Teachers have been asked to blend their communities’ cultures in their teaching to enable them to be more open to other people and cultures.
Dr Lister Nyamasege, who spoke to teachers during their music festival workshop, asked teachers to use music and concerts to instil cultural values in learners by embracing an edu-entertainment approach in their teaching. This would enable them to influence students to love their culture, which forms the foundation of their lives.
“Music, which is taught in our school curriculum, is an integral part of culture. Teachers should use it to explore the aesthetic linguistic talents among their learners and prepare to harness them as they grow, ” she said.
She asked school management boards to set aside cultural days in their schools and support them to test continued collaboration between institutions and the communities surrounding them.
“A school setting is a sample of a family trait that should be continuously reflected among students who should be encouraged to socialise by upholding their cultural practices in the form of eating, approaching elders, and being a brother’s keeper, ” she said.
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Dr.Nyamasege, a teacher at Kereri Girls High School, said that teachers lead learners to love their culture by guiding them to reflect on their own lives and traditional norms and use this knowledge to treat their colleagues from other communities for harmonious national coexistence.
She underscored the importance of embracing cultural studies in schools, as it reduces stereotypes among communities. The more a student learns about culture and races, the fewer mistakes they will make, hindering them from a wider, peaceful global integration.
Mr Nuxon Matwetwe of Nyakoiba Secondary School, who was among the main facilitators of the workshop, asked teachers to view the inter-schools music festival meetings not as mere competition activities but as a great occasion when learners have to reflect and enliven their cultural existence through their physical and emotional presentation of stories, food and interwoven in their music story lines.
“Let us hear and feel the aesthetic use of language and body movement in the performer and be seduced to be part of students’ performances that yearn to revive and live valuable cultural practices in our learning institutions through art, ” he said.
All Kisii County teachers of Music and Drama attended the occasion.
It was graced by former Kisii County Director of Culture and Sports Nyambane Obino.
Obino, a renowned high school language teacher and an expert in theatre, reminded teachers to walk their talk to attract admiration and confidence from their learners.
He asked teachers to encourage learners to use the interschool music festival, which will begin next week in the region, to foster the National integration goals as enshrined in the constitution.
By Enock Okong’o
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