Tonic Sol-fa in contemporary choral music practice : a South African case study

The Tonic Sol-fa method of teaching choral singing was propagated throughout Britain during the nineteenth century with the dual objectives of enhancing Christian worship and achieving social reform. It was then imported to South Africa where it was introduced to indigenous people principally through Christian missionary activity and government schools. Although entirely of foreign origin, Tonic Sol-fa was so fully assimilated into African culture that it became effectively 'indigenised'. Due to its widespread use, it became the mainstay of community choral singing and may now be said to represent a significant exogenous aspect of present-day South African musical identity. However, there is little documentation regarding the type and extent of its use in contemporary choral music practice.

This paper will report on the use of Tonic Sol-fa in representative present-day choral music settings. Interview data collected from choir directors, trainers and teachers in Cape Town indicate that there is far from unanimous agreement on several aspects - in particular, the future of Tonic Sol-fa as a pedagogy and notational system. Improving educational opportunities for indigenous South Africans to undertake professional training in music are now threatening the traditional dominance of Tonic Sol-fa in indigenous culture. Nevertheless this research represents a useful case study of the continuing relevance of Tonic Sol-fa to an indigenous population who have 'made it their own' and developed a vibrant choral tradition which continues to both enrich and sustain their lives.

Migrants getting fat in Australia: acculturation and its effects on the nutrition and physical activity of African migrants to developed countries

Obesity is a significant health problem in Australia and other developed countries and acculturation is one fo the many risk factors. This new book summarizes acculturation and anthropometric outcomes among sub-Saharan African migrants in Australia. The book further examines the relationship between acculturation and food, energy and nutrient intake and physical activity. Some policy recommendations are proposed.

Recounting a difficult past : a South African accounting firm's "experiences in transformation"

This article examines the role of oral history in the social construction of collective memory and forgetting. The article presents a case study of a South African public accounting firm's attempt to document the history of race relations within the firm through the publication of a collection of oral histories. The research draws from the sociology of memory and recent scholarship on individual and collective memory in South Africa to analyze the firm's account of its experiences in making the transition from Apartheid to a multiracial democracy. The analysis finds that the firm's portrayal of its history reflects a narrative of reconciliation and redemption that minimizes the deep social and economic divisions that characterize South Africa's past, their relevance to accounting history, and the continuing salience of race to employment in public accounting.

Sharing and speaking about African music : professional development with Swaziland primary school teachers

The teaching and learning of Indigenous African music is characterised as a holistic integrated experience where music, dance and theatre are inseparable, seen as an integral part of culture. The transmission of this experience is absorbed through participation in cultural activities from childhood in the community. In African societies, both traditional and contemporary, musical arts education and the understanding of culture are fundamental to life, community and society. It is through musical arts, that Africans embrace spiritual, emotional, material and intellectual aspects and knowledge of both the individual and the community. This paper reports on an in-service program (August 2006) offered at the Centre for Indigenous African Instrumental Music and Dance Practices (CIIMDA), Pretoria, South Africa. For the purpose of this paper, the one week professional development course undertaken by generalist primary school teachers from Swaziland is highlighted and proves worthy for these teachers to implement what they learnt in the classroom. As a position paper, I contend that the understanding and participation in indigenous cultural musical arts practices, enlightens learners about their cultural heritage and further enriches their understanding of African music and dance that can be adopted, adapted and applied to primary schools in Swaziland. This paper summaries some key findings of interview data from ten participants in relation to the intensive program. By offering such in-service professional development programs, teachers are able to reach their wider communities where they will continue to share and speak about African music, dance and culture.

Dwelling in possibility: aestheticizing identity in African American women's fiction

African American women writers define aesthetics through their negotiation of identity in the politicized loci of space, place and voice. In the balkanization of such issues of voice and space, we can see the ways that the emergent selfis embodied and aestheticized in literature. To do so creates a more tactile and "artfull" representation of the self rather than a representation of identity as a mere abstract concept. To use written language to express the self is to carry processes of selfdefinition for black women into the realm of creative production. For women, especially black women, who are a politically and socially compromised element of society, the written word is a way of expressing the politically and the socially critical voice that is suppressed in other forums of expression. Using theories on "writing in difference" as a skeleton key, this project seeks to outline some of the ways that black women writers use aesthetic elements in their art to express the potential for self-examination, discovery, and emancipation.

Reflections of teacher education students learning of rhythm: Orff to an African beat

This article reports on students' reflections, gathered from questionnaire and interview data, on their learning of rhythm and on their attitudes and  motivation from having engaged with African music as non-music specialists using the Orff approach. The "traditional" Orff approach to classroom music was supplemented with African repertoire which builds on the nexus, identified by Amoaku (1 982), between the Orff method and the traditional way of music learning in African cultures. This article describes my experience as a South African working with Australian non-specialist primary teacher students of predominantly Anglo-Celtic background within the context of a music education unit at Deakin University's Melbourne (Burwood) Campus. As Nketia (1988) points out, I - like many expatriate music educators - have selected music from my own country of origin as the foundation to develop curriculum materials teaching rhythm through non-Western music. The results demonstrate worthwhile experiences and outcomes for both the students and myself.

Overcoming barriers: black African chartered accountants in 1990s South Africa

This paper examines the experiences of black Africans in South Africa who became Chartered Accountants in the 1990s. Building on previous work on marginalized groups within the accounting profession, the study relies on interviews with 22 of those who overcame steep educational, economic, racial, cultural, and political obstacles to join a profession that had fewer than 1% black Africans as members. The interviews indicate that those black Africans who did manage to become CAs in the 1990s shared many common characteristics and experiences. They and their families placed a high value on education and made tremendous sacrifices to meet the requirements to earn the CA certification. Many overcame extreme poverty in their childhoods and attended poorly equipped schools. All were exceptionally accomplished academically, most qualifying for scholarships offered only to the very top black African students in the country. Most faced educational disruptions due to boycotts and political protests that shut down schools and many black universities in the years immediately prior to the bringing down of the apartheid regime. All faced racial discrimination in housing and education. Few had ever met a chartered accountant before enrolling in university; many had never heard of the certification until that point. In the 1990s when they entered some of the major firms to meet their training requirements, they were typically not given the same opportunities as their white peers. Now that they have become Chartered Accountants, and the government has changed and instituted affirmative action policies, most find that they are often offered jobs outside of public accounting. Still only composing about one percent of all chartered accountants, in a country that is 75% black African, most believed that the main road towards overcoming this disparity is through radical efforts to equalize educational opportunities in South Africa across racial lines. Most make professional decisions based at least in part on the opportunities a given position offers towards contributing to the black community.