This autoethnographic study investigated possibility of incorporating indigenous pedagogies into Ugandan school music and, possibly, general education. School music education in Uganda currently occurs within a colonial-influenced system that does not connect with learners’ indigenous cultures. The colonial system fosters belief that “western” is modernity and “indigenous” is backwardness that should be erased. School music learning is currently experienced in a teacher-dominated, “banking” (Freire, 1970) school system that disempowers learners and produces graduates who cannot address the musical needs of their worlds. Ugandan government measures to improve music and general education have not improved the situation. Literature on the role that indigenous pedagogies could play in a contemporary music education is limited. Through this study, I sought to understand what might happen when indigenous education pedagogies are incorporated in a contemporary, formal school setting. Informed by relevant literature, I interrogated and analyzed my own learning and teaching experiences in Ugandan communities and schools and found that embedding indigenous learning and teaching processes in music classrooms fostered growth in learner leadership, ownership, agency, and identity in the context of mutually shared participatory experiences that learners found relevant and meaningful—experiences that engendered joyful, passionate, collaborative learning, and reification of reflective practice among learners.

这项民族志研究调查了将土著教学法纳入乌干达学校音乐以及可能的通识教育的可能性。目前，乌干达的学校音乐教育是在受殖民地影响的系统中进行的，该系统与学习者的土著文化没有联系。殖民制度促使人们相信“西方”是现代性，“土著”是应被消除的落后性。当前，学校音乐学习是在教师主导的“银行”学校系统中进行的（Freire，1970），该系统剥夺了学习者的能力并产生了无法满足其世界音乐需求的毕业生。乌干达政府改善音乐和通识教育的措施并未改善这一状况。关于土著教学法在当代音乐教育中可能发挥的作用的文献有限。通过这项研究，我试图了解将土著教育教学法并入当代正规学校的情况下可能会发生的情况。在相关文献的指导下，我审问并分析了自己在乌干达社区和学校中的学与教经验，发现将土著学与教过程嵌入音乐教室可以在相互共享的背景下促进学习者领导能力，所有权，代理和身份的增长学习者发现相关和有意义的参与式体验，这些体验带来了快乐，热情，协作的学习，并使学习者之间反思性实践得以具体化。