The role of a professional teacher organisation in the integration of music into the primary school curriculum

Abstract

South African primary school children need to be confronted with music in such a way that they can create, perform, listen and relate to it in a multicultural setting. This can be achieved by integrating music into the primary school curriculum, by means of ideas drawn from Comprehensive Musicianship, the spiral curriculum and outcomes-based education. Apart from the educational value of an integrated curriculum, the shortage of trained music educators makes it a necessity to involve generalist teachers in this way. There is thus a need, not being met by SASMT or SAMES, for a professional organisation to examine the goals and objectives of school music, and to equip teachers to put them into practice. In addition, as music is not specifically protected in Curriculum 2005, a professional organisation dedicated to primary school music is crucial to the survival of music education in South Africa.