Options
World music in the Singapore primary school music curriculum
Author
Sharmini Kesevamoorthy
Supervisor
Lum, Chee Hoo
Abstract
The primary purpose of this study is to examine the role of world music in Singapore’s primary classroom music curricula from1982 to 2008. It aims to look at the content of world music lessons found in the music books prescribed by the Ministry of Education (MOE) since 1982 and to see if it is in line with the objectives spelt out in the music syllabus. The aims of this study are to:
1. Determine the importance of introducing world music to students in primary schools
2. Find out if there are any significant differences in the world music content found in local music books since 1982.
3. Gather music teachers’ perceptions on the world music curricula found in music textbooks.
A content analysis was conducted, with the content of each of the 5 different sets of music books prescribed by MOE analysed. In addition to that, interviews with music teachers from a primary school were also carried out to gather their perceptions on the world music content found in the music books.
The music books analysed were from 1982 till 2008. Findings from these books reveal that the importance of ethnic music has changed only slightly over the years.
Ethnic music is still given a lot of importance and can be found in all 5 sets of books. In terms of world music content, more songs in the recent books now provide social, cultural and musical information about the countries.
Based on the interviews, music teachers feel that it is important for our primary school students to be exposed to world music. The feedback given by them on the content found in textbooks however, show that more materials need to be provided and the general consensus is that when learning a world music song, the main aim should be learning about the culture or musical characteristics of songs from that country, rather than just singing a song just for the purpose of it being in a foreign language.
1. Determine the importance of introducing world music to students in primary schools
2. Find out if there are any significant differences in the world music content found in local music books since 1982.
3. Gather music teachers’ perceptions on the world music curricula found in music textbooks.
A content analysis was conducted, with the content of each of the 5 different sets of music books prescribed by MOE analysed. In addition to that, interviews with music teachers from a primary school were also carried out to gather their perceptions on the world music content found in the music books.
The music books analysed were from 1982 till 2008. Findings from these books reveal that the importance of ethnic music has changed only slightly over the years.
Ethnic music is still given a lot of importance and can be found in all 5 sets of books. In terms of world music content, more songs in the recent books now provide social, cultural and musical information about the countries.
Based on the interviews, music teachers feel that it is important for our primary school students to be exposed to world music. The feedback given by them on the content found in textbooks however, show that more materials need to be provided and the general consensus is that when learning a world music song, the main aim should be learning about the culture or musical characteristics of songs from that country, rather than just singing a song just for the purpose of it being in a foreign language.
Date Issued
2011
Call Number
MT3.S55 Sha
Date Submitted
2011