The Effect of Mode of Instruction and Instrument Authenticity on Children's Attitudes, Information Recall, and Performance Skill for Music from Ghana.

Music educators in the United States who attempt to implement multicultural education face two challenges: (a) limited training in non-Western music and (2) limited access to sufficient numbers of authentic ethnic instruments. Teachers may have to choose between using clinicians or videotaped instructional material and also between procuring authentic ethnic instruments or using traditional classroom instruments they already possess. The purpose of this study was to determine whether modes of instruction (live clinician versus taped instruction) and use of different instruments (culturally authentic versus traditional) affect students' attitudes, recall, and performance skill for Ghanaian music. Sixth-grade students (N-252) received either live instruction with authentic instruments, live instruction with traditional instruments, taped instruction with authentic instruments, or taped instruction with traditional instruments. Students using authentic instruments were found to have significantly higher attitude, recall, and performance scores (p<. 01). Students experiencing live instruction produced significantly higher scores only for performance skills (p<.01). It would appear from this study that authentic instruments are important to achieve optimum attitude and knowledge outcomes in multicultural music instruction. Students also appear to benefit from live instruction over videotape for performance measures. Implications for teaching and further research are discussed.