STTEP by STEPP in the spirit of Umuntu ungumuntu ngabantu

Abstract

In a recent article, ‘Sttepping in the right direction?Western classical music in an orchestral programme for disadvantaged African youth’, ‘sttepping’ was noted as no spelling error. The same applies here; reference is to STTEP Music School, an outreach project at the University of Pretoria. STTEP teaches the playing of orchestral instruments, plus background areas like music theory, to disadvantaged learners. Ethnographic and case study research of STTEP, its teachers, pupils and administrators, over the period 2005–2009 was conducted within a sociological meta-theoretical framework. From the hybrid data obtained, conclusions have been drawn, including on observed effects of the African philosophy Ubuntu.