The primary research question of this paper examines teachers' philosophies concerning parental involvement and pedagogical practices. Specifically, what are violin teachers' attitudes and practices concerning parental involvement? Secondary research questions were formulated as a result of major topics arising from the review of literature and focused on how and why teachers formed their personal philosophies towards parental involvement. The following research is unique in that it defines the concept of parental involvement directly from the perspective of the teacher. Because anyone teacher oversees the development of many violin students, he/she is in an extraordinary position to comment on factors, conditions and behaviours across a large sample of students with differing types and degrees of parental involvement. Specifically, this study investigates factors of parental involvement that violin teachers believe to have a positive impact on student success.

The aim of this thesis is to explore Namibian music and dance, to gain understanding of the character of different practices and through this, to provide teachers and learners in schools with materials suitable for use in the new arts curriculum in Namibia. In order to motivate the need for indigenous cultural materials, a brief historical background to Namibian arts education is sketched, highlighting the effects of colonialism on cultural identity and the separation of music from dance in education. In gathering examples of indigenous music and dance it became clear that for these practices to retain a measure of integrity in schools, new ways of thinking about performance in schools would be required. This leads to a discussion of an approach summarised within the term ngoma, which refers to holism, communality and orality among other things. It is suggested that music/dance as ngoma has a positive contribution to make to Namibian arts education. To support this suggestion in a practical way, I explore the indigenous traditions used to educate and socialise young people. Argumentation follows regarding possibilities of preparing teaching-learning materials in a manner appropriate to Namibian circumstances. A breakdown of diverse characteristics of indigenous music and dance is done in order to help the teacher identify and comprehend the individual characters of Namibian performances. In this way teachers should be better prepared to utilise the examples of music/dance events that follow. Various events are contextualised, described, transcribed and analysed with suggestions for use in the classroom. Finally the ngoma approach, the principles of Basic Education in Namibia, and the new arts syllabi are brought together by investigating some of the possibilities of music and dance as ngoma in schools. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1997.

This study investigated the nature and extent of implementation of music education in Lesotho primary schools in Maseru district. A case study conducted focused on Mohokare LEC Primary School and Hoohlo ACL Primary School. The findings from the study suggest that teachers at both schools had a relatively positive attitude towards music education and that they think the subject area should be taught in their schools. However, they suggest that effective implementation of the subject is hampered by several structural, contextual and curricular factors in the education system and the schools themselves. For example, preparations for implementation of music education were not sufficient (e.g., human and other resources were not in place). Teachers were not adequately trained in the subject itself as well as in its pedagogy. This has implications for the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) to strengthen pre-service and in-service music education. In addition, a clear music education policy should be drawn up to guide schools and district offices in the implementation of music education. This should be followed by a provision of adequate and appropriate resources needed for the process. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, 1987.

This short dissertation presents a case study of eleven students from a typical former 'Model C' single sex high school in Durban South Africa. At the time of the study, 2006, these were the only students who were actively availing themselves of the school's limited opportunities for studying and making music. The school, which shall remain anonymous, is shown to typify a psychosocial environment that is at best indifferent to active musical participation and, at worse, hostile to it. The study investigates how the attitudes towards, and the perceptions of, music involvement at the school emerge as stereotypical ways of thinking that are counter to the interests of its learners. This case study, supported by two questionnaires completed by peers and parents, and informed by the researcher's experience teaching Music at the school, generated conclusions from which explanations for the general reluctance of adolescent males to engage in specific kinds of school-based musical activities have been attempted. Informing the analysis and interpretation of the data is Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development as it pertains to the psychosocial characteristics of adolescent males and provides an explanation as to the extent to which social environments can influence the individual. A close reading of the subjects' responses helps in the articulation of the generally unspoken assumptions of 'muscular Christianity', the Victorian ethos that continues to dominate in schools such as the one that formed the focus of this study, and which is still pervasive in many if not most South African schools. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The primary intention of this study is to develop a profile of the kind of educator that is needed for effective music education in the Intermediate Phase. Obviously, the primary framework necessary for such a study is the national curriculum with its Outcomes Based Education (OBE) underpinnings. From these outcomes, the principal criteria for determining the necessary qualities ofsuch a teacher may be derived. While the logic of this is straightforward, the process of translating outcomes into specific competencies is not Each outcome, be it one of the overarching and highly general Critical Outcomes or one ofthe more specific outcomes for the learning area, has to be 'unpacked' so that what it demands ofthe teacher may be comprehensively revealed and articulated. An attempt to profile a music educator in this context logically begins with these general competencies. They provide the basic template for developing profiles of educators in any and allleaming areas and sub-fields. Inferring specific teaching qualities and competencies in a specific learning area involves being informed by a broad and critical knowledge of pedagogical developments in the specific learning area that are consistent with OBE precepts. OBE, in various ways and to varying degrees, informs recent curricular developments in many countries and account must be taken of the more salient of these, in developing a profile for an Intermediate Phase music educator in South Africa. Thus, a crucial and important task for this study is to synthesize from current readings and dialogues, criteria according to which the intended profile can be credibly developed. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

This essay has two primary purposes: (1) to make a case for jazz education and (2) to suggest ways in which jazz education can more prominently and profitably feature in post-Apartheid South African education. Justifying jazz education and determining how it can best fit into South African education both require a clear conception of what jazz education is in its various forms. Thus, the essay begins by attempting a holistic definition of jazz education as education in, about, and through jazz followed by a systematic consideration of the many and varied educational outcomes jazz education is capable of achieving. Thereafter, an overview is presented of jazz education as it presently exists in South Africa. Employing criteria derived from the essay's discussions, South African jazz education is evaluated and suggestions are made for how it can be further developed. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

In South Africa, both the paradigm for music education and the music syllabus need to change: music teachers need to correct and compensate for the consequences of the Apartheid system of the past, and they need to meet the challenges of the outcomes based model of Curriculum 2005, which has been accepted by the National Education Department as the plan which will be followed in the future. This dissertation attempts to contribute to the implementation of Curriculum 2005 by making a case study of a successful student band, Amethyst, all of whose members were almost entirely self taught in music. After identifying what the members of Amethyst learned and how they learned it, the work finds ways of applying the findings from the case study to the teaching of music in the Further Education and Training phase of Curriculum 2005. The case study is contextualised by a consideration of the salient characteristics of outcomes-based education as embodied in Curriculum 2005 and by including discussion of similarities between the way learning took place in Amethyst and the informal learning of music that takes place in African and Indian communities within South Africa. These similarities in learning methods are ones that fit well with the perspectives propagated by outcomes-based education. Practical suggestions for the classroom take cognizance of the intercultural ideals of Curriculum 2005, and these suggestions are presented within a framework based on the critical cross-field outcomes and specific outcomes identified in this curriculum. The matters of evaluation and assessment, as well as the content of learning programs are also addressed. This dissertation is based on qualitative research methods, including interviews with the band members, their parents, some students who were well acquainted with the band, and two educationists with specialised knowledge concerning the new OBE system. The case study also includes an exploration of the reasons for the boys choosing to teach themselves even though music was available as a subject in their school , an exploration which confirmed that the current music education system has become outdated. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1984.