Variables impacting on the delivery of Music in the learning area Arts and Culture in South Africa

Abstract

This thesis is the documentation of an empirical study using quantitative methods to identify variables that are impacting on the delivery of Music in the learning area Arts and Culture in South Africa. These variables were extrapolated from surveys, interviews and questionnaires. The learning area Arts and Culture is one of the eight compulsory learning areas for all learners from Grades 4-9 in South Africa. One of the four strands is Music. The research question was formulated on the basis that a perceived problem existed in the delivery of Music in the learning area Arts and Culture. This supposition is supported by the literature review. The employment of univariate descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations of two-variable relationships and chi-squared tests to draw inferences about the relationship between categorical variables were adopted to quantify which variables are impacting on the delivery of Music in the learning area Arts and Culture. Four dominant approaches to Music were defined as key issues: -- Governmental policies on educational reform -- Learning area Arts and Culture -- International viewpoints -- An African perspective on Music The findings on these dominant approaches to Music revealed that the government policy of decentralisation was employed as a mechanism to address the disparities in education. The curriculum implemented, Curriculum 2005, was also employed as a structure to redress the dispersed education system that existed prior to the democratic participation of South African citizens. A comparative analysis of international countries reviewed depicts arts education as an encompassing field with discrete arts disciplines. South Africa, conversely, adopts an integrated approach to the arts in the learning area Arts and Culture. This aligns to an African perspective of Music, having no subject boundaries and with the performing arts disciplines seldom separated in creative thinking. The findings in these dominant approaches to Music led to the further delineation of the research question into three main avenues of inputs: -- human resources -- physical resources -- the societal role of the arts The analysis of the data obtained from the educators indicated that all educators possess a qualification of some kind, but that there is a lack of specialisation in Music. Those who have an arts qualification alluded to the fact that they have a natural bias towards the art form in which they received their training. Statistical analysis proved that the type of school influences the level of implementation, the budget and the accessibility of resources for Music. The research indicates that the response of the learners to the learning area Arts and Culture in South Africa is associated with the grade of the learner, the race of the learner and whether the learner acknowledges the value of learning about Music or not. Although school principals view the learning area as an integral part of education, they raised justified concerns pertaining to the learning area. On the basis of the identification and quantification of variables impacting on the delivery of Music in the learning area Arts and Culture in South Africa, recommendations are made.