Tertiary education in popular music in South Africa : a needs assessment

Abstract

Internationally, popular music is developing at an ever-increasing pace and, even though there have been some advances regarding education in popular music in South Africa, these programmes remain the exception at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of institutionalised music education. South African universities are based on a western model of organisation and remain largely Eurocentric. Although eleven South African universities offer music as a specialised degree option, the music departments predominantly focus on classical music and to a lesser degree, jazz, both music styles offering limited career opportunities. As popular music is the most dominant form of music worldwide with relevancy to the largest audience, this study aimed at obtaining a deeper understanding of the needs in South Africa regarding a tertiary degree offering in popular music.

I identified relevant stakeholders who would benefit from a tertiary degree in popular music. These included learners who selected music as a subject in the FET phase; students studying music at tertiary level; secondary school music educators presenting music at FET level; music lecturers in popular music at South African tertiary institutions; and professional musicians from the music industry. Using a mixed methods investigation, I discovered the general needs of music learners in secondary schools regarding options to study popular music at tertiary level, and the specific needs of qualitative stakeholders to answer the research questions posed in this study.

The theoretical framework underpinning the study is authentic learning. This theory suggests that learning connects concepts and theory to real-life complexities and events, encouraging students to absorb and merge knowledge through realistic and genuine situations. Informal learning practices are a vital part of popular music; at its core is authentic music-making. Authentic learning facilitates musical identity development and provides students with the tools to function effectively within the wider popular music community. Internationally, there has been a push in tertiary curricula for more student-centred courses with pedagogy and curricula that include vocational skills development. An authentic learning approach could aid the successful development and implementation of a tertiary degree in popular music. This study identified an urgent need for a specialised degree programme in popular music in South Africa. The development of such a degree may attract more students; increase the economic viability of music departments at universities; address issues of decolonisation; meet the needs of the local music industry as a whole; and deliver employable graduates that can effectively manage a portfolio career in a diverse and ever-changing environment.