Gesture in Karnatak Music: Pedagogy and Musical Structure in South India

This thesis presents an examination of gesture in Karnatak music, the art music of South India. The topic is approached from two perspectives; the first considers Karnatak music structure from a gestural perspective, looking both at the music itself and at the gestures that create it, while the second enquires into the role played by physical gesture in vocal pedagogy. The broader aims of the thesis are to provide insight into the musical structure of the Karnatak style, and to contribute to wider discourses on connections between music and movement. An interdisciplinary approach to the research is taken, drawing on theories and methods from the fields of ethnomusicology, embodied music cognition, and gesture studies. The first part of the thesis opens with a discussion of differences between practical and theoretical conceptions of the Karnatak style. I argue for the significance in practice of svara-gamaka units and longer motifs formed of chains of such units, and also consider the gestural qualities of certain motifs and their contribution to bhāva (mood). Subsequently, I present a joint musical and motoric analysis of a section of Karnatak violin performance, seeking to elucidate the dynamic processes that form the style. The second part of the thesis enquires into the role played by hand gestures produced by teachers and students in vocal lessons, looking at what is indexed by the gestures and how such indexing contributes to the pedagogic process. This part of the thesis also considers how gestures contribute to the formation and maintenance of common ground between teacher and student. The final chapter brings the two strands of this thesis together to discuss the connections that exist between musical and physical gesture in Karnatak music

Exploring teachers’ use of visualisation tools when teaching Grade 9 problem-solving in mathematics. a case of Umlazi District Dinaledi schools in South Africa.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.This study focused on exploring Grade 9 mathematics teachers’ use of visualisation tools when teaching problem-solving in their classrooms. This issue has been a challenge in South Africa, particularly in matric and grade 9 mathematics Annual National Assessment. The use of visualisation when teaching problem-solving in the mathematics classroom has been viewed as critical to learner’s performance, in response to the abstract nature of mathematics. However, problem-solving and the importance of the use of visualisation is emphasised in the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement for the Senior Phase. Moreover, it is also included in every topic of the learners’ Grade 9 mathematics workbook for everyday classroom activities. Therefore, this study aimed to answer the questions of what visualisation tools teachers use and how they use these when teaching problem-solving. Lastly, why do they use them during their lesson in their classroom? Polya’s 4-step problem-solving and Activity theory was used as a theoretical framework for this study. A qualitative case study of two Dinaledi Comprehensive Technical High School in Umlazi District was conducted to explore the use of visual tools by five grade 9 mathematics teachers during their teaching of problem solving. Teacher’s questionnaire, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews for teachers were used to generate data. The findings revealed that mathematics teachers do teach problem solving in their Grade 9 classrooms as stated by the policy document. However, the use of visualisation tools in the mathematics classroom seems to be infrequent. Therefore, the teachers highlighted the lack of resources and understanding of what problem-solving is, as a challenge to their use of visualisation tools. However, the study suggested that the department of Kwa-Zulu Natal education should provide in-service training for Grade 9 teachers on the effective use of visualisation tools when teaching problem-solving. It was also suggested that schools should provide resources that can enhance problem solving, and mathematically related resources for their mathematics lessons. It was further suggested t schools to have a mathematics classroom, which will provide a mathematics atmosphere with relevant mathematics resources for effective and efficient teaching and learning of mathematics

The role of spontaneous gestures in spatial problem solving

When solving spatial problems, people often spontaneously produce hand gestures. Recent research has shown that our knowledge is shaped by the interaction between our body and the environment. In this article, we review and discuss evidence on: 1) how spontaneous gesture can reveal the development of problem solving strategies when people solve spatial problems; 2) whether producing gestures can enhance spatial problem solving performance. We argue that when solving novel spatial problems, adults go through deagentivization and internalization processes, which are analogous to young children’s cognitive development processes. Furthermore, gesture enhances spatial problem solving performance. The beneficial effect of gesturing can be extended to non-gesturing trials and can be generalized to a different spatial task that shares similar spatial transformation processes