1. Please  share  your  story  as  an  LSKM 221 student  by comparing  your  knowledge,  skills, experiences,  abilities  and  attitude  towards  music  education  from  the  start  of  the semester  to  the  end  of  the  semester.

LSKM 221 has proven to me that my knowledge about music education was lacking a lot. My experiences and attitude about music education was that when a teacher plays music in class it is only when they need to be busy with some paper work like marking, recording marks, making report cards, etc., then music is used as something keep learners busy with but with no learning just for the teacher to work with no disturbance. I never thought that integrating arts and music in the classroom would have a significant impact on learning especially in foundation phase. Now can say that I am equipped and enriched all thanks to the skills and knowledge I acquired from this module.

2. What  was  your  experience  of  the  role  of  individual  reflection  as  part  of  the  teaching and learning  process?  Use the following  prompts  to  reflect on  your blogging  experience and  the  role  that  individual  reflection  played  (or  not)  in  your  teaching  and  learning experience  this  semester: 

• What did  you  learn  from  your  individual  reflections? 

The individual reflections have taught me that keeping track of your individual work is very important. It serves as a way of checking your progress; am I on the right direction, should I change my approach to my work.

• What did  you  find  challenging? 

What was challenging for me on the individual reflections was to make and post a reflection on time as according to the given schedule.

•   Did you find  the  individual  reflections  meaningful?  Please  motivate  your  answer. 

Yes, they were meaningful because with them I was able to check the progress of my knowledge on this module to see where I needed to put in more effort and make some improvements. 

• What would  you  change  if  you  had  the  opportunity  in  future?

I would like to change how I managed my time, I was always behind in posting my individual reflections. Changing the way I managed my time will help me to do my work well according go the given schedule. 

3. Please  share  what  you  would  change  in  the  LSKM221  module  if  you  had  the opportunity.  The  following  prompts  can  guide  your  reflection: 

• What did  you  find  interesting  and  meaningful? 

What was interesting for me was having to create a music game that would teach learners the concept of music, here I could really imagine play, fun and meaningful learning all at the same time in the classroom.

• What challenged  you,  and  what  do  you  still  struggle  to  understand? 

Integrating music with other subjects is quite a challenge to me. 

• What didn’t  you  find  valuable  for  your  future  teaching  practice?

Nothing, because from all the knowledge and skills I have acquired I believe that everything I have learnt from this module is of great value for my future teaching practice. 

WHAT COULD THE POSSIBLE REASONS BE THAT ASSESSMENT IS NEGLECTED IN PERFORMING ARTS AND MUSIC IN THE FOUNDATION PHASE?

I think the reason why assessment is neglected in Performing Arts and Music in the Foundation Phase is because of the lack of knowledge and skills about it, people think of it as detract from academics and that it hinders students' learning in more important areas, they claim that learners will spend too much time on practicing and performances then as a result people undermine the role it plays in the development of children. The other reason is that most people regard art in schools as a luxury because of its expenses, any music program pose huge budget concerns for schools because they do not only cost a lot of money because of the required instruments, playing space and various concerts, but they also require schools to hire extra music faculty and instructors. These costs come as a challenge to the budget which is why cutting performing arts and music programs in schools is often one of the first solutions to school budget cuts.

PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW YOU WOULD ADVOCATE FOR AND HEIGHTEN AWARENESS ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT WHEN SPEAKING WITH YOUR HOD ABOUT YOUR CONCERNS IN THIS REGARD.

The following is a piece of research on the importance of performing arts and music in the foundation phase that I would share with my HOD:

Portowitz, Lichtenstein, Egorova & Brand (2009:109), highlighted that learning may be understood as “a complex interaction of cognitive, social and emotional factors”, so music in learning improves the auditory perception and language skills, it helps with short-term memory, it decreases distractibility and it enhances information processing. Children tends to be the most active and energetic beings, they are very creative and play is their natural way of learning and yet have a short concentration span, so it makes sense that music may assist in learning by keeping these more engaged and focused. It is important that through all of this assessment should be used because it is a means for determining whether lesson aims have been achieved and allows the teacher to monitor learner progress.  Assessment should further be used as a tool to assist the learning process (Rossouw & Delport, 2016b) and not be seen as a tool for passing judgement. Through effective assessment, both teachers and learners are able to not only monitor progress but identify skills/concepts that need to be improved on, remedial strategies and the next step in the teaching and learning process.  Without feedback from assessment, teachers and learners would not be able to improve their knowledge and skills.

Portowitz, A., Lichtenstein, O., Egorova, L. & Brand, E. 2009. Underlying mechanisms

linking music education and cognitive modifiability. Research Studies in Music Education,

31(2):107-128.

1. Some people might say that arts integration is a waste of time in Foundation Phase education. Please explain how you would respond to such a statement by explaining your view on arts integration in the Foundation Phase.

Arts integration is an approach to teaching and learning which is based on learning through the arts and with the arts; this is a process where art becomes the medium of teaching and learning serving as a key to understanding concepts within any subject of the curriculum.

Art integration in the Foundation Phase is no waste of time because it unleashes the creative minds of learners, it deepens their learning experiences in core academic subjects thus enhancing the knowledge and skills of both learners and teachers to meet high standards of teaching and learning. Arts integration engages multiple skills and abilities that nurtures the development of cognitive, social, and personal competencies of learners. Integrating art in the Foundation Phase gives learners the opportunity to take part in teaching and learning activities which encourage them to draw on their prior knowledge with the aim of discovering new concepts and skills and to demonstrate their understanding in a practical way through the arts (Silverstein & Layne, 2010). It tends to be difficult for kids to express their feelings but with arts integration they can illustrate how music makes them feel by drawing a picture or writing a story, its activities promote active learning experiences through which foundation phase learners can internalize new knowledge and skills by engaging in authentic activities which have real-life value.

2.1 What I found interesting:

What I found interesting about this study unit is that art can integrate multiple subjects to show how art can integrate multiple subjects to show how they are connected, it encourages teacher to draw links between various subjects in the curriculum. I believe that this is a great way of making the teaching and learning process much more interesting and fun, as it provides learners with opportunities to learn in creative ways making them more eager to learn.

2.2 what I found challenging:

What I think is challenging about art integration is that it seems to require a lot of planning and practice so am thinking, will there be enough time for all of that while teachers are expected to provide learning units with specific outcomes within a given timeframe?

1.WHAT POSSIBLY MADE SOME LEARNERS UNCOMFORTABLE DURING THESE ACTIVITIES?

To engage in a traditional Zulu stone passing game in which attention was paid to the overall pronunciation of words (without explanation), in a diverse grade 2 class having learners with different home languages whereby some learners do not know and understand the Zulu language.

Most cultures and religions are very strict about how their people conduct themselves, so having to engage in free dancing to Amapiano songs could be very uncomfortable and be going against other learners' cultural and religious beliefs. 

2. WHY WERE SOME LEARNERS UNCOMFORTABLE?

They were uncomfortable because they did not understand the Zulu song while the other felt uncomfortable dancing in front of boys and to house music due to religious reasons. 

3. CAN YOU THINK OF WAYS TO ADDRESS THESE ISSUES IN FUTURE? WHAT WILL YOU CHANGE?

I will choose a song with a language that is a medium of instruction in the school and I will also explain the song to the learners so that they have full understanding of its meaning and purpose. 

I will give learners the opportunity to choose for themselves the activities they would like to engage on, especially when coming to dancing so that they can all be free and very comfortable and also get a chance to embrace their cultures and religions. 

4. HOW CAN WE ACCOMMODATE DIVERSE LEARNER PROFILES IN OUR CLASSROOMS? WHAT MUST WE BEWARE OF?

To accommodate diverse learner profiles in the classroom a teacher must first get to know their learners, take time to learn about them: where do they come from? What kind of socio-economic situation do they live in? Etc. A teacher has to connect the school with a learner’s families and community as the school is a central part of the community. Communication is a very important element in a diverse classroom, as a teacher you must beware of the verbal and non verbal communications in the classroom. We must also beware of discrimination and be willing to address inequality because part of accommodating diversity in the classroom is creating a safe environment for both teachers and learners. 

1.As a foundation phase teacher I would choose to utilize indigenous african music because it works towards fostering appreciation of different socio-cultural heritages, I believe that it will instill confidence and increase self-esteem in learners so that they can develop the love and pride to embrace their cultures and heritages at an early age and also help in working towards putting an end to the offense of seeing some music to be more important than others. 

2. I do not think that the examples and content offered in Study Unit 2 are completely inclusive because their focus of inclusivity is mainly much more on making learners feel equal regardless of their religion,  race or socioeconomic status.

3. In making the content more inclusive,  the diverse needs of learners must be considered.  Activities should also accommodate the differently abled learners, for example I'm promoting personal development; talent shows helps learners to be creative, be confident and feel motivated: larners can showcase their different talents in singing or dancing activities by creating and performing their own body percussion patterns.  The different abilities of learners must be celebrated.