Folk Music in Nigerian Secondary Schools’ Music Pedagogy: Challenges and Prospects

Introduction

Music forms an essential part of every Nigerian culture and serves as a valuable instrument for character development. Okafor (2013) defines music as humanly organized sound. Its influence on the social, emotional, moral, physical, and economic aspects of an individual’s life makes it an agent that cannot be overlooked. Okpala (2006) remarks that music is part of living; it has the power to awaken sensations and emotions of a spiritual kind. Music can achieve many things and bring desirable results. It can either stimulate or soothe the mind, contribute to a broader education, or at the very least provide a wider mental perspective. It can gently plough the mind, making it more receptive to the seed of learning.

Okonkwo (2006) regards music as part of life and an art deeply embedded in human nature. The national commission for colleges of education, in its minimum standards, affirms that music has the potential to be one of the most valuable subjects for enhancing human personality. It becomes obvious that the study of music is indispensable for the development of the Nigerian child, society, and the entire nation.

In other words, music plays a prominent role in the development of human beings, who are instrumental to societal reconstruction and nation building. Nwankpa, in Okpala (2015), asserts that music is used for societal reconstruction and character formation. Okafor (2005), discussing music and nation building, states:

Ahmed Sekoutouri, the president of Guinea (one of West Africa’s poor countries), said during his reign that he laid more stress on the development of human beings because, according to him, the bauxite, the manganese, and those other minerals will still be there under the ground in his country. But, if he didn’t develop human beings, those would be badly used.

From the above, the development of human beings is paramount. Agu (1990), discussing the primacy of music in Igbo traditional religion, observed that in African societies, all aspects of life, from birth to death, are believed to be integrated with music making. Among the Igbo, music serves not only as a medium for entertainment and social relationships but as an intricate part of the development of the mind, body, and soul. The laws of the land are learned through songs. The history of the tribe is learned through songs. The accepted behavioral patterns in society are all absorbed through music and dance.

Despite this importance, this valuable human activity is treated with contempt by most Nigerians. A good number of Nigerian parents would not consent to their children or wards choosing to study music in tertiary institutions, yet music remains a part of human existence on earth.

At the secondary school level, before the integration of music, drama, and fine art under Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA), students in upper basic education classes could choose between music and fine art. Studies and the researcher’s personal experience showed that 90 percent of students in most schools preferred fine art to music. The reasons some students gave for choosing fine art were surprising. Some said the music teacher was harsh, while others complained that the subject is difficult to understand.

Musical Foundation of a Nigerian Child

In Nigerian societies, the musical tradition surrounding a child’s birth begins before the baby is born. There is special music for the ceremony celebrating the baby’s birth and even for the first time the baby starts to stand on their own—both are honored in songs and dance. Agu (2011) states that music plays an important role in the life of an Igbo child. It is rather an essential part of every facet of daily life. Music occupies the child’s entire day’s activity, from morning till night, through all the developmental stages of life from birth to death.

A Nigerian child receives their first music training from their mother. Ubani (2013), agreeing with this, referred to mothers as the first teachers of music. They usually encourage young children to participate in folklore and stories expressed through songs. As the child grows older, they join peers and siblings in musical games, learning to sing, clap, and play complex rhythms by imitating adults. Emeka, in Okpala (2014), noted that children grow up and play together, improving their language and number skills by running errands, playing musical and rhythmic games, and listening to and participating in recitations of rhyme.

Music is an inevitable factor in the developmental stage of every Nigerian child. Ime, in Okpala (2014), opines that a child who is deprived of good music training may be missing the much-needed education and assistance for balanced development.

Children’s musical activities instill discipline, as some of their games require strict adherence to the rules. Nketia, in Vidal (2012), states that there are specific songs for the young, such as those incorporated into stories and rites, and also children’s games, particularly counting or number games.

Agu, in an earlier work (2011), asserts that right from childhood, the talented are easily identified. They tend to assume leadership roles in their groups and perform outstandingly well. Vidal (2012) likewise states that each child is given a leadership role in leading one or more songs during game performances. By this act, a child is being prepared for leadership roles in adult life.

Nigerian Folk Music and the Philosophy of Education

The philosophy of Nigerian folk music covers every area of human existence. The integrity of Nigerian music in Nigerian society is held in very high esteem because it plays a vital role at all important stages of life, according to Keke and Obiekwe (2012). Ibekwe (2013) notes that it provides an avenue through which societal values are learned. In the Nigerian context, music is not meant solely for entertainment; it aims to educate people about the activities of the environment in which they live.

Onyeji (2011) states that African music is understood as a platform for social and cultural education as well as for moral negotiation, construction, and training for all members of society. Its subtle and penetrating quality makes it well adapted to all forms of humanizing education. For Africans, music must provide some form of moral, social, and cultural education as its essential value.

The above holds true for Nigerian music, as there are many types of music with lyrics that address every situation in life. Song lyrics are so strong that they penetrate the hearts of performers and spectators, leading to positive changes in attitude. Okpala (2015) observes that music inculcates the right behavioral attitude in community members, who learn morals and social responsibilities through it.

Variety in Nigerian Music

Like language, music is bound by ethnicity. Different musical variants exist across Nigerian societies, arising from cultural differences. This diversity is evident in social life, value systems, religion, and musical practices. Despite these cultural differences, no Nigerian society lives in isolation. People move from one community to another, often to urban areas in search of better opportunities, which encourages cordial relationships between communities. Nketia (1975), discussing African musical tradition, affirmed that cultural interaction resulted in the borrowing and adaptation of cultural items, including music. The situation is no different in Nigeria.

Folk Music as an Aid to Effective Teaching and Learning of Music

The teacher is the principal actor in all teaching and learning situations, and much depends on them. The teacher must be competent enough to teach the subject and achieve a desirable result. Nwokenna, in Ugo-Okonkwo (2014), stated that music teaching in schools cannot be effective if teachers do not show remarkable competence in the various aspects of a general music program. The music teacher should adopt a teaching method that enhances what Ojukwu and Onyiuke (2014) call a learner-centered approach. In other words, the teacher’s primary aim is to impart knowledge to the learner, so it falls to the teacher to devise a technique that ensures maximum mastery of taught content. Music teachers must be highly creative, since music is a performance-oriented subject requiring creativity.

Every Nigerian child possesses inherent musical traits acquired while growing up in their community. This should be considered when planning lessons. Some topics in music should be introduced to students using material they are familiar with. Topics such as rhythm, form, and classification of musical instruments are best taught with reference to the folk music of the local culture area. Students will understand and assimilate what the teacher has taught if concrete examples are used. Planning lessons in a way that fosters active student involvement makes teaching and learning easier, arouses student interest, and encourages more of them to further their studies in the subject.

Its Challenges

Basic education gives young people the opportunities needed to acquire the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes for living happy and productive lives as individuals with social duties to discharge for the betterment of society. It is therefore important that the curriculum at this level be designed to effectively reflect the needs of individuals in society and the aspirations of the society when implemented, according to Ugoo-Okonkwo (2014).

These societal needs are built into the education system so that the growing generation can absorb them and become relevant in their communities. The federal government of Nigeria introduced Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA)—an amalgamation of music, drama, and fine art—in an effort to incorporate Nigerian cultural arts into education. Aninwene, in Okeke (2014), submits that attempts were made in 1969 at a National Curricula Conference to change the British colonial heritage in Nigerian education to make it more responsive to the needs and aspirations of Nigeria and the Nigerian child alike. The conference sought to emphasize Nigerian culture, including music, folklore, and literature, throughout the education system, with an emphasis on acquiring practical skills from primary to tertiary levels.

The introduction of CCA into the curriculum is a welcome idea, but implementation poses challenges. Scholars such as Ugoo-Okonkwo (2014), Okeke (2014), Ojukwu and Onyiuke (2014), and Onuorah-Oguno and Okpala (2015) highlight these issues. A common concern is the incompetence of CCA teachers to effectively teach the subject. Most schools lack teachers who are specialists in all three subject areas (music, drama, and fine art), meaning a drama specialist may end up teaching music and fine art—an outcome that is far from desirable. Even where music teachers exist, the question of their competence remains. Music requires creative ability, yet studies show that most music teachers at the post-primary level are neither creative nor performance oriented. Onuora-Oguno and Okpala (2015) state that teachers are merely content with teaching lines and spaces before going home, leaving a yawning gap in the creative aspect of music. A music teacher who lacks creativity will never make effective use of folk music, since folk music is all about performance.

• Cultural differences: The variety of languages across Nigerian societies makes it nearly impossible for a teacher from one cultural area teaching in another to teach the local folk music effectively.
• Inadequate time allotment: Interviews and the researcher’s own experience as a post-primary teacher show that a maximum of 30 to 45 minutes per period was allocated for classes. Teachers had only one to one-and-a-half hours per week to cover what was in the scheme of work. The scheme of work for junior secondary (JS) classes, drawn from the new curriculum, is overloaded with topics expected to be covered in a single week. Ugoo-Okonkwo (2014) notes that lesson topics are so jam-packed that teachers must teach them superficially, leaving students unable to comprehend. Time factors, along with overloading weekly lesson periods, make it difficult for teachers to do justice to their teaching.

• Inadequate provision of instructional materials: Most post-primary schools lack basic materials that would aid the use of folk music for teaching. Items such as keyboard instruments, local musical instruments, and necessary electronic gadgets are absent from most schools.
• Lack of local terminologies for musical terms: At times, instructors appropriately need local terms to convey ideas simply, but a shortage limits them to conventional expressions. This situation is slowly improving—the Association of Nigerian Musicologists (ANIM) has compiled a first edition of local musical terminologies from various cultures in Nigeria.
• Teaching methods: Ojukwu and Onyiuke (2014) write that a good teacher must cultivate and possess qualities that make them endearing to the learner. One crucial trait is humility. The teacher must be willing to sing, dance, and play instruments alongside students, regardless of social status or rank. The researcher’s conversations with students about teacher-student relationships revealed that many are afraid of their music teachers. Some teachers use abusive language, calling students names for giving wrong answers in class. For effective teaching, the teacher needs to maintain a friendly relationship with students. It is also surprising to find that some music teachers simply assign notes for students to copy with little to no explanation. Teachers should use all available instructional materials to achieve their objectives. They must not rely solely on school authorities for material; they must be willing to sacrifice their own time and money.

Aims and Objectives of Education

The aims and objectives of education fall under two broad headings: individual development, and social and national development. At its core, education aims to enable every human being to achieve the greatest possible harmony—internal and external, spiritual and material—for the fullest development of potentialities and capabilities. It should produce effective individuals who realize their responsibilities toward society, since the individual lives in society and has obligations toward their nation.

As stated earlier in this paper, a West African leader indicated a preference for developing human beings to achieve maximum social development. Teaching methods play an indispensable role in achieving these education goals that focus on human development.

Music, being a performance-oriented subject, demands active student participation during class time. The teacher must show a high degree of competence in delivering lessons and keep students actively involved. For instance, when teaching rhythm, the teacher can provide simple rhythmic instruments and lead students in playing the rhythmic patterns they are meant to master. Students should also be expected to represent the rhythm through clapping or dancing under the teacher’s direction. Knowledge acquired this way tends to last longer. Ugoo-Okonkwo (2015), in a discussion on implementation strategies for the CCA curriculum and their implications for music education, cites a Chinese proverb: “Tell me, I will forget; show me, I might remember; involve me, and I will learn.” The teacher’s foremost concern should be choosing strategies that effectively impart knowledge.

Prospects

Using folk music as an aid for teaching music in Nigerian secondary schools—particularly for topics where it is least disputed—can yield significant results for both instruction and learning. Every Nigerian child is born with some musical skills that develop over time. Emeka (1994) reiterated that children grow up playing together to improve their language and counting skills through musical games and rhymes. Music is an inherent part of every Nigerian child’s growth process.

Agu (2011) affirms that music occupies the child’s entire day’s activity from morning to night and across all developmental stages of life, from birth to death. The musical tradition surrounding birth begins as soon as the baby is born. In formal education, teachers should align planned topics from the scheme of work with what the student already knows and can do, establishing a base for subsequent learning. Applying folk music as a teaching tool can help in the fight to prevent traditional music from disappearing entirely. Students at this level will improve on what they already understand, rather than being repeatedly referred to Western music that sometimes feels abstract. With luck, this approach will boost student interest in the subject, encourage them to take the subject for Senior School Certificate Examinations, and perhaps even inspire them to study music at the university level.

The researcher used this approach during her time teaching at a post-primary school.

Before CCA was introduced, students could choose between music and fine arts. When she arrived, far more students selected fine arts for the junior school certificate exam. Out of seventy-five students in a class, fifty-four chose fine art while only twenty-one opted for music. She began incorporating folk music as an instructional tool, purchasing some local instruments and guiding students to construct miniature versions using available materials. She often took the class outside for practical demonstrations of the lesson content. Classroom instruction was kept as brief as possible, while more extensive teaching happened in the field, where students actively participated and adequate teaching aids were used.

To motivate students, she offered small rewards to those who made notable contributions during lessons. She secured sponsorship from a donor who provided a ten thousand naira cash prize for the best JS3 music student at the close of each academic year. She made music teaching and learning enjoyable for the students. From that point until CCA was introduced, the number of students choosing music far exceeded those selecting fine arts. A good number of students wanted to continue with music in their senior class, but unfortunately for them, she left the school.

Education is about gaining knowledge that leads to positive change in an individual. That change affects a person mentally, physically, spiritually, and materially. Armed with this knowledge, one can foster development even beyond their own cultural environment. In the African context, folk music has been proven beyond doubt to be an important aid in ensuring sustainable development for people and their surroundings. Human development begins in childhood. “Music trains the mental and motor skill of a child” (Okpala 2015:200). This paper stressed the need for music teachers in Nigerian schools to use folk music in their teaching. It portrayed folk music as the foundation of every Nigerian child’s musical knowledge. The research also revealed challenges that hinder effective music teaching and learning in secondary schools. Grouping the three major creative arts subjects under the umbrella of CCA posed a significant challenge to teaching music effectively at this level.

Therefore, this paper recommends that orientation courses be organized regularly to train teachers on the best ways to address this challenge. The government, both at state and federal levels, should ensure that every school employs at least three teachers specializing in at least two of the subjects, and it must include a music teacher. It also recommends that curriculum planners include aspects of folk music as instructional materials to enhance music teaching and learning.

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