Approaches to Teaching Thai Music Theories to Lower Secondary Students

Abstract

The study aims to propose the approaches to teaching Thai music theories to lower secondary students. It employed a qualitative research method. The research instruments are an interview with Thai Music teachers in lower secondary schools and the other with six experts in teaching Thai Music theories. The data was synthesized with analytic induction. The findings show that the approaches to teaching Thai music theories to lower secondary students consist of 4 aspects: 1) Objectives should be specified clearly and they should emphasize development of skills, knowledge, and positive attitudes towards Thai music. 2) Learning content should be suitable for lower secondary students. Teachers should instruct students in types and functions of Thai music ensembles and types of traditional Thai music by focusing on students listening to it rather than teachers lecturing on it. The teachers should make the students learn Thai musical instruments’ sound and provide the basic knowledge of aesthetics of music such as methods of listening to Thai music and reading Thai music notes, starting from the basic to the complex ones. 3) Teaching methods should encourage learning-by-doing. Active Learning, a fun and interesting method which serves the students’ daily life, should involve quality instructional materials and emphasize making students listeners of Thai music rather than producing professional Thai musicians. 4) Assessment and evaluation should be taken in various methods which are adjustable such as observation, interview, class discussion, and authentic assessment.