Attracting administrative support for music education in senior secondary schools in Cape Coast (Ghana): The role of the music teacher

Abstract

School administrations are often confronted with the problem of cutting back financial assistance of some academic departments of their institutions due to consistent budgetary constraints. Often; the tendency has been to make music departments their first point of call. Ironically, these headmasters acknowledge the fact that music plays a vital vie in their schools. Music education, in various forms, has been on the curricular of second- cycle schools in Ghana since the introduction of secondary education into the country. However, there seems to be the problem of inadequate administrative support for music education, especially at this time when so-called peripheral subject areas in our schools suffer routine financial cut-backs. This study investigated the views of school heads, music teachers, and music students on the role that music teachers, as the engine of growth of music education in our schools, can play to ensure a sustainable flow of administrative support for music in our schools. Questionnaires and Interview Guides were designed and administered on a population which consisted of ten (10) school heads, five (5) music teachers, and one hundred and forty-seven (147) music students, all in five (5) sampled schools in the Cape Coast municipality. The methodology used was the analytical-descriptive method; and qualitative and quantitative analysis involving frequencies, percentages, and means were used to analyse the data. The study revealed that there is an abysmally low level of administrative support music education during a greater part of the academic year in our secondary schools. The study brought to the fore that, for about a quarter of the year when the music department of a school would be greatly needed for the organization of a successful speech and Prize-Giving Day, support for the department phenomenally increases. It was realized from the study that low enrolment in music departments was the major contributing factor to low support for the music programme. Two identifiable factors which accounted for this problem of low enrolment were a) The non-compliance of the directives from the Ghana Education Service that music as an elective academic subject should be accommodated in all senior secondary school programmes except the technical programme (See Appendix 4) b) Misconceptions about music which are carried on to newly admitted students by some school heads and teachers who are in charge of giving orientation to new students. The study concluded that if support for the music programme can be augmented, then music teachers must go an extra mile by i) working harder to secure a good schedule for music on the senior secondary school time-table in many academic programmes as directed by the Ghana Education Service to enable many more students to enrol. ii) working harder to make school administrators realize that their recognition of the worth of music in their schools is incomplete if they only need music because of its aesthetic values without a corresponding recognition and support for the academic aspect. iii) working harder to make music an enviable subject in the school curriculum through which students can reach higher goals. iv) working harder to become role-models in the eyes of current students who have the potentiality of advising future students (most of whom would be their relations) to enroll in music. In these ways, the study affirms and concludes, the music teacher can become an effective and reliable vehicle through whom many students would be shepherded into the music programme and thereby attracting the needed administrative support.