Student mobility and school internships abroad open doors to places of learning that expand and create spaces for a diversity of voices. Which international gates are open to all our music education students? What baggage do they claim? This round table session presents insights from the ERASMUS+ project TEAM (Teacher Education Academy for Music), which seeks to reshape music teacher education (MTE) by enhancing student mobility and fostering inclusive learning experiences abroad.

While international experiences at esteemed institutions are valued for enriching MTE, mobility remains complex, with low participation among performing arts students (Hovdhaugen & Wiers-Jenssen, 2021). Diverse MTE curricula and financial barriers further complicate mobility, challenging the provision of equitable exchange opportunities across Europe.

Mobility is about navigating departures and arrivals, providing students with access to diverse educational experiences and the opportunity to expand their personal, cultural and professional perspectives. For example, by participating in a school internship abroad, students learn to question their existing perceptions of normality (Rotter, 2014), and are supported in the development of language sensitivity and other skills which are increasingly important in educational contexts (e.g., Cheng & Huang, 2023; Marx & Moss, 2021, Habron, 2007).

In this session, we share developments from the TEAM project. First, we will introduce design principles for mobility. These principles, informed by study plan analyses, a comprehensive literature review, and qualitative interviews with students, teachers, and administrators, aim to support meaningful mobility experiences. We invite participants to join our discussion, offering feedback and sharing their perspectives on the proposed design principles. Second, we will present and discuss helpful hands-on tools for accompanying school internships abroad. These tools (e.g. mentoring materials, tools for fostering cultural sensitivity) have been developed in a Design Research setting (Bakker, 2018) and will be used in the new TEAM-IN Network to which participants are welcome.