Pedagogical Approaches To Teaching African Dances In Tertiary Institutions In Ghana: The Case Of Agbekor Dance Form.

Abstract

The study interrogates the various pedagogical approaches used in teaching indigenous African dance and proposes standardised practice in teaching indigenous African dance at the Department of Dance Studies, University of Ghana. Through an action-based qualitative research approach, the study advances the argument that the current variety of pedagogical methodologies do not adequately address rich complexities of coded movement gestures. Over the years, teaching and learning indigenous African dance has mostly depended on the instructor’s own approaches and methods of imparting indigenous African dances to students. Students have also created various means of memorising drum rhythmic patterns. These individual experimental approaches tend to breed disparate and non-uniformed pedagogies which undermine effective and meaningful transmission of knowledge and techniques associated with African dances in the educational environment. This research, which is an ethnographic practical approach, employs tools such as participant observation, along with interviews of past and current instructors and selected students to elicit their knowledge on practical teaching approaches of traditional dances in the classroom. With a focus on Agbekor music and dance of the Anlo-Ewes the study examines the close relationship between Agbekor music and dance with reference to the rhythmic structures (drum language). The approach demonstrates how effective the three standardised teaching methods are in tertiary institutions in Ghana by employing the three proposed standardised devices which include: ‘mouth’ drumming, interpretation of drum patterns and use of terminologies based on historical and contextual interpretations. The study adopts the cross sensory integration concept of the eye-and-ear as espoused by Meyer-Kalkus (2007) as a conceptual framework. The significance of the study adds to the existing pedagogical approaches and also develops a uniform approach to teaching indigenous African dance that can match with best practices of teaching dance across the world. Key Words: Standardised, Effective, Transmission, Complexities, Language