Integrating indigenous music instruments into Uganda's competency-based curriculum : a qualitative multiple-case study of opportunities, challenges, and decolonial pathways in Wakiso district secondary schools

Abstract

Uganda's Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) for lower secondary schools signals a transformative shift toward learner-centred, contextually responsive education, yet integration of indigenous music instruments Adungu (bow-harp), Endingidi (tube-fiddle), Akogo (lamellaphone), Engoma (drums), and Enanga (trough zither) into formal music education remains substantially underexplored. This qualitative multiple-case study investigated the opportunities, challenges, and decolonial pathways for integrating indigenous instruments into CBC music education across six secondary schools in Wakiso District, Uganda. Drawing on decolonial pedagogy, indigenous knowledge systems theory, and sociocultural learning theory, the study employed lesson observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis with 114 participants: 18 music teachers, 90 learners (S1–S4), and six school administrators. Thematic analysis revealed four opportunity themes CBC's competency orientation, cultural relevance imperatives, learner-centred pedagogies, and assessment flexibility alongside four challenge themes: instrument scarcity, teacher capacity gaps, colonial curriculum legacies, and resource inequities. Four decolonial integration pathways emerged: community-school partnerships, teacher professional development grounded in indigenous epistemologies, curriculum localisation embedding indigenous instruments as core content, and policy advocacy for equitable resource allocation. Findings demonstrate that indigenous instruments can operationalise CBC principles while advancing educational decolonisation, but systemic barriers require coordinated intervention across policy, pedagogy, and resource provisioning. The study contributes empirical evidence to inform curriculum implementation, teacher education reform, and culturally responsive music pedagogy in Uganda and comparable postcolonial contexts globally.