ABSTRACT
The national curriculum in Kenya prescribes what is to be taught at different levels of education. An analysis of the music curriculum reveals a content pegged on Western aesthetic concepts. It is couched in terms and procedures passed down from the traditions that introduced formal education to the country more than 100 years ago. In a country that is developing, Kenyan music educators are faced with the challenge of considering a curriculum content that is relevant to learners’ contextual and global needs. Our assertion in this chapter is: what is taught shapes what one becomes and determines their relevance to society, hence the need to consider the relevance of content for music teaching and learning. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the practice of secondary school music with the aim of postulating ways of enriching it, thereby providing germs that are applicable beyond the geographic boundaries of Kenya.
