This ethnographic research was conducted at two intensive Scandinavian music academies with the aim of examining the extent to which there is a Nordic approach to advanced instrumental music teaching. Data collected through observations, interviews, and discussions revealed academy structures, instrumental techniques, and the use of metaphors in…

This article reports on a survey of Norwegian compulsory school music teachers, in which 293 teachers from 239 schools participated. In addition to providing demographic information, the teachers were asked what kinds of music their students listened to, sang, played, and created during lessons, and what activities this music was part of. We…

In this study, we employ a participatory action research framework to investigate how preservice music teachers can take part in developing their own education. The main focus is on how two music teacher educators at two institutions in Norway work to create a space for student voice and participation. The study's data are analysed and presented…

The 2020 Norwegian national curriculum for primary, lower secondary, and upper secondary education includes a "competence aim" after Year 7 that expects pupils to be able to "investigate how gender, gender roles, and sexuality are presented in music and dance in the public sphere and create expressions that challenge…

Based on narratives on six choral conductors' unfolding careers, the article investigates significant moments in professional trajectories -- "turning points" -- and how these shaped ongoing practices. The empirical material comprises interviews with conductors that represent different pre-conducting platforms -- musicologist, music…

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to investigate one single case of four preservice music teachers' (PMTs) in their teaching practicums, carried out as a part of a Norwegian general teacher education program. The main data sources were based on material from three focus group interviews and observations from the PMT's teaching…

This article explores taste processes within a group of musical theater students and their voice teacher, the latter also acting as researcher, while working with an aesthetically broad repertoire in a higher education setting in Norway. The study is designed using an action research approach, and the collected data--students' reflection notes,…

As society changes, new challenges arise for education. Major social upheavals have led to increasing awareness of social justice issues and critical reflection within the field of music education, as well as calls for social and educational change. In this article, five music teacher educators discuss how music teacher educators and pre-service…

This article conceptualizes and discusses change in music teacher education. Results from the FUTURED research project provide the starting point for the article. The project explored various dimensions of change within the music education programs in Norwegian generalist teacher education. In this project, change was regarded as having a…

The article seeks to find ways to re-imagine music-educator professional self-understanding beyond tendencies and constraints created and imposed by neoliberal politics. This involves exploring the conditions for music-teacher professionalism in the Nordic countries today through the position of competency nomads, as well as searching for…

In this article, three researchers and music teacher educators reflect upon the possibilities for and challenges of fostering preservice teachers' critical and democratic capacities and agency in music teacher education in line with recent 21st-century skills-oriented policy reforms. Based on experiences from participatory action research with…

In teaching situations, teachers constantly have to make spontaneous and more or less planned choices based on input from pupils, adapted to the specific school setting and within society's social and cultural norms. Two phenomena underpinning such a view on teacher practices are teacher agency and teacher improvisation. The focus of this article…

In an attempt to bridge the gap between the distinct pedagogical strategies often employed in the respective fields of song and dance, this study investigates how collaborative teaching and dialogue can serve as a starting point in finding new teaching and learning methods. This pilot study involving three teacher-researchers and three students…

In 1997, Norway became the first country to make statutory provision for schools of music and arts requiring every municipality to run such a school. Based on an explicit vision of "schools of music and arts for everyone," the aim is to provide music education for all children, regardless of social and economic background. Despite their…

The purpose of this study was to investigate a broad range of choral conductors' views on competences needed in their own practice, and how education and experience have contributed to their current level of mastery. Choral conductors (N = 685) in Norway, Sweden, and Germany completed a survey covering 15 competence items that together constitute…