Ghanaian children’s music cultures : a video ethnography of selected singing games

This dissertation is a video ethnography of the enculturation and learning patterns among children on three school playgrounds in the Central Region of Ghana, West Africa. It includes a) a discussion of colonialism on the redefinition of Ghanaian cultural identity in relation to play culture and the school curriculum b) performance-based case studies of six singing games, which comprise a description of sound and structural features and an explanation of cultural forms evident in singing games and c) a discussion on the role multimedia technologies (video, audio, and computer technologies) played in configuring my explanations and the explanations of all participants: children, teachers, and community members. Goldman-Segall' s "configurational validity" is the conceptual basis of this ethnography of Ghanaian children's music cultures. Configurational validity is a collaborative theory for analyzing video documents that expands on the premise that research is enriched by multiple points of view. Performance stylistic features of singing games emerge that reflected the marriage of two music cultures, indigenous Ghanaian and European. These include: speech tones, onomatopoeia, repetition and elaboration of recurring melodic cliches, portamentos or cadential drops, syncopations, triplets, melisma, polyrhythms, vocables, anacrusis, strophic, circle, lines, and partner formations. During play, the children were cultural interlocutors and recipients of adult cultural interlocution as they learned about accepted and shared social behavioural patterns, recreated their culture, and demonstrated the changing Ghanaian culture. The culture forms that emerged include community solidarity, inclusion, ways of exploring and expressing emotions, coordination, cooperation, gender relations, and linguistic code switching. For children in Ghana, knowledge is uninhibited shared constructions; knowledge grows when every one is involved; and knowledge is like "midwifery." I recommended a teaching style that encouraged the expression of children's wide ranging knowledge by a) offering opportunities for cooperative learning through group work, b) encouraging continuous assessment, c) establishing stronger ties with the adult community, and d) recognizing that the ability of children to hear, interpret, and compensate for dialectic differences in closely related languages can be used to enrich the language arts curriculum and also e) recognizing that the cultural studies curriculum can be enriched by the ability of children to re-create hybrid performing arts cultures.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat

A survey of music teaching strategies in Ghanaian elementary schools as a basis for curriculum development

Changes occurring in the educational system of Ghana since independence in 1957 have been many and varied. The recent inclusion of the Cultural Studies program as part of the compulsory core curriculum is an example of such a change. The Cultural Studies program was designed to nurture cultural awareness and appreciation in the Ghanaian school child through music, drama, religion and social systems. The focus of this study was Music in the Cultural Studies program. The approach of the music teacher to music teaching and learning determines the successful realization of the curriculum. Music teaching strategies employed in Ghanaian elementary schools are many and varied. The content of the curriculum the teacher has to work with also enhances the realization of the program objectives. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe music teaching strategies and their degree of use in Ghanaian elementary schools and also offer suggestions for improving music instruction drawing on Ghanaian indigenous methods of music education, the Orff-Schulwerk, and Kodály pedagogy. In a survey involving fifty-six music teachers from five of the ten regions of Ghana, the researcher drew the following conclusions: a) the most frequently used teaching strategies included singing games, vocables, solfege, speech and poetry, movement and dance. b) there was evidence to suggest that the music teaching strategies of teachers are not related to their regional location, district, gender, teaching experience, or academic qualifications. c) It is feasible to combine the approaches of the Kodály pedagogy, the Orff-Schulwerk, and Ghanaian indigenous forms of music education in the development of a curriculum framework aimed at improving music instructional methodology in Ghanaian elementary schools.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat

Alikoto: Mathematics instruction and cultural games in Ghana

AbstractMeaningful learning occurs when individuals connect their existing knowledge with their current understanding. Unfortunately, many teaching practices neglect the learners' subconscious knowledge, also known as their ”funds of knowledge.” The result is a disconnect between school and home knowledge, social injustice towards students whose parents lack formal education, and frustration among learners.In this paper, we argue that mathematical concepts found in cultural games can teach children in grades 4-6 mathematics in Ghana. By describing math-rich games from Ghanaian culture and showing where they fit into the curriculum, we aim to provide teachers with examples of incorporating cultural games into their instruction. Our project emphasizes the importance of using games to enhance teacher pedagogy by blending established teaching methods with innovative strategies incorporating artistic games