The Influence of Foundation Phase Male Teachers on Their Learners: A Musical Perspective

Abstract

The influence of male teachers on Foundation Phase learners needs to be explored to allow for subtle adjustment of programmes in higher education to empower them in a previously female world. When an unusually high entry of male students in a BEd Foundation Phase programme was experienced, adaptations had to be made to the music module to make provision for a tendency to sing in harmony rather than singing the melody and to avoid the influence of biological differences on timbre. With singing being an integral part of childhood education, generalist teachers, who do not have suitable singing abilities and confidence, will find the classroom situation challenging. Confidence is often influenced by the lack of proper singing ability. In addition, traditional African male singers have cultural influences that need to be considered when preparing them as Foundation Phase teachers. The main research question asks: How does an African male voice model impact on the acquisition of singing skills of learners in the Foundation Phase classroom? Literature, questionnaires, observations and interviews contributed to knowledge in this mixed method study using a constructivist paradigm. Findings include that cultural and biological aspects impact African male educators’ singing behaviour, influencing the singing voices of children in their care.

Keywords:

• foundation phase
• African male educators
• singing
• voice quality
• confidence
• learners
• children