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The African Musical-arts-education Action Team (MAT) Cell for Australia

An initiative of the Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education (PASMAE)

Australian Coordinator: Dr. Dawn Joseph
Faculty of Education, Deakin University, Melbourne

Becoming part of the African MAT Cell for Australia

If you have an interest in research and/or development activities associated with the use of African music in education (primary and secondary school classrooms, teacher education or community education), please email details of your interests as well as your contact details to

Dawn Joseph at < djoseph@deakin.edu.au >

Should you be interested to attend the PASMAE conferences, please be aware that they take place biennially.

PASMAE Conference (July 2007)

The 5th Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education Conference will take place in Malawi (Lilongwe) during 22nd - 27th July 2007. See conference website for details.

PASMAE Conference (July 2005)

I attended and presented a paper Learning, Linking and Participating: Transmitting African Music in Australian Schools at the 2005 PASMAE Conference in Mozambique (MAPUTO). This conference was attended by delegates from many parts of Africa, especially the Southern African Developing Countries (SADC). Daily workshops, papers and discussions were held on the musical arts of Africa. A book (2006 in press) edited by Professor Minette Mans Centering on Practice: African Musical Arts Education is a positive outcome of the conference.

PASMAE Conference (July 2003)

I attended and presented a paper Teaching the Rhythm: Translating African Music into Australian Teacher Education Practice at my first PASMAE Conference which took place in Kenya (Kisumu). The conference was attended by academics, performers, artists-in-residence, and teachers. A publication that emerged from the conference entitled Emerging solutions for musical arts education in Africa offers peer-reviewed articles - Read more

Initiatives since PASMAE Conference (July 2003)

  • Through local professional associations, an email list of interested  teachers was established regarding the teaching and learning of African music in schools.
  • An African music website was also established for students and teachers -- see the following URL http://education.deakin.edu.au/music_ed/african_music/
  • Through a research study on teaching African music to teacher education students at Deakin University in both 2002 and 2003, aspects of the findings have been reported at scholarly conferences in Australia (Adelaide 2002, Brisbane 2003), Kenya 2002 and Hong Kong 2002. The research findings were also published in a refereed journal article as well as in non-refereed journals.
  • A new research initiative-- an online questionnaire survey on the use of African music in Victorian primary and secondary schools --is underway for 2004.  Click on the following URL to access details of this project and to participate by completing the online questionnaire -- http://education.deakin.edu.au/music_ed/afr_mus_survey/

 

African  Music Projects at Deakin University

Dawn Joseph

  • Completed African music project on the teaching of African music to teacher education students at Deakin University (2002-2003)
  • New project established for 2004 -- the overall purpose of the project will be to provide a basis for promoting the effective teaching and learning of African music in Australian schools. The findings will support the research and development initiatives of the African Musical-Arts Action Team (MAT) for Australia.

The principal focus of this project is to investigate effective teaching and learning of African music in primary and secondary schools in Victoria. Currently several teachers of music at both primary and secondary level have expressed an interest in the project through the only African music teachers email list for Australia which I established in 2003. An online questionnaire to primary and secondary school teachers willing to participate in the project will address the following objectives:

  • identify the reasons why teachers include African music in their school music curricula
  • identify the nature of African music curriculum content
  • identify sources of existing teacher knowledge and skills in African music
  • identify sources of curriculum materials and resources supporting the teaching of African music
  • identify the perceived needs of teachers for professional development in African music
  • identify examples of effective teaching of African music in schools
  • identify exemplary practice in teaching of African music by visiting artists in schools
  • identify the applications of African music in the school curriculum-for example, as a music discipline study, as part of an integrated arts program, as part of a cross-curricular program, etc.

The above project was a preliminary research study in preparation for students understanding of inter-cultural music. A Faculty of Education Research Grant from Monash University with a colleague Dr Jane Southcott in 2006/7 will continue to inform both students and our understanding of teaching and learning other musics.