Music, Education, and Sustainability

This article discusses the construct of sustainability in relation to West African educational contexts, and specifically, the case study of Nandom. Nandom is located in the north of Ghana and has about 10,000 people living in the town and its satellite villages, all with some degree of access to mains electricity, local radio stations, cell phones and the internet, yet isolated from the main centers of power further south. The experience of school music education in Nandom is presented here as a way of exploring the impact and ultimate interpretation of government policy when applied in a remote context. The article discusses instrumental music tuition in particular, and provides an empirical discussion of the daily activities of music teachers and students and the steps they must take to execute their music education goals.