| dc.description.abstract | This study was a collaborative engagement aimed at “improving practical experiences in music pedagogy through Project Based Learning (PBL) in primary schools. The study was conducted at Hillside Primary School- Naalya, Wakiso District. It was specifically conducted with the following stakeholders; teachers, learners and school administrators. The study was guided by the following specific objectives; i) To explore PBL as an ATL method for improving music teaching and learning ii) To implement PBL as an innovative method of teaching and learning of music and, (iii) To evaluate the impact of PBL method in teaching and learning of music at Hillside School- Naalya.
The study used Qualitative research design and the research approach used was Participatory Action Research (PAR) which involved the views of all stakeholders in assessing and improving the use of PBL in the music teaching and learning processes. This involved planning, observing, acting, and evaluating almost at every stage of the research process. In some cases, the original plan was changed to suit the prevailing conditions. Purposive sampling was used to get a sample size of 65 participants. The specific methods used include; future workshop, focus group discussion, interviews and observation.
The analysis of the process of Future Workshop usage, revealed the use of passive methods of teaching as the most pressing challenge in Music teaching and learning. As a result, the study recommended the establishment of Music Research and Pedagogy at Hillside Primary school-Naalya to monitor teachers’ and learners’ practices in improving practical experiences in music instruction.
This was done by conducting six practical lessons using PBL. The first project cycle was done and observations were made by learners and participant colleagues. Basing on their observations, a second project cycle was held to check whether there was any improvement in the organization and implementation of PBL made.
The results show that learners get enormous outcomes from PBL. They gained musical skills such as playing of music instruments, singing, acting, dancing and listening. They also gained additional generic soft skills such as communication, entrepreneurship skills, leadership skills, time management skills, skills of creativity and innovation. This is the contemporary direction which everybody needs in their workplace. The teacher of PBL needed to continue improving in the areas of scaffolding learning, teaching learners about group dynamics before projects start. The main challenges discovered with PBL is that it consumes a lot of time, controlling learners’ discipline is hard and it’s expensive in terms of materials used in the practical. It has been suggested that learners can sell some of their products from the project to facilitate the learning. | en_US |
