Mildred Tan Ker Shin

PSEM 001006R

Music Education

RECORDER TEACHING IN  

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

UNDER THE KBSR SYSTEM  

IN THE KOTA STAR DISTRICT

Research Background

Music education created history in 1983 when it was made a compulsory subject in elementary schools with the complete implementation of the Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah system(KBSR).

The aim of music education is to produce students who are equipped with the basic interpretation and knowledge of music as well as possessing minimum skill in producing music. It also aims to produce creative and innovative students who will be able to appreciate and enjoy the esthetics of music as well as observe the moral values in life.

The teaching of musical instruments in primary school enables the students to express one and to cultivate the creativity of the students.

In many foreign countries like United States of America, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan, teaching of musical instruments had been noted as an important element in elementary school music education.

The teacher- training of music teachers of primary schools in Malaysia are mainly carried out by various teachers’ colleges in the country.

Upon graduation from the colleges, the teachers will be posted to various schools which have vacancies.

However, there are also non music option teachers who are required to teach music education in primary schools.

On the other hand, some music teachers who have music as their option do not teach music education in schools. With all these problems, there are differences in the standard and quality of music teaching.

Presently, there are 103 primary schools in the Kota Star District, of which, 76 are national schools (Sekolah Kebangsaan), 24 are Chinese schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina) and 3 are Tamil schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil).

In Kota Star District, there are almost 150 music teachers in the primary schools.

Recorder teaching has been the core segment in the years 4, 5 and 6 music education curriculums. The recorder used in the KBSR music education system is the soprano recorder which has a higher pitch and is usually played in the main melody.

Objectives

1. To observe how music- option and non music- option primary school music teachers in the Kota Star District conduct recorder lessons for pupils in standard 4 through standard 6.

2. To study how the administration and infrastructure at the Kota Star District primary schools have impacted the teaching and learning of recorder to the pupils in standard 4 through standard 6.

3. To evaluate and assess the effectiveness of KBSR music education curriculum in the learning of recorder to the pupils of standard 4 through standard 6.

Research Problem

• Perception and practice of music teachers towards teaching materials and methodology used for recorder teaching in schools as well as the problems faced by the teachers in school.

• Though recorder teaching is one core segment in the years 4, 5 and 6, a few music teachers do not follow the curriculum provided to teach the recorder in schools.

• They either follow attentively the resources provided and the method provided in the curriculum to teach the recorder, or they do it in a conservative way. Most music teachers still practise the conservative method of teaching whereby it is more of chalk and talk.

Scope and Limitation

Research Area

The research area of this research is limited to 5 primary schools in Kota Star District.

SK PerembaSK IskandarSK Sultanah AsmaSJK(C) Keat Hwa SSJK(T) Bairathi

Target Group

30 music teachers and 100 students of standard 4 through standard 6

Research Instrument

self – design questionnaireinterview observationMusic test (based on Gordon MAP)

Findings of Pilot Test (2009)

• Pilot test was conducted in the month of October after the UPSR examination

• 20 music teachers from 10 primary schools (6 national schools, 3 chinese schools, 1 tamil school)

• 20 students from 5 schools

Materials used in recorder teaching

– 85% of music teachers used the scores provided by the Curriculum Development Centre as their major source of materials.

– The difference of the academic background of the music teachers and type of school they teach has significant effect on the choice of repertoire in recorder teaching.

• over 90% suggested that new materials should be developed

• 50% suggested that the teaching materials should be reviewed after every five years to attract the interests of the students.

• All teachers wanted the curriculum Development Centre to produce a new textbook for recorder teaching

Methodology

– At present, all music teachers teach recorder using the correct Baroque fingering.

– Although it was not stated clearly in the KBSR music curriculum that to what approach to used in teaching recorder, almost 50% of music teachers tend to apply the Kodaly method in recorder teaching. The students were taught to read the notes in solfege before they played the piece.

Kodaly Hand signs

– Most primary school music teachers in the Kota Star District agreed that music teachers should be competent in recorder teaching. However, there was 60% of music teachers felt that they were not skilled enough in recorder playing and therefore found it difficult to teach the students.

– All music teachers learnt recorder playing in teachers’ college but almost 50% of them said that they were not well-taught.

Teacher training, recorder workshops, conferences or master classes

–At present, there was not one recorder workshop nor master classes been held in Kota Star District. Only about 10% of music teachers had attended recorder master classes organized by the Yamaha Music School in Penang.

Difficulties teachers encountered in recorder teaching and their suggestions

– Lack of support from the school administrative and colleagues.

– Music classes are often used to teach other core subjects.

– Students often forget to bring or even lost their instruments.

– Limited source of teaching materials provided by Curriculum Development Centre.

– In this research, music teachers suggested that the teaching materials needed to be designed in a more organized and consistent way.

– Moreover, music teachers should be more competent in both recorders teaching and performing.

– Above all, teachers’ college, other higher learning institutes and Curriculum Development Centre should hold related seminars or courses periodically for music teachers.

The Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah System (KBSR)

• In 1982, KBSR was implemented as pilot project in 305 schools.

• KBSR was fully implemented in all primary schools in 1983.

• Music education becomes a compulsory subject in primary school since 1983.

• Recorder is only taught from standard 4 through standard 6.

Gordon MAP

• Musical aptitude profile developed by American music educator, Gordon

• Divided into 3 major divisions:i. Tonal ImageryMelodyHarmonyii. Rhythm ImageryTempometer

iii. Musical sensitivity Phrasing Balance Style