Analysis of traditional Pedi religious songs for curricular application in primary school

Abstract

The Bapedi is an ethnic group in South Africa whose traditional music is not well documented. For this article, 31 traditional Pedi religious songs from 11 elderly Bapedi women in Sekhukhune, Limpopo Province, South Africa were collected and analysed. They were analysed using religious, musicological and contextual perspectives, and two choruses were selected. Eight Sepedi-speaking children from a school choir at Baxoxele Primary School in Soshanguve were observed whilst learning these two choruses. Repetition was used as a powerful, rhetorical and expressive device, skilfully employed to express and internalise faith and to impart dominant emotions. Informal discussions with teachers indicated that the children showed an improvement in their concentration and attitude to schoolwork. Learning these two choruses also unlocked some creative talent and improved their social skills. The joyous nature, rhythmic foundation, harmonic simplicity, and combination of intellect and emotion as well as the repetitiveness and briefness of these songs appealed to both children and adults. It was concluded that for the preservation of traditional Pedi religious music and culture there is an urgent need for the collection and documentation of traditional Pedi religious songs. In recognising their identity, such songs could contribute to the attitudes and cultural values of Sepedi-speaking children. Similar projects are suggested for the other 10 language groups in South Africa.Analisering van tradisionele godsdienstige Pedi-liedere vir gebruik in die laerskoolkurrikulum. Die Bapedi is ’n etniese groep in Suid-Afrika wie se tradisionele musiek nie goedgedokumenteer is nie. Vir hierdie artikel is 31 tradisionele godsdienstige Pedi-liedere van 11 bejaarde Bapedi vroue in Sekhukhune, Limpopo Provinsie, Suid-Afrika, ingesamel en ontleed.Hierdie liedere is volgens godsdienstige, musiekwetenskaplike en kontekstuele perspektiewe ontleed en twee kore uit die liedere is daarna gekies. Agt Sepedi-sprekende kinders van die Baxoxele Primêre Skool in Soshanguve se skoolkoor, is waargeneem terwyl hulle hierdie tweekore aangeleer het. Herhaling is gebruik as ’n kragtige, retoriese en betekenisvolle hulpmiddel,vaardig toegepas om uitdrukking aan geloof te gee en ’n verdieping daarvan te bewerkstellig sowel as om grootliks emosie daaraan te verleen. Informele gesprekke met onderwysers het aangedui dat die kinders se konsentrasie en hulle houding teenoor skoolwerk verbeter het. Die aanleer van hierdie twee kore het ook hulle kreatiwiteitstalent ontsluit en hulle sosiale vaardighede verbeter. Die vrolike en ritmiese aard, harmoniese eenvoud, die kombinasie van intellek en emosie sowel as die herhaling en bondigheid van hierdie kore het ’n effek op kinders sowel as volwassenes gehad. Die gevolgtrekking was dat daar ’n dringende behoefte is om soortgelyke liedere te versamel en te dokumenteer met die doel om tradisionele godsdienstige Pedi-musiek en -kultuur behoue te laat bly. Deur erkenning te gee aan die aard van sulke liedere kan bygedra word tot ’n positiewe houding van Sepedi-sprekende kinders teenoorkulturele waardes. Soortgelyke projekte vir liedere van die ander 10 taalgroepe in Suid-Afrika word voorgestel.

Effects of the Educational Use of Music on 3- to 12-Year-Old Children’s Emotional Development: A Systematic Review

“…In a similar way, Ramdane et al [ 66 ] studied the beliefs of a group of Islamic education teachers about the effect of using singing in their classes, and found that the vast majority believed that singing gave them greater emotional awareness and motivation, which could lead to better learning. Similarly, another study found that the use of music with a strong religious-emotional component led students to improve their concentration and creativity [ 82 ].…”

“…For example, Schellenberg et al [ 74 ] found that students with a musical background scored higher in sympathy and prosocial skills, although only those with lower levels of musical performance. Another study concluded that singing music with a strong emotional component led students to improve in attitude and social skills such as teamwork [ 82 ]. Similarly, an intervention based on music education resulted in students developing pro-social emotions in relation to their peers with autism spectrum disorder, especially in cases where the latter were bullied [ 81 ].…”

“…Fourteen studies used musical training as the independent variable and obtained evidence that it improved diverse socio-emotional competencies, including: identifying emotions in images and/or texts [ 68 ]; a greater capacity to regulate emotions [ 63 ]; concentration and creativity [ 82 ]; students’ ability to recognise emotions [ 73 ]; improved learning and mathematics [ 76 ]; a positive effect on children’s self-expression, self-efficacy, and social skills [ 78 ]; improved the feelings experienced when attending class [ 69 ]; greater emotional awareness and motivation from singing [ 66 ]; increased empathy and positive feelings for learning [ 67 ]; influenced the effects of emotional understanding [ 64 ]; influenced emotional awareness, regulation and autonomy [ 80 ]; increased pro-social behavior in neurotypical children in relation to the social exclusion of autistic children [ 74 ]; promoted the development of pro-social skills [ 81 ]; improved behaviors such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, inattention and some defiant attitudes [ 83 ]; and increased children’s motivation and thus their learning capacity [ 66 ].…”

“…In relation to the educational and formative benefits, the results indicate that music can play a role in triggering positive emotional states [ 75 , 76 , 77 ] and higher levels of motivation, concentration, and interest [ 63 , 66 , 69 , 70 , 82 ], which promotes learning in the classroom. It can also reduce the occurrence of negative emotional states such as anxiety and depression [ 86 ].…”

“…Finally, in terms of socio-emotional benefits, the articles reviewed agree that both music training and music education can be beneficial for students’ social and emotional development [ 74 ], such as the fact that the use of music in educational and therapeutic processes [ 81 , 82 ] can have a positive impact on the development of social skills in which some kind of emotion comes into play, such as empathy, teamwork, the development of a pro-social attitude or self-esteem. Similarly, they can contribute to the reduction of negative socio-emotional attitudes such as depression, anxiety, aggression, inattention, defiant and oppositional behavior, or post-traumatic stress [ 71 , 73 , 83 ].…”