Ashdance Pedagogy: A Culturally Contextualised Strategy for Musical Instruction

The study was an investigation into Ashanti musical types to unearth distinctive pedagogical strategies that could be formalised for teaching music in Ghana and the globe consequently. It highlighted a development and establishment of a pedagogical concept called Ashdance pedagogy, etymologically coined from the terms, Ashanti and Dances. The study became necessary as a result of dearth of existing culturally contextualised strategies for teaching music, and the overreliance of Western pedagogies for music instruction in Ghanaian context, especially, at the basic level of education. The study was underpinned with the Sociocultural Learning Theory while using grounded theory as the design situated within the qualitative paradigm. Participants included six established ensembles, selected purposively to unearth dances attributable to unique instructional strategies and some inherent values. Leveraging on the dances, values of the songs as well as the embedded strategies for teaching such dances, the study established Ashdance pedagogy, a culturally responsive approach for incorporating Ashanti music styles into basic school musical instruction. It is recommended that teachers build culturally sensitive learning environments that celebrate diversity and encourage cultural preservation by integrating Ashdance pedagogical concepts into the music classroom teaching.

Keywords: Ashdance pedagogy, Alateawe, Dansuom, Ashanti, imitation