In this module I have learnt a lot about arts integration, music and lesson planning. I have realised that music helps children to express themselves and participate in a lesson that has been done in and outside the classroom because children learn through play.

In my perspective, incorporating arts integration and play into foundation phase classes is quite beneficial. Children can express their inherent passion of music, art and creation through art and music. It feels nearly effortless when using the arts to learn new concepts or ideas. It seems genuine, which improves learning since it's not like traditional learning, where learners have to cram all this new stuff into their heads that they don't understand.

What are the most important aspect to keep in mind when planning a foundation phase lessons?

- When you start a lesson you must start it with music so that leaners will be active and will not lose focus.

-Make connections between content and real-life situations as well as current social topics.

-Any music played in class must contribute to the achievement of the lesson's objectives.

-Accommodate a variety of learners' learning styles, talents, and interests.

-Facilitate an activity and ask open-ended questions when explaining something.

-Based on the lesson, developmental stage, and learning process, assessments must be most suited for certain activities.

The value of utilizing art integration in foundation phase lesson

Integration of the arts and music  are important for the development of social and creative thinking abilities. Learners can enjoy themselves while studying and demonstrate their comprehension in a practical context. When arts integration is utilized, learners can have fun while engaging in authentic, relevant teaching and learning activities.

Has your perception and priorities with regards to lesson planning and inclusion of music (and the arts) throughout your teaching and learning in the foundation phase changed? Please motivate your answer.

Yes, incorporating music and the arts into a lesson has a huge impact on learners. It helps learners to exhibit their understanding of the subject through art. Inclusion of  music and art in the Foundation phase enables learners to participate actively in the class while also helping them build social and creative thinking abilities. The utilization of music in the classroom boosts learners' motivation and interest to learn. On the other hand, it allows learners to have fun while learning in a meaningful and relevant manner.

1. Arts integration is a teaching method that emphasizes active participation in both teaching and learning activities, as well as experiential learning, realistic learning activities, collaboration, problem-solving skills, and reflection. When planning arts integration activities, it's crucial to keep in mind that two or more subjects must be seamlessly integrated (Silverstein & Layne, 2010). Arts integration activities encourage active learning by allowing foundation phase students to internalize new knowledge and abilities through participation in actual activities with real-world applications. Learners can use arts integration tactics to learn in a way that prioritizes in-depth learning of new concepts and abilities on a practical level before moving on to abstract symbols. Learners have the chance to not only study in safe, collaborative social contexts, but also to exhibit their comprehension in ways and at a level that they are comfortable with since arts integration encourages them to do so through the arts.

2. What is interesting about arts integration is that it is one of the most effective ways for a wide range of students with a wide range of interests, aptitudes, styles, and experiences to form a community of active learners taking responsibility for and ownership of their own learning. It encourages learners to express their understanding of topics and skills through the arts, while also promoting teaching and learning practices that target outcomes in several areas at the same time. What I found challenging was the theoretical framework for arts integration in foundation phases and its elements, which can be complicated and difficult to comprehend.

Music play in foundation phase focuses on the value of play in the foundation phase and elements of play during music activities in the classroom. In African context play is a way in which people interact with one another ,play reflects aspects of values and beliefs of society . It responds to value system and attitude towards life . It is important to acknowledge the dynamics when thinking about the value of play for early childhood and music education.

Characteristics of play involves personal motivation,active involvement,non literal meaning and others(Brewer 2007)

• Play is personality motivated - Motivated play happens when a player chooses the game they want to play but what they are playing is usually working like for instance when children take turns building sand houses ,they think they are playing but they are actually building houses in the process.
• Play is active - Happens when a player actually take part in the game.
• Play is often non literal- The way children pretend to be eating or flying during the game is figurative, the pretend to be doing so. Pretending to be doing something during play is not literal .
• Play has no extrinsic goals - Children play for fun not to reach a certain goal ,if a teacher gives learners a certain goal to reach after playing that is not play ,it is a lesson.
• Players supply meaning to play -  Children build up their own imagination while playing like taking a box and making it a house ,when they pretend a box is a house they give a play it’s meaning .
• Play has no extrinsic rules- Play cannot come with rules ,players have to make their own rules.

What play teaches ?

play teaches behaviour,morals and values which are important to the society, it gives learners the chance to learn from each other . Play supports cognitive goals and development,physical development as well as social and emotional development.

Seven elements of play are :

• Play involves state of mind and deposition 
• Play contains elements of surprise and challenge
• Play  involves a process ,attitude and structure
• Play is voluntary and unifying
• Play involves aethenic quality judgement by participants 
• Play creates informal space for socio historical comment
• Play reinforce societal rules

Play can be done in many ways like for instance clapping with body action, clapping and singing games ,Stone passing games,dancing play and music drama play .Examples of games can be singing games ,circle games ,action games and Rhythm games .

Study unit 2 focuses on the type of musical concepts and musical activities .We learned how music concepts can be responded to by using music .Music education offered ways in reaching many goals but we must also understand that learners differ in many ways hence we can try to address their differences by encouraging them to engage with all their senses while learning music .

Musical elements 

musical elements are building blocks in music ,there are different musical elements in which when you mix them all together you can create music. The following are basic elements of music.

• Duration of tone-  the length in time of a sound. Duration of tone includes beat,meter,rhythm and tempo.
• Pitch of tone- Pitch of tone is the sound of music ,it is the high and low in music.
• intensity of tone - Intensity of tone is how soft or loud a music is 
• Quality of tone -  The quality of an instrument ,knowing when someone a certain instrument without having to look at it is the quality of tone 
• texture - texture refers to the thin or thickness of sound in music .knowing how thick or thin a sound is by listening to music is texture

Music education approaches 

Approaches that can be used in teaching music are that of Carl Orff’s  ,Zoltàn Kodály and Emile Jamie’s - Dalcroze . Carl Orff’s used music,play,dancing and speech in his approach because he believed learners have innate musical abilities that’s needs to be cared for he also focused on holistic development (Marx 2018) . Zoltán Kodály’s approach focused on promoting musical development through active participation in music listening,movement and singing (Marx 2018) .

Reggio Emilia approach focused more on learners than teachers ,it emphasises how learners should do things for themselves in order to achieve in life . Dalcroze draws focus to teaching rhythm ,structure and musical expression through Movements

In study unit 1 I learned about holistic development and the importance of music,holistic development talks more about the development of intellectual,physical,social and emotional capabilities.Holistic development is a method used to develop multiple aspects of the human brain .Study unit 1 gives more knowledge and understanding of the value of music in the holistic development,it gives more knowledge on how a child can easily learn and understand things through music .Music can have a positive impact on learners in foundation phase since it gives a good role of support in development of a learner .I also learned that music can help promote learners holistic development,music education can improve a learners creativity and better their learning skills ,music can also help learners express their their feelings .In study unit 1 I also learners about 3 learning theories namely Erickson stages of psychosocial development,Piaget cognitive development theory and Vygotsky  Zone of proximal development