Celebrating the use of African music : change in motion

Abstract

I undertook a research project regarding the use of African music at both primary and secondary school level with Victorian teachers in Melbourne in 2004. This study grew out of my first project, which examined the effectiveness of using African music with non-specialist primary teacher education students at Deakin University, Melbourne (see Joseph, 2002, 2003). In this paper the concept of \u27change\u27 in relation to teaching and learning is explored regarding practising teachers&rsquo; teaching and learning of African music in Australian schools. According to Campbell (2004), a guiding principle for shaping educational experiences designed to promote students&rsquo; musical and cultural understanding is for teachers to make music both meaningful and useful in their lives. She further contends that such an experience can \u27come alive\u27 for students if teachers promote active involvement for them as music listeners as well as makers of music. This paper discusses some of the findings in relation to why and how teachers are engaging with African music and what their students are learning from it. It may be argued that both students (Deakin University student project) and teachers (Victorian music project) perceived African music to be an effective way to transmit and engage with a \u27new music and culture\u27.<br /