This qualitative instrumental case study explores Finnish student music teachers' experiences of teaching and learning as participants in an intercultural project in Cambodia. The Multicultural Music University project aimed at increasing master's level music education students' intercultural competencies by providing experiences of teaching and being taught abroad in traditional music and dance programs run by two Cambodian NGOs. The article suggests that beside the importance of learning new music and dance traditions, the student music teachers regarded the learning experiences gained through peerteaching in an unfamiliar context as significant, as these experiences provoked them to step out from their pedagogical comfort zones and to engage in a deep reflection on the nature of teaching and the purpose of music education. Rather than perceiving their teaching as individual achievements the student teachers' reflections proceeded towards an increasing emphasis put on the quality of joint interaction and the benefits gained from having to spontaneously create the structure of lessons in fast-changing situations. Based on the analysis of individual and focus group interviews and other research data, we discuss the concept of teaching as improvisation and its implications for teacher education.
This instrumental case study aims to explore meanings and values in digital musical culture, and to reflect on them in relation to wider conceptualizations of musicianship in the field of music education. The study employs a narrative-biographical approach in analyzing the music-related life stories of a group of practitioners at a London-based music college, whose music-making practices utilize mainly or only digital technologies (they are hence referred to as ‘digital musicians’). The results suggest that those values emphasizing aspects of musical versatility and flexibility, as well as mobility between various musical communities of practice, are specifically connected with digital musicianship. In this study, the values relate to ‘musical cosmopolitanism’, and are believed to furnish possibilities for application to pedagogical/educational practices as well as providing a way forward for 21st century professional musicians.
This qualitative instrumental case study examines collaborative composing in the operabyyou.com online music community from the perspective of learning by utilising the concept of a ‘community of practice’ as a heuristic frame. The article suggests that although informal music practices offer important opportunities for people with varied backgrounds to participate in the production of art works, and may thus represent and illustrate important aspects of the community life of the society, they do not necessarily provide ideal models for the music classroom. Based on the analysis of the operabyyou.com community, we discuss conditions for collaborative composing when aiming to design educational settings that support the students' construction of identity and ownership of musical meaning.
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