Hostname: page-component-6587cd75c8-mppm8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-24T05:23:14.111Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

‘NAOUIEDCT’ and ‘RCSSEOEUR’: harmonising complexity in the South African landscape of music literacy education in secondary schools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2024

Ronella Jansen van Rensburg  and
Ronel De Villiers Open the ORCID record for Ronel De Villiers [Opens in a new window]
Ronella Jansen van Rensburg
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Humanities Education, University of Pretoria, Groenkloof, Pretoria, South Africa
Ronel De Villiers*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Humanities Education, University of Pretoria, Groenkloof, Pretoria, South Africa
*
Corresponding author: Ronel De Villiers; Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores the multifaceted landscape of music literacy education in South African secondary schools through an anagrammatic lens. Music literacy education is symbolised by the anagrams ‘NAOUIEDCT’ and ‘RCSSEOEUR’, encapsulating resource-related, cultural and pedagogical complexities. This comparison of music literacy education to anagrams creates an interesting analogy that can shed light on the complexity and challenges inherent in the situation. It aims to unravel these complexities, like solving a multifaceted puzzle. Thus, the result of this qualitative interpretive research project is the transformation of a complex challenge (conundrum) into symbolic puzzles (anagrams), aiming to decipher the intricacies of music literacy education. This methodology offers an approach to foster engagement and collaborative work toward future solutions. Through a comprehensive exploration, this research aims to unravel the layers of challenges inherent in Music Education, offering insights and recommendations for a nuanced and enriched educational experience. The data for this research project were collected through semi-structured interviews and, consequently, a thematic content analysis was carried out, first in a descriptive level of analysis, followed by a conceptual level of analysis. Computer-aided qualitative analysis software, namely ATLAS.tiTM23, played a valuable and significant role in both the literature review and thematic content analysis phases of this study.

Keywords

music literacy educationSouth African secondary schoolsconundrumanagram
Type
Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , First View , pp. 1 - 15
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

ACSSO Submission to National Review of School Music Education (2005). Improving the condition of school music education across Australia: A Submission to National Review of School Music Education. http://www.ensemble.org.au/sub_nrsme.pdf https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7ff7/ceb06f79de06ca6298b7e75558398cbfa21a.pdf Google Scholar
AKROFI, E., SMIT, E. & THORSÉN, S.-M. (2007). Music & Identity: Transformation & Negotiation. South Africa: Sun Press, African Sun Media Stellenbosch.Google Scholar
Alberta Education (1988). Initiating and Supporting Curriculum Delivery and Implementation: Review of Relevant Literature. Edmonton: Harvey Research, Ltd.Google Scholar
BOWEN, G. A. (2009). Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), 27–40. Doi: 10.3316/QRJ0902027.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BROOMHEAD, G. P. (2019). What Is Music Literacy? New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
CAPS (2011). Curriculum and Policy Statement South Africa Music as a Subject. Pretoria/Cape Town: Department of Basic Education.Google Scholar
CHOKSY, L. (1981). The Kodály Context: Creating an Environment for Musical Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
CONCINA, E. (2015). Music education and effective teaching: Perspectives from a critical review. Literacy Information and Computer Education Journal (LICEJ), 6(2), 1333–1336. Doi: 10.20533/licej.2040.2589.2015.0251.Google Scholar
DoE (Department of Education, South Africa) (2001). Curriculum 2005. Education Change and Transformation in South Africa: A Review 1994–2001. Pretoria: Department of Education.Google Scholar
DRUMMOND, U. (2015). Music education in South African Schools after apartheid: Teacher perceptions of Western and African music. Unpublished PhD Thesis. Accessed on 23 February 2019. http://thesis.gla.ac.uk/6298/ Google Scholar
GORDON, G. A. (2020). Marimbas in South African schools: Gateway instruments for the Indigenous African Music curriculum. MMus, Department of Music, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University.Google Scholar
HELLBERG, E. P. (2014). A critical review of South Africa’s curriculum and assessment policy statement grades 10–12 music. Masters Dissertation, University of the Free State.Google Scholar
HERBST, A., DE WET, J. & RIJSDIJK, A. S. (2005). A survey of music education in the primary schools of South Africa’s Cape Peninsula. JRME, 53(2), 260–283.Google Scholar
International Kodály Society (2019). Musical Literacy. Accessed on 22 February 2019. https://www.iks.hu/index.php/zoltan-kodalys-life-and-work/education/musical-literacy Google Scholar
JANSEN VAN RENSBURG, M. P. (2020). The music literacy conundrum in South African schools: Entanglements of curricula, resources, environments, and beliefs. Paper published in the Proceedings of the International Society for Music Education. 34th World Conference on Music Education (pp. 598–608).Google Scholar
JANSEN VAN VUUREN, E. (2010). Subject music in rural South African schools: Challenges and solutions within a comparative context. DMus, University of Pretoria, Faculty of Humanities.Google Scholar
JEANNERET, N. (2021). Introduction to literacy in music. https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/Pages/introduction-to-literacy-in-music.aspx#link1 Google Scholar
JORGENSEN, E. R. (1981). School music performance programs and the development of “Functional Musical Literacy”: A theoretical model. College Music Symposium, 21(1), 82–93. Published by College Music Society. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40375165.Google Scholar
Khulisa. (2002). Evaluation of C2005 Implementation in Gauteng Province – Challenges, Constraints, Innovations, and Successes of 1998 to 2001. Johannesburg: GICD.Google Scholar
Khulisa. (2003). Evaluation of OBE/C2005 in Gauteng Province-year 5 (2002). Gauteng: GICD.Google Scholar
KLOPPER, C. J. (2003). Kenya. PASMAE Conference.Google Scholar
KLOPPER, C. J. (2004). Variables Impacting on the Delivery of Music in the Learning Area Arts and Culture in South Africa. Pretoria: University of Pretoria.Google Scholar
KLOPPER, C. J. (2005). Emerging solutions for musical arts education in Africa. Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education (PASMAE) (ED. ANRI HERBST).Google Scholar
KLOPPER, C. J. (2008). The Impact of Educators’ Skills and Training on the Delivery of Music in the Learning Area Arts and Culture within Two Districts of the Gauteng province of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LEQELA, M. A. (2012). An exploratory study of music education in the FET bands (Grades 10–12) in selected secondary schools. Thesis, Masters, MA, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Arts.Google Scholar
LEWIS, F. A. (2014). Provision of Music Education in the Western Cape through Focus Schools for the Arts. Pretoria: University of Pretoria. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/43145 Google Scholar
LIERSE, S. (2006). The national review of school music education: What is the present state of music education in schools? Paper presented at the AARE Annual Conference, Adelaide 2006.Google Scholar
MACMILLAN, J. (2004). Learning the piano: A study of attitudes to parental involvement. British Journal of Music Education, 21(03), 295–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MALAN, M. (2015). Musical understanding: An analysis of the creative arts CAPS outline for the foundation phase. Master of Music (Music Education).Google Scholar
MANGIAGALLI, C. (2005). African music in the FET curriculum: An investigation into teaching strategies and the development of a technological resource. https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/a63d1aba-37af-410f-9c70-e942b838444f Google Scholar
MCCONNACHIE, B. (2016). Indigenous and traditional music in the school classroom: A re-evaluation of the South African indigenous African Music (IAM) curriculum. PhD Dissertation: Rhodes University, Grahamstown. http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6806 Google Scholar
Merriam-Webster.com (2019). Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary Britannica English. Accessed on 9 September 2019. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conundrum Google Scholar
MILLS, J. & MCPHERSON, G. E. (2015). Music Literacy: Reading Traditional Clef Notation. In The Child as Musician (pp. 177–191). Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MWILA, M. (2015). Factors causing the non-teaching of music in Zambia: A case of Primary Schools in Chongwe District, Lusaka, Zambia. The University of Zambia.Google Scholar
OLDSTER, K. J. (2016). Dead Toad Scrolls. Bradenton, FL, USA: Booklocker.com, Inc. Google Scholar
ONYEJI, C. (2005). PASMAE conference 2003 (Anri Herbst ed) 2005 Emerging solutions for Musical Arts Education in Africa. In Research-Composition: A Proposition for the Teaching of Composition from the Traditional Perspective (pp. 250–266).Google Scholar
RIJSDIJK, A. S. C. (2003). An investigation into the state of music education in the learning area arts and culture in primary schools in the Western Cape metropole. University of Cape Town.Google Scholar
RODGER, D. (2014). Music education in South Africa. In-House Team: MusicinAfrica.net. https://www.musicinafrica.net/magazine/music-education-south-africa Google Scholar
SHOULDICE, H. (2014). Musicianship-Focused Curriculum and Assessment. “Helping Students Develop Music Literacy” (Book Chapter). CONWAY, C. (ed.). Chicago, IL: GIA Publication, Inc. Google Scholar
SORATTO, J., PIRES, D. E. P. D. & FRIESE, S. (2020). Thematic content analysis using ATLAS.ti software: Potentialities for research in health. Revista brasileira de enfermagem, 73(3). •https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7167-2019-0250 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAKALIS, N. C. G. (2000). Inaugural lecture: Curriculum, teachers, and teaching: Where does the answer for educational reform lie? UNISA Journal of the Faculty of Education. Educare, 29(1&2), 13–27.Google Scholar
VERMEULEN, D. (2009). Implementing music in an integrated arts curriculum for South African Primary schools. A thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Musicae in the Department of Music, Faculty of Humanities, University of Pretoria.Google Scholar
YU, Z. & LEUNG, B. W. (2019). Music Teachers and their implementation of the new music curriculum standards in China. International Journal of Music Education, 1–20. SAGE journals ISSN: 0255-7614. Doi: 10.1177/0255761418820647.Google Scholar