An inadequate music education program should give rise to some thought and action on the part of any serious-minded progressive teacher in that field, It is not enough to suspect or to discover faults, but a way to improve the situation should be attempted. Best practices should be evaluated and objectives formulated for future procedure through cooperative planning.

This study is an evaluation of individual music textbooks from eight series for grades four, five, and six, by a definite criterion basis. It seems very worthwhile to have an evaluation of such books: (a) to aid in the wise selection of music books, and (b) to become familiar with the contributions of each series.

D.Ed. (Media Studies) / In-Service Class Music Training and relevant programming is addressed in this research. The Class Music requirements in die Junior Primary phase were established by the present researcher in her M.Ed. investigation (1986). The target group involved were Grade 1 teachers who had no or inadequate Class Music training and who had to be responsible for their own music presentation.

The problem of this study was to obtain empirical evidence of the functional nature of the Audio-visual Identification Instruction (AVII) model for designing effective music instruction for young children. The method was to use materials prepared according to the model specifications in actual classroom conditions. The purpose of the study was to compare the achievement gain of second grade children of high, middle, or low musical aptitude levels, who were instructed by experienced music specialists, first year music specialists, student teacher music specialists, or experienced classroom teachers using AVII model materials, on three tasks in the area of pitch and three tasks in the area of timbre. Subject to the circumstances and limitations of this investigation, the results indicate that the AVII model is effective for instruction for musical naming and identification tasks for young children.

No description available.

From Introduction: An investigation into aspects of musical education in Grahamstown cannot be isolated from the prevailing economic and social influences and must be seen within that setting. By the 1830's Grahamstown had developed from the frontier military post of 1812, to a settlement with an increasing population, aware of the importance of general education in raising standards and whose attention was concentrated in commerce, allied with agriculture, being a wool centre and a halting-place for traders conveying merchandise northwards, by ox-wagon and later also the chief centre of the ostrich industry. This development had gone on despite a succession of Frontier Wars, the last in 1878. A military presence was felt throughout the years of the nineteenth century and into the early years of the next, although from the late 1850's the chief military posts were in King William's Town and not in Grahamstown. The 1860's witnessed the important discovery of diamonds in South Africa, the first of which was identified by the famous Grahamstonian, Dr William G. Atherstone. This discovery, together with the discovery of gold to the north in the 1880's and the new railway line in that direction side-tracking Grahamstown, plus a slump in the ostrich industry, resulted in the economic decline of the town, but it then directed its energy and enterprise in another direction, education. The many small schools, which had sprung up during earlier decades, were superseded by newly established larger ones, initially for boys, but the 1870's in South Africa saw a revolution in the education of girls (similar to that of the 1850's in England), an occurrence which had an important bearing upon the founding of high schools for girls and Grahamstown was no exception in this respect. In South Africa, tertiary education for women was introduced soon after 1900 (as had occurred in England in the 1870's) and Grahamstown again kept apace. The years of the twentieth century brought about numerous advances in communication (motor cars, roads, aeroplanes, the radio and telephone), the invention of the gramophone, the appearance of "talkies" to replace silent films, the development of electricity as a source of power, great changes from peace to war, worldwide and financial stringency. In addition droughts plagued the farming community. All these influenced life in Grahamstown and education in general. The age of many scholastic institutions in Grahamstown became such, that they were receiving the sons and daughters and also grandsons and granddaughters of former pupils. This continuity played an important part in establishing traditions. Aspects of musical education during more than a century will be examined, firstly, in connection with each individual school and tertiary institution and secondly, by means of a survey. The newspapers, "Graham's Town Journal" and "Grocott's Penny Mail" - later "Grocott's Daily Mail", will be referred to as "IJournal" and "Grocott's", respectively.

This study investigated how and to what extent music listening was initiated by elementary general music teachers. The specific problems of the study were (1) identification of activities and materials related to music listening and (2) the determination of how and to what extent assigned and assumed music listening was initiated in the selected classrooms. Systematic observation was chosen to investigate these problems. An observation instrument, the Elementary Music Listening Schedule (EMLS), was developed by which eighteen elementary general music teachers were observed during ten lessons.

This study's purpose was to investigate the kinds of instructions provided for teachers by authors and publishers of elementary music series for the development of children's voices. Specifically, the study was 1. to investigate the recommended methodology related to the development of vocal concepts in children, 2. to investigate musical aspects that could be indicators of expected vocal ability in children, and 3. to relate the findings of this study to other research results that give insight into the vocal capabilities of children. To collect the data, the teacher's editions of grades one, three, and five of music series published by the Silver Burdett Company and by the American Book Company during the period circa 1945 to 1975 were subjected to a content analysis and to a musical analysis. Three categories were established for the content analysis: Vocal Characteristics, Singing Objectives, and Teaching Strategies. Validity of the research tool was tested by the jury method and by logical validity. Reliability coefficients of .90 were determined by using two additional coders and by re-coding material.

The specific problem prompting this investigation is the creation of a method of music criticism. The purposes for the investigation are three in number. First and foremost, the purpose of the investigation is to develop an unrestricted method of music criticism. The development of such a method fulfills the second reason for the investigation. Although Mortimer Adler and the Paideia Group have clearly stated the classes and pedagogy to be utilized in a Paideia curriculum, they have done little to suggest specific class content. This study resolves the content problem for one class. It is recommended that the music masterworks class be treated as a course in music criticism. Through such treatment of the class, students will meet the goals of the Paideia Group and develop the tools for societal reconstruction. Finally, the goal of establishing a method of music criticism harmonious with the educational philosophy of reconstructionism is the end to the previous two "means" purposes.

This study is an experimental investigation of two groups of junior high school students in an effort to evaluate the advantages of workbooks in their music classes. The comparison was made with two classes composed of thirty-two students each from the two junior high schools in the Beaumont Independent School District. One class used the workbooks in conjunction with the regular singing and appreciation work, but the other class did not use formal workbooks. They discussed the theory and notation of the music in relation to the work they were doing.