INCLUSION OF KENYAN POPULAR MUSIC IN SECONDARY SCHOOL MUSIC CURRICULUM: A STUDY OF SELECTED SCHOOLS IN VIHIGA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Popular music is an important ingredient in the day-to-day lives of many young people, especially the youth. In Kenya, this genre has not been included in the secondary school music curriculum. The glaring omission of popular music in the current curriculum has led to students experiencing a disconnect between the music they love and easily identify with, and that which is offered in schools. To address this omission and disconnect, it was imperative that a study be conducted on the need to include popular music in the curriculum‘s music content. The study sought to shed light on: (i) the music content areas in the 8-4-4 secondary school music curriculum with the aim of suggesting inclusion of Kenyan popular music.: (ii) the music preferences of the students to be included in the secondary school music curriculum: (iii) the significance of Kenyan popular music to students to reinforce its need in the secondary school music curriculum. The study design utilized was descriptive design, which included understanding the lived encounters and viewpoints of respondents. Multicultural theory was useful in this study as it mirrored consolidation of variety of cultures of students in a class. Homogeneous purposive sampling was used to select nine schools that offer music, 112 form three music students, and nine music teachers from Vihiga County. Data was collected using two research instruments: questionnaires and document analysis. The questionnaires were administered to both students and teachers to collect views, facts, and suggestions on inclusion of popular music in the music curriculum. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Data was coded considering the interrelatedness of responses. Emerging themes were then recorded, classified, and interpreted as per the objectives of the study. The results indicated that the music teachers and the form three music students supported the inclusion of the genre (Kenyan popular music) alongside Western and African music. The conclusion was that inclusion of Kenyan popular music in the secondary school music curriculum was necessary. Recommendations included: Education planners to review the curriculum and include popular music to accommodate the genre; appropriate approaches to be established by education planners on how best to incorporate popular music in the Kenyan secondary school music curriculum. Finally, music teachers should be trained on the varied conventions of popular music making in the world that point towards multicultural music.