This presentation explores a collaborative research project conducted in Osby Music School, where the KulturCrew model was used to foster youth participation in cultural life. Through participatory action research and reflective dialogue between researcher and course leaders, the project examined how students could influence the music school’s activities through artistic production, event planning, and shared decision-making.

The study highlights how participation involves more than attendance—it requires ownership of the learning process, space for reflection, and opportunities to shape alternatives. Using methods such as PhotoVoice and weekly reflection sessions, the research design centered student voices and emphasized empowerment, inclusion, and democratic engagement.

Participants will be invited to reflect on how participatory methods can be implemented in music education and how collaborative research can support inclusive and transformative pedagogical practices.

What does artistic expression mean in upper secondary music education, and how do teachers understand and work with this elusive yet central aspect of musical performance? This presentation draws on a postdoctoral study involving interviews with music teachers, revealing that artistic expression is often context-dependent, relational, and difficult to define or assess.

The study identifies a gap between teachers’ artistic expertise and their ability to translate it into pedagogical practice—a challenge understood as a problem of learning transfer. The presentation discusses how teacher education can support students in bridging this gap through analytical reflection, verbalization, and integration of artistic and pedagogical perspectives.

Participants will be invited to discuss how artistic expression can be understood, taught, and assessed in ways that honor both artistic integrity and educational relevance.

This presentation explores project-based learning (PBL) as a pedagogical approach within the Swedish community music school (kulturskola), drawing on ongoing doctoral research at Malmö Academy of Music. The study investigates how PBL can foster democratic participation, student agency, and collaborative creativity in music education.

Through ethnographic methods and practice-based inquiry, the research examines how music teachers and students co-create learning environments that emphasize process over product, dialogue over instruction, and shared responsibility over hierarchical structures. The study is situated within the ULF framework and contributes to the development of inclusive and participatory pedagogies in extracurricular music education.

The presentation invites participants to reflect on how project-based learning can support democratic values in music education, particularly in contexts where traditional teaching models dominate. Interactive discussion will focus on the challenges and possibilities of implementing PBL in diverse cultural and institutional settings.

This presentation explores the relationship between folk music pedagogy and the practice of the Swedish municipal music schools (Kulturskolan), based on an ongoing doctoral project at Malmö Academy of Music. The research investigates how folk music pedagogy has developed in Sweden since the folk music revival, and how its values and methods intersect with the institutional frameworks of Kulturskolan.

Drawing on interviews and fieldwork with teachers and students, the study examines how oral traditions, collective learning, and cultural identity are negotiated within the context of formal music education. The project highlights tensions and synergies between folk music’s community-based ethos and the structured environment of Kulturskolan.

The presentation invites participants to reflect on how folk music pedagogy can contribute to democratic, inclusive, and culturally responsive music education. Discussion will focus on how traditional practices can be adapted to support student agency and intercultural dialogue in contemporary educational settings