Music and drama in primary schools in the Madeira Island – narratives of ownership and leadership

Abstract

A three-year-case study funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) from the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education was designed to study a 30-year project of music and drama in primary schools in Madeira. This article reports on the narratives of the three main figures in the project as they elaborate on its construction according to the following themes: innovation, philosophies of music education and teacher education. Through the lens of a narrative inquiry, the discourses produced are analysed, taking into account the emerging concepts of ownership and leadership.

Keywords:

• music education
• drama education
• ownership
• leadership

Notes

1. From here on, the word ‘project’ will be systematically used as referring to the GCEA's implementation of music and drama in primary schools, while this investigation will be named either as ‘study’ or ‘research’.

2. For further information please consult http://dre.madeira-edu.pt/gcea/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=41&Itemid=188&lang=pt

3. Fictional names.

4. The Madeira chordophones are the Braguinha (a small guitar with a flat back and four metal strings; the Rajão (a slightly bigger relative of the braguinha with six metal strings) and the Viola de Arame (similar to the Spanish guitar but smaller with nine strings). http://www.atlasofpluckedinstruments.com/europe.htm accessed on the 27 December 2010.