Sequencing of Music Syllabus Content and Its Implications On Continuity and Progression in Learning at Secondary School, Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

ABSTRACT It is axiomatic that a young person‘s experience of education should be coherent, continuous and progressive. This can be achieved when the syllabus content layering provides continuity and progression in learning. Many countries and governments like England, Scotland, Australia, United States, Finland and South Africa have made efforts to achieve continuity and progression in learning in general and also in particular subjects. This required the aforementioned nations to reorganize the syllabus content as whole or subject areas. However issues of restructuring also brought in problems of lack of continuity and progression. The national curriculum in use in Kenya, from which the syllabus is developed, has gone through various stages of refinement to suit the local needs in terms of content coverage and also making it relevant to Kenya. In the process however, the issue of lack of continuity and progression have emerged especially at the primary level of education evidenced by research studies. Similar studies are lacking at the secondary school level of education in Kenya. This study therefore sought to assess the sequencing of music content and its implications on continuity and progression of learning at secondary school in Kakamega County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to: first, determine the sequence of content in music syllabus topics between and within different levels of learning at the secondary school. Secondly, to establish whether the sequencing of content in the music syllabus topics provides continuity and progression in learning within the secondary school level of education in Kakamega County, Kenya. Finally, the study sought to create a model that could be used in developing a curriculum and syllabus that ensures continuity and progression in content. The study was guided by Jean Piaget‘s theory of cognitive development which states that cognitive development in all children follows predictable and qualitatively distinct levels or stages which emerge in an invariant and universal sequence. The study adopted descriptive research design and used both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 346 respondents consisting of secondary school teachers of music and students, Music Curriculum Developer and Quality Assurance Standards Officer were sampled. Multiple sampling techniques, i.e. purposive, saturated and stratified were used to sample the respondents. The study used descriptive means to analyze the data. The findings of the study indicate that, content is sequenced thematically and hierarchically in the secondary school syllabus and that the sequencing does not fully provide continuity and progression in learning hence the study created a model that would help provide continuity and progression. The study recommends that sequencing of the music topics in the syllabus be done to achieve the intended goals of education. This study also recommends that the music syllabus content be reviewed to provide continuity and progression in learning at secondary school level. The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Studies (KICD) should adopt the model in the subsequent curriculum and syllabus reviews.