MUSIC TEACHING AND LEARNING

MUSIC TECHNOLOGY AND THE CREATIVE ECONOMY(MTCE) GROUP

Description:

MERG – Kenya – Music Teaching and Learning Group is a group of scholars and researchers who are members of MERG –Kenya. Their focus is on music education in schools and tertiary level institutions, curricula, assessment and teacher education. The group has five members currently: Dr. Beatrice Digolo; Dr. Elizabeth Andang’o; Dr. Isaiah Oyugi; Dr. Wetaba Nganyi and Dr. Cleniece Owino

In the course of last year, the group came up with objectives to guide their activities. The main objective is to promote music teaching and learning in schools.

The specific objectives are:

(a) To promote research in music education in schools and tertiary level institutions in order to inform policy and practice.

(b) To develop theoretical innovation, new strategies and practical approaches for music teacher education

(c) To promote and encourage the rich diversity of music traditions in Kenya by enhancing the use of multicultural resources and approaches in music education in Kenya.

(d) To conduct continuous research on innovative educational programs such as the CBC in order to help in upgrading music teaching and learning processes that are employed in Kenyan institutions.

The members thought of carrying out research on the new CBC curriculum and to find ways of empowering B. Ed Music students to understand the new curriculum and implement it in schools.

However, early this year the members won an ISME-SEMPRE Education Research grant. Due to time constraints, the other research activities were put on hold so that members could concentrate on this new research which should be completed within one year. The title of the project is: The Impact of Using Music Education Activities as an Intervention for Alleviating Effects of the Covid 19 Pandemic.

The specific objectives are:

To assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing music activities as a psychosocial support intervention to primary school children.
To establish the resources required to implement the music intervention effectively.
To assess the effect of the music activities in improving the mental health, school performance and quality of life among primary school children.