promote engagement during the listening process. Teachers may not wish to record the result of each listening test. When referring to the answers provided in the Teacher’s manual, the answers given should guide the teacher as to the kinds of responses to award a mark for. This should be approached with a degree of flexibility depending on the musical experience and capability of the music class.

Abstract
This paper uses the way in which the C Major scale is presented in the most recent
iteration of the curriculum in Grade 6 to illustrate some of the curriculum’s
fundamental limitations and that of the ‘back to basics’ call with which it has been
closely associated. The paper subjects aspects of the Creative Arts/Life Orientation
and Social Sciences curriculum to a close textual scrutiny, arguing that the so-called
Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) is not really ‘basic’ at all.
Furthermore, with regard to Music and History education, at least, the authors
contend that ideologically and pedagogically it hardly represents an advance over
the kind of authoritarian curricula that prospered under apartheid. Little remains
of the immediate post-apartheid impetus behind curriculum-makers’ attempts to
cut the traces with apartheid precedents. The authors contend that CAPS, in an
environment of public anxiety and hasty political calculation, has fallen back on
Eurocentric ideas of what constitutes knowledge and an unproductive pedagogy
that is, in some ways, an unavoidable consequence of this regression.
Keywords: Curriculum; CAPS; Music education; music literacy; History
education; Intermediate Phase; Motshekga; back to basics; Bantu Education

Although female composers have been shaping the history of composition alongside their male counterparts since as early as the medieval period, composition has been and still is a male-dominated discipline. Many theories have been made over the years as to why, some say the biological differences between men and women are to blame, others say it is psychological, yet in more recent years, researchers have raised several other concerns with regards to women’s role in this field. 

Historically, due to societal and cultural restrictions many aspiring women composers had limited education and exposure, and their works were denied publication solely due to their gender. More recently, however, particularly after the Women’s Liberation Movement, things have considerably changed.

Although there is definite progress with regards to the recognition of women’s work, their contributions in the past are left out of standard history textbooks, particularly due to the canon of ‘great’ work that some may say defines Western art music. In the 1980s and 90s, the ‘canon wars’ took place, and researchers, academics and many others raised their concerns over the lack of female representation in the canon and standard repertoire of Western art music, particularly in the classroom.

After many higher education institutions began including specialist courses in women in music, many were still disappointed to see that the ideology remained. Some expressed their concerns that this ‘female’ canon, one which consisted of women in Western art music, may have by default created a ‘counter-canon,’ therefore further emphasising the idea that women composers are the exception.

Some argue that the notion of the ‘male genius,’ is to blame for the idea that composition is still male-dominated, others blame the lack of female representation in Western art music curricula. This dissertation aims to look at the different theories presented over the years, from both a musicological and educational perspective, and will attempt to understand the views of students and educators in the field.

The United States is one of many countries in which recorder instruction is an integral and popular part of the general music curricula (Reynolds & Gottschalk, 2009; Wortman, 1968). Although instructional approach may differ (e.g., rote or note), recorder provides opportunities to teach many musical skills, including composition, improvisation, music elements, and aural

Despite decades of discussion, debate, and incremental gains, acceptance of popular music education in collegiate institutions is still in its inception. Higher education (and indeed, education in general) in the United States is rife with pervasive inequality and injustice, excluding large numbers of potential students on the basis of race, class, income, and cultural orientation. If music education is to continue and thrive in the 21st century and beyond, widespread curricular changes are needed in preservice music teacher education to move toward a model that is inclusive, equitable, diverse, and culturally responsive. The purpose of this paper is to illuminate several music programs across the United States as samples of the numerous collegiate institutions wrestling with curricular change. Though differing in size, scope, and population, these programs have one thing in common: faculty with a desire to enact change. Through the examples illustrated here, it is our hope that others wishing to initiate change may have some possible paths from which to choose on their journey toward making music education more accessible for all.

Keywords: Popular music education, inequality, culturally responsive, accessibility