This roundtable, organized by the Network Democratic Music Education (NeDeMu), invites participants to discuss how democratic principles can meaningfully inform the process of becoming a music teacher within higher education. Founded in 2025, NeDeMu unites over 30 members from music education practice, teacher training, and academia who share the goal of strengthening participation, democracy, and diversity in music pedagogy.

The session revolves around the guiding question: How can music teacher education be designed so that democracy is not only a topic of study, but a lived and experienced practice? This question invites examination of institutional frameworks, curricular structures, and pedagogical relationships that shape democratic participation in teacher education. Discussion will address how power relations, assessment cultures, and traditions of authority influence the professional formation of music teachers, and how more participatory approaches might reshape students’ sense of agency and responsibility within their studies.

The roundtable will take place in a fishbowl format to create an open and dynamic dialogue. Brief impulses from NeDeMu members will introduce diverse perspectives from university contexts, teacher education programs, and professional practice. Participants are then invited to join the inner circle to contribute, exchange experiences, and critically engage with emerging ideas.

Through this interactive setting, the session aims to articulate principles and examples of democratic study structures in music teacher education. Expected outcomes include identifying conditions that enable shared decision-making, collaborative learning, and reflective professionalism—thus linking democratic education processes at university level with the broader vision of democratic music classrooms and communities.