Adapting the Suzuki Method for Two Community Music Programmes in Atteridgeville, South Africa

ABSTRACT The Suzuki method has been used in the Atteridgeville community by two teachers since 2008 to teach the violin at two children’s homes. In using the method, the teachers realised that the needs and circumstances of the students in the Atteridgeville community music programmes led to a natural adaptation of the method. The purpose of this intrinsic case study is to explain the adaptation of the Suzuki method by the two teachers, Babette and Jane, in two community music programmes in Atteridgeville, Pretoria. Data were collected through interviews, observation and photographs, and the data were organised by means of ATLAS.ti 7. The data were analysed by using Susanne Friese’s NCT (Noticing, Collecting, Thinking) model. The six themes that emerged from the data were: 1) Applied Suzuki characteristics; 2) Socio-economic context; 3) Teacher as parent; 4) Student as parent; 5) Making provision for a large number of students; and 6) Challenges of introducing note reading. Suzuki teachers worldwide could benefit from this research by deciding whether – and if so, how – the results from this study are transferrable to their unique communities and contexts.