I think it is a great idea to incorporate different cultural music into your lesson plan and creating music activities from it. I do however feel it is important that learners know exactly what the words mean that they are using and what the song is about. Also, I think you should think about the different culture groups in your classroom and find out whether everything is appropriate for all cultural groups. All learners do not like having all the attention on themselves, so when they danced in a circle give them the choice to dance in the middle or just eliminate that part of the activity.

Some learners were uncomfortable because they did not know what the words meant that they were singing, and some were uncomfortable to dance in front of boys and their peers.

Prepare the students in advance so that they know they are going to learn a Zulu song and do a dance activity. Make sure that the learners have both the Zulu and the English versions of the song so that they can see at anytime what they are singing. When doing dance activities most students are uncomfortable to dance in front of others so instead of standing in a circle stand in a line so that the students cannot see each other. Give everyone the same dance moves to do. Make sure that the music is appropriate for all culture groups, if not sure send the music list to the parents so that they can say whether it’s appropriate or not. If the girl may not dance in front of the boys, position everyone so that girls and boys can dance separately or send the boys out so that the girls can dance and vice versa.

In the beginning of the school year talk to the parents and ask them what is inappropriate or unacceptable to do in their culture. Make a list and always make sure you use those guidelines when planning and creating activities.