Instrumental and vocal teaching in schools takes diverse forms across Europe, ranging from classroom-based approaches to small group and individual tuition. These practices are essential for fostering musical skills, supporting student agency, and cultivating lifelong engagement with music. Yet, despite their importance, approaches to instrumental/vocal pedagogy within general school settings remain fragmented and underrepresented in international discourse.

This symposium seeks to bring together international colleagues who are engaged in school-based instrumental/vocal teaching and research. The session will provide space to share perspectives, explore common challenges, and discuss orientations for future collaboration – possibly in a new EAS Special Focus Group. Core questions include:

• What themes and practices unite us in instrumental and vocal teaching in schools?
• How can we create stronger visibility and advocacy for this field within music education?
• In what form do we want to work together as an EAS Special Focus Group?

To discuss these topics in light of the conference theme, four short presentations will highlight different facets of the interface between instrumental/vocal pedagogy and general music education in Germany and Austria. For decades, instrumental/vocal tuition in the music education system of German-speaking countries tended to feature a privileged clientele, as it mainly took place within fee-based lessons at music schools. Since the turn of the millenium, however, programmes focused on vocal/instrumental training have also been established within general schools, which are ascribed “the potential to reach all children and young people with systematic, diverse music education" (FMV, 2021, p. 6). Consequently, an important claim of these initiatives was to foster inclusivity of music education by enabling access and equal participation (Krupp, 2022). The four presentations examine this claim in relation to the professional reality of the music school teachers involved, institutional logic and expectations of cooperating partners, and new approaches to teacher training.

This symposium celebrates 30 years of music education research at Malmö Academy of Music, Lund university, by presenting four practice-based studies that explore how music education can advance democratic values, participation, diversity, and social cohesion. Rooted in the framework of practice-based research, the projects span music schools, upper secondary schools, and higher music education - and reflect Malmö’s long-standing commitment to bridging artistic and pedagogical inquiry.

Drawing on the socio-cultural perspective of musical learning as cultural practice (Folkestad, 1996), the symposium highlights how music education research must engage with both formal and informal learning, and how artistic and educational dimensions are deeply intertwined. Adriana Di Lorenzo Tillborg’s study on KulturCrew shows how youth-led cultural production fosters empowerment and shared responsibility. Markus Tullberg explores the elusive concept of artistic expression in upper secondary education, revealing tensions between artistic expertise and pedagogical practice. Hannes Wikström investigates project-based learning in the Swedish Kulturskola, emphasizing student agency and collaborative creativity. Sven Midgren examines folk music pedagogy, showing how oral traditions and collective learning can enrich institutional music education.

Together, these contributions offer a coherent and multi-perspectival exploration of democratic music education in and around school contexts. The symposium format encourages interactive dialogue, inviting participants to reflect on how music education research can respond to societal challenges and become a space for transformation.

The importance of maintaining a continuous dialogue with the international research community cannot be overstated—especially for a small country like Sweden and the Nordic region. Over three decades, international conferences, collaborations, and global scholarship have been vital sources of inspiration. Now, as we look ahead, we invite the EAS community to join us in shaping the next generation of music education research—one that is artistically grounded, pedagogically inclusive, and globally connected.

Preparing preservice teachers for primary and early years music education requires more than classroom strategies; it involves cultivating openness, cultural literacy, and appreciation of artistic diversity. At the University of Cyprus, generalist student teachers as part of their music education classes, attend a concert by the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra and document their experiences through structured reflective diaries. This assignment is designed to expand students’ musical horizons, particularly for those with no prior exposure to live symphonic performance, by encouraging critical, affective, and contextual engagement. This study examines 400 reflective diaries of student teachers, which serve as the primary data collection source, to investigate how live classical music experiences inform preservice teachers’ perceptions of classical music’s educational and social significance. The main research question addresses how attending a live symphony orchestra concert influences students’ perceptions of classical music’s role in education and society. Two sub-questions explore how students articulate shifts in their musical understanding and attitudes, and how these reflections shape their developing identities as inclusive, culturally responsive educators. Thematic analysis revealed recurring themes of discovery, emotional impact, recognition of cultural value, pedagogical inspiration, and emerging professional responsibility. Students frequently described the concert as a transformative experience that challenged their prior assumptions, highlighted the accessibility of classical music, and foregrounded its collective and integrative dimensions. Reflections also indicated heightened awareness of music’s capacity to foster inclusion and social connection, alongside concrete ideas for classroom integration. Situated within the discourse on democracy and music education, the study argues that structured reflection on cultural experiences beyond students’ everyday contexts can enhance teachers’ capacity to foster participation and articulate the artistic value of diverse musical forms. Such experiences enrich professional identity formation and support the development of educational practices that position music as a means for social cohesion, empathy, and democratic engagement.

What happens if music education in schools – especially in the realm of concerts - shifts from a top-down focus to a bottom-up one, placing content, artistic design and executing squarely in the hands of students?

This presentation focuses on two practical examples of the development of “Concert Labs” in music education in school. Through their distinctive concept, they combine participation and concert design, creating connections between music education, community music and democratic education. A central aspect is the integration of democratic learning processes through Service Learning (Sliwka, 2005/2018), which links artistic practice with educational aims and the common good.

Furthermore, the term “Concert Lab” is introduced as a structural and methodological format in schools that combines creative experimentation with music and its mediation, performative practice, and reflection on the societal relevance of one’s own cultural influence. The guiding principles correspond to the four dimensions of the “Musical Creativities” model (Burnard, 2012): interculturality, collaboration, empathy, and communal interaction. The implementation of these aspects is illustrated through the practical examples and underlined with the concept of the “creative field” (Burow, 2019).

The presentation further discusses the democracy-education competencies teachers require in such collaborative, self-determined, cross-domain learning and working forms. It addresses intrapersonal, physical, and pedagogical–social factors that foster creativity in school projects (Haager, 2019).

A guiding question asks whether—and to what extent—these practice exemplars realize aspects of utopian thinking in music education (Kertz-Welzel, 2022), beginning with the democratization of music-making as exemplified by the “Concert Labs,” and their orientation toward the respective community, or a reflective practice in open teaching–learning situations in which cultural affiliations, identities, and attitudes are examined.

Conservatory music students often view themselves as either musicians/ performers or teachers, but not both simultaneously (Freer & Bennett, 2012). For the performance majors, students typically focus on playing and working towards being a virtuoso performer, with limited intention to teach. These students usually lack a formal pedagogical background, although they may occasionally engage in limited one-to-one teaching contexts. However, to make a living as a performer is not easy nowadays. The musical career compels them to integrate teaching into their artistic lives. Many of them tend to embrace a teaching artist career, which combines teaching and presenting their artistic work simultaneously (Jaffe et al., 2013). This study presents an analysis of the experiences of five Italian conservatory music major students who were involved in family concerts for the local community. This study aims to document how their participation in the family concerts fostered the development of an educational mindset.

The participants were enrolled in the pedagogy course during the 2025 academic year, and the family concert project was an integral part of the class activities. The project was divided into three stages: the first involved learning fundamental pedagogy theories and approaches, the second entailed designing and rehearsing two family concerts, and the final stage consisted of giving family concerts to a group of elementary students and completing a reflection questionnaire.

Based on the students’ questionnaire responses and written reflections, preliminary findings suggest that the students underwent a transformative process marked by a shift in their beliefs and values related to music education (Mezirow, 1995; 2018), as well as an expanded sense of musical identity (Parkes, 2022). The participants began to envision themselves as both teachers and performers, discovering a genuine interest in and passion for teaching. The findings and implications for music education will be discussed during the presentation.

Across Europe and beyond, performing arts education is asked to demonstrate its relevance for learners and society (Winner et al., 2013). While curricula and policy recommendations suggest that arts education is tasked with strengthening participation and social cohesion (UNESCO, 2024), little is known about what performing arts educators actually aim to achieve and why, and how policy and cultural contexts shape those ambitions. This study maps educators’ aims, motivations, and perceived challenges across countries and sectors, asking: (1) What aims and motivations drive performing-arts educators’ work? (2) How do policy or cultural contexts mediate democratic ambitions in performing arts education? 

Method

The study is part of the Horizon Europe project dialoguing@rts (d@rts) which aims to investigate how a dialogue-based and participative performing arts education advances cultural literacy, social cohesion and inclusion. We conducted 29 semi-structured interviews and seven group discussions with performing arts educators in music, dance, and drama from Norway, Finland, Italy, Germany, Serbia, Uganda, and New Zealand, who work in formal and non-formal educational settings. We coded the data following the qualitative content analysis approach by Kuckartz and Rädiker (2024), integrating deductive, theory-driven codes with inductive, data-driven codes, refining them in an iterative cycle.

Results

Preliminary results show that across countries, shared aims cluster around participation and community building, yet educators report pursuing them amid funding cuts and a polarized political public opinion. We anticipate completing analyses by early 2026 and we expect to offer practice-based insights on how music education can cultivate participation and social cohesion in diverse contexts—and what institutional supports are required.

This paper presents the formation of the Music Education 4.0 framework, which emerged as a local theory from a three-year Design-Based Research initiative conducted in a private elementary school in Greece. Through iterative cycles of design, implementation, analysis, and redesign, the study aimed to develop a coherent, human-centered, and post-digital perspective on music learning that integrates emerging and immersive technologies, artificial intelligence, and the pedagogical principles of STREAM education.

Cross-cycle analysis identified four interconnected dimensions of learning that accounted for students’ engagement and development—creative autonomy, collaborative problem-solving, computational thinking, and sensory-emotional immersion. These were underpinned by transversal mechanisms of learning through artifacts, embodied engagement, meta-narration, and mediated collaboration, which together functioned as analytic categories and design drivers for subsequent iterations. Building on these mechanisms, a coherent set of actionable design heuristics was established, including participatory co-creation and role rotation, multimodal making for public audiences, scaffolded progression with gradual fading, authentic tasks and process documentation, artifact-based assessment through co-created rubrics, and the cultivation of critical post-digital literacy.

Grounded in constructivism and constructionism, sociocultural theory, cognitive apprenticeship, pragmatism, conceptual change, and creative learning, Music Education 4.0 articulates a coherent set of design principles and practical heuristics for curriculum design, assessment, and classroom orchestration. The framework reconceptualizes the learner as an active agent and the teacher as a designer-researcher, positioning physical–digital hybridity as a catalyst for inclusive participation and deeper musical understanding.

In conclusion, the paper highlights implications for curriculum development—through the integration of making-centered, STREAM-aligned learning sequences—teacher education—through designerly inquiry and reflective iteration—and school-based innovation—by emphasizing scalable design patterns. It further outlines directions for the continued validation and contextual adaptation of the framework, contributing to broader discourses on participation, inclusion, and social cohesion in contemporary music education.

This paper aims to present and compare the public music education systems in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. Particular emphasis is placed on their historical foundations, main characteristics and development prospects in the context of democratising music education. The analysis draws on the theoretical concepts of cultural democratisation (Dubois, 2012), community music-making (Veblen, 2007, 2012) and inclusive pedagogical practices (Burnard et al., 2008; Green, 2008). These frameworks emphasise accessibility, participation, and inclusivity, offering a means of examining regional systems.

Public music education in these countries began in the early 20th century and developed through a network of schools, later expanding to higher education in some countries. These systems' value lies in public funding: while modest tuition fees may exist, education is largely publicly financed and widely available, with active involvement of diverse social groups. However, the realisation of the ideal of music education for every child is still limited by socio-economic factors, parental/community support, and societal awareness of its value (Bačlija Sušić, 2018).

Methodologically, the paper draws on a comparative analysis of legal frameworks, cultural policy documents and scholarly sources. Despite organisational differences and transitional challenges, the analysis shows that public music education systems in the region have strong potential for development through curriculum modernisation, embracing digital teaching methods, and fostering international cooperation. Teachers and schools play a pivotal role in promoting cultural democratisation and inclusivity (Westerlund & Partti, 2018). The findings show that music schools’ engagement with communities through projects, festivals, and concerts enhances the vitality and social contribution of music education.

It can be concluded that music education in these countries is an important model of cultural democratisation, sustaining artistic vitality while promoting equal participation. The core values of accessibility, openness and inclusivity could form the basis for a more equitable music education approach across Europe.

This 90-minute workshop examines how democratic music education can be conceptualized and practiced, drawing on design-based research within the European project TEAM – Teacher Education Academy for Music. Building on theoretical perspectives in democratic music education (Allsup, 2007; Woodford, 2005; DeLorenzo, 2016), the session is grounded in the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (Council of Europe, 2018), which addresses values, attitudes, skills, and knowledge and critical understanding. Through a combination of practice-based activities and collective reflection, the workshop investigates how democratic practices can be articulated and enacted in music education.

The workshop is a revised version of the student session at the EAS in Dublin 2024. Participants begin with a participatory warm-up, followed by a phase of personal reflection. In small groups, they then share and discuss their own experiences with democracy and participation in educational contexts. These reflections are subsequently connected to designs and impulses developed within TEAM, enabling participants to generate insights that inform both their pedagogical practice and the project’s ongoing research.

The format is embedded in TEAM’s iterative research design. First insights from reconstructive studies of explicit and implicit knowledge on democracy and participation in music universities suggest that the democratic norm is reflected in diverse and sometimes contradictory ways in everyday practice (Buchborn & Stade, 2025). By situating personal perspectives within a research-informed framework, the workshop contributes to a European discourse on how democratic principles can be meaningfully integrated into music teaching and learning across varied contexts.

One of the deliverables of the Erasmus+ Teacher Academy ‘Teacher Education Academy for Music’ (TEAM, 2023-2026, https://teacher-academy-music.eu) is to develop data-based European-wide ‘TEAM Learning Outcomes for Music Teacher Education’ for future generalist and specialist music teachers, working in primary and secondary schools throughout Europe, in diverse teaching and learning environments. These learning outcomes are an offer that can serve as a basis for national and regional curricular work within music teacher education programmes in European countries.

The 2006-2009 EU project ‘music education Network’ (meNet) issued ‘Learning Outcomes (LOs) for Specialist Music Teachers’ and, in 2013, the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS) also published a complementary set of LOs for generalists (Hennessy et al., 2009 & 2013). In this rapidly changing world, the TEAM working group 6 (https://teacher-academy-music.eu/WP-6) had the ambition of formulating a future-proof set of LOs by including societal challenges such as sustainability and democratic education, as well as ‘emergent themes’ such as diversity and inclusion, practitioner research and professional development, global (artistic) citizenship, interdisciplinarity, collaborations, and digitisation (Author 1 et al., 2025). The revision and updating of the existing LOs is now complete. By formulating and disseminating the new LOs we hope to have a long-term impact on the transformation of music teacher education; on initial teacher education as well as continuous lifelong learning programmes for in-service teachers.

In this roundtable session:
(1) we will introduce the new set of TEAM LOs and the process by which they were formulated,
(2) a first critical friend will critically examine the set in light of the conference theme, addressing issues of participation, diversity and social cohesion; and
(3) a second critical friend will comment on and discuss the possible impact of the TEAM LOs on music teacher education, in-service professional development, classroom music, and advocacy.

The European educational landscape is characterised by diverse national systems, each shaped by distinct cultural, political, and historical contexts. Within this, music education reflects both shared democratic values and unique local traditions, making comparative perspectives essential for understanding how education responds to societal needs (Laes, Biesta & Westerlund, 2025).

This Roundtable, presented within the Erasmus+ project TEAM–Teacher Education Academy for Music, and organised collaboratively with the EAS National Coordinators, focuses on findings of one of the project’s aims, namely to map school music education across Europe.

Data were gathered from 31 European countries through questionnaires completed by National Coordinators and leading music education scholars. This questionnaire was structured around six thematic areas: political framework, school structure, music in schools, music curriculum, current trends, and future development. This design facilitates cross-national comparison while respecting national particularities.

Key findings from the TEAM data, supported by relevant examples illustrating the growing awareness of how school music can create spaces for inclusion, diversity and cultural understanding, will be presented. These provide the framework for this roundtable’s central aim: to engage participants in critical reflection and dialogue around advancing democractic principles through music education. We invite all those committed to promoting democratic values to debate and discuss:

• How can school music education more effectively advance democracy, participation, and student agency?
• How can music curricula celebrate and preserve national music traditions while embracing cultural diversity and preparing students for life in pluralist, globalised societies?
• What strategies would enhance accessibility to music education and better integrate it with formal schooling?

The session seeks to deepen understanding of music education as a space where democratic values and cultural diversity intersect, thus opening possibilities for advancing music education, positioning it simultaneously as a reflection of Europe’s pluralism and as a vital resource for sustaining inclusive and democratic societies.

This workshop explores the singing voice as a site of democratic engagement, identity, and empowerment in music education. Based on experiences from Swedish teacher education programs, we address how students’ vocal insecurities, reflect broader issues of exclusion, normativity, and silencing.

The Silenced Voice: A Democratic Concern

When students do not feel entitled to use their voice, it becomes not simply a pedagogical issue—but a democratic one. This has long-term implications. Future educators who lack vocal confidence may struggle to create and lead inclusive musical activities based on a variety of voices. The music classroom must therefore become a space where students are supported in reclaiming their voice- both on an individual level as well as on a reflective level when it comes to repertoire.

The workshop draws on Nick Couldry’s concept of voice as a value—not merely the capacity to speak, but the recognition that one’s voice matters in shaping social and political life (Couldry, 2010). It also builds on Gert Biesta’s notion of subjectification and education as a space for becoming, where the purpose is not only to learn but to exist meaningfully in relation to others (Biesta, 2017).

Format

We invite the participants to a 45-minute interactive voice workshop where we together explore how different sounds and singing ideals can be acknowledged and valued in the classroom. We will work together with a versatile repertoire and experience examples of how a plurality of vocal sounds can be explored and discussed with the conference participants. As a way of working practically with the voice, we take our starting point in Janice Chapman´s thoughts on Primal Sound as described in her book Singing and teaching singing (Chapman, 2017).

It is widely acknowledged that music can serve as a powerful educational tool to overcome social barriers. In this context, active learning models that promote student interaction have gained increasing importance (Niemi, 2002; Niemi & Nevgi, 2014). One such approach is peer-assisted learning (PAL), defined as “the acquisition of knowledge and skill through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions” (Topping, 2005, p. 631). While previous studies in music education have mainly examined PAL in performance contexts (Duran et al., 2020; Graham, 2024; Johnson, 2011; Johnson, 2017; Veniel-Martí & Botella-Nicolás, 2025), its application in content-rich and discursive areas such as music history remains underexplored.

This mixed-methods study investigated the effects of symmetrical and asymmetrical PAL structures on student engagement and achievement in third-year secondary school music classrooms. Sixty-two students participated across twelve sessions, distributed into three instructional conditions: direct instruction, symmetrical PAL (SPAL), and asymmetrical PAL (APAL). A quasi-experimental design assessed pretest–posttest achievement and teacher-rated engagement, complemented by qualitative insights from teacher interviews.

Quantitative analyses revealed no statistically significant differences in test score improvement across groups. However, engagement emerged as a strong predictor of posttest performance, irrespective of instructional condition. Qualitative findings highlighted increased motivation, autonomy, and cooperative initiative in SPAL pairings, where mutual responsibility was more evident. In contrast, APAL pairings occasionally led to passive participation from the tutee.

The results suggest that PAL can foster meaningful engagement and social interaction in music education, extending beyond performance-based learning into concept-rich domains such as music history. This study contributes to ongoing discussions on active and inclusive pedagogy by demonstrating how structured peer interaction may enhance both academic and socio-emotional outcomes in school-based music classrooms.

This paper explores how assessment in music education can serve as a democratic act of participation, belonging, and shared meaning making. Grounded in Reggio Emilia pedagogy, artography, and aesthetic criticism, the inquiry reimagines assessment not as a measurement of achievement but as a living process of co-constructing value and interpretation through artistic engagement. Drawing from classroom inquiries and teacher education contexts, the work illustrates how formative documentation, reflective dialogue, and aesthetic response can make musical learning visible, relational, and transformative.

Through practices such as learning stories, soundscape composition, and collaborative reflection, participants engaged in assessment as inquiry—observing, interpreting, and narrating learning in ways that honour creativity, emotion, and growth. Rather than asking what students know, teachers and learners co-created evidence of how they come to know through music. These processes invited students to represent understanding through story, sound, movement, and image, creating multiple pathways for participation and inclusion.

Findings suggest that democratic learning in music flourishes when assessment becomes participatory, reflective, and situated in authentic artistic processes. Students expressed heightened agency, empathy, and belonging, while teachers deepened their understanding of learners’ identities and musical ways of knowing. Approaching assessment as a form of living dialogue advances democratic ideals of participation and equity in arts-based education, affirming that how we assess is inseparable from how we teach, learn, and live together through music.

Background

Early music-making is a multisensory form of play involving voice, movement, and sound (Nieuwmeijer et al., 2019), situated within specific temporal and spatial contexts (Young & Ilari, 2019). Through their audacious experiments in sound, children create a "children's musical culture" (Bjørkvold, 1992), through which they “negotiate ways to be heard in the adult world, appropriating and internalizing multiple experiences and realities” (Lim, 2021, p. 344). Drawing on outdoor education research that views the natural environment as an inclusive, rich setting for sensory and embodied learning, this study explored the musical play of five children at a forest school kindergarten.

Aims

Recognizing children’s innate capacity for music-making and their potential to learn through exploration and peer interactions, along with an enriching "third teacher" environment (see, Reggio Emilia), we aimed to explore the musical play of six young children with diverse abilities and cultural backgrounds in outdoor spaces using natural setting resources and loose parts. The following research questions guided the action research study:

1. How do the young children use natural materials to make music?
2. How do the young children perceive the affordance of the outdoor environment for their musical play?

Method

Over three cycles of environment-based teaching scenarios, we collected data through teacher-researcher observations, reflective journals, and informal discussions with children. The teacher-researcher served as a facilitator.

Findings

The findings showed that all children engaged in a dynamic improvisational activity involving movement, gestures, language play, and sophisticated sound exploration. The environment and natural resources offered inclusive affordances for all children to interact with their peers using sound (see Small, 1998), while also enhancing their environmental awareness.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that nature can support young children’s self-initiated music-making and offer an inclusive environment for sound exploration and connecting with nature.

In early childhood music groups, social cohesion is not an abstract concept but a daily, lived experience. This presentation explores how music can transform disorganized, emotionally charged group dynamics into moments of connection, empathy, and belonging. Drawing on the practical experience from Muzikutis, an early childhood music education studio in Vilnius, Lithuania, this session illustrates how music can help even the youngest learners—and their parents—learn to live and act together harmoniously.

At Muzikutis, children as young as one and a half years old attend group sessions with their parents. These classes often begin in apparent chaos: children move freely, explore sounds unpredictably, and express strong emotions. However, through carefully structured musical activities—rhythmic games, songs, and movement—the group gradually finds common focus and emotional alignment. The transition from noise to music mirrors the process of building social cohesion itself: through listening, repetition, and shared attention, participants start to attune to one another.

The presentation discusses how musical interaction fosters empathy, co-regulation, and non-verbal communication between children and adults. It also highlights the teacher’s role as both facilitator and emotional anchor, shaping a safe environment that encourages inclusion and self-expression.

By analysing real classroom examples, this talk demonstrates that early childhood music education can serve as a microcosm of society—where trust, cooperation, and respect are learned through sound and silence. Music, in this sense, becomes not only an educational tool but also a social practice that helps us learn how to be together.

Background & aims

Arts education is often positioned as a vehicle of social justice, cultivating empathy, critical reflection, and civic responsibility through practices such as music and dance. Researchers frequently advocate for inclusion, diversity, and engagement with global challenges (Juntunen & Partti, 2022; Wilson, 2023). But what happens to arts education research in times of genocide and mass atrocity? This paper presents findings from a systematic literature review investigating how educators and communities engage with and mobilize music and dance education amid genocide, and how such practices compare across contexts including the Holocaust, Armenia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, and Gaza. In doing so, it raises a critical but underexplored question: How does arts education contribute (or not) to awareness, testimony, survival, support, and critical consciousness in times of genocide, not just in its aftermath?

Method

Using the PRISMA 2020 framework (Page et al., 2021), this review identifies and synthesizes peer-reviewed and grey literature on music and drama education enacted during or in response to mass violence. Eligible studies span formal, non-formal, and diasporic contexts involving learners and educators. Special attention is given to power relations and political dimensions – such as testimony, cultural resistance, psychosocial survival, and the ethical tensions of creating or researching under atrocity.

Main contribution & implications

Our review study exposes silences and possibilities, and assesses tensions between “after-the-fact” and “in-the-moment” approaches. Emerging findings call for reframing arts education research as an urgent, politically accountable practice in times of mass violence. In turn this has implications for the ethical and social responsibilities of arts education and its researchers. Final results will be available in spring 2026. This contribution invites discussion on the responsibilities and risks of arts educators working under conditions of power, politics, and structural violence.

Music Education 2010–2025.

This presentation examines English music education policy from 2010 to 2025 as a manifestation of intersecting neoliberal and neoconservative political rationalities, exploring how these have shaped music teachers’ opportunities for democratic engagement in developing the structures, epistemologies, and pedagogies of music education. It argues that the alignment of these rationalities has produced an emphasis on, on the one hand, accountability, performativity, and efficiency, and on the other, cultural restoration, moral authority, and a return to traditional repertoires and values.

Drawing on Phelan’s (2014) and Laclau’s (1996) concepts of shared antagonisms, empty signifiers, and antagonistic others, the presentation contends that influential actors within English music education have aligned with government policy to reconcile ideological tensions in ways that promote a traditionalist paradigm serving both neoliberal and neoconservative ends. This alignment has contributed to the erosion of democratic spaces in which dissent and alternative visions for music education might otherwise flourish. Music subject association acting as discourse communities, policy actors and policy and inspection frameworks have played key roles in embedding these discourses in practice, often at the expense of teachers’ professional autonomy and capacity and opportunities for democratic engagement

Nevertheless, possibilities remain for teachers to resist, subvert, and reimagine music education as a diverse, inclusive, and socially meaningful practice, and for music subject associations to be re-envisioned as politically engaged discourse communities supporting teachers’ democratic agency. Ultimately, the presentation argues for recognising the deeply political nature of music education and for reclaiming professional agency and autonomy against constraining policy discourses.

The discourse surrounding digitalization in general (DEAP EU, 2025) and in music culture (Stade & Buchborn, 2025) has long heralded profound democratization promises – promising increased access, participation, and creative freedom through digital technologies. This symposium critically examines the extent to which these promises have been fulfilled in practice. While digital tools and platforms have undoubtedly lowered formal barriers to music production and distribution, the reality reveals significant limitations (Clements, 2019: 61).

The purported democratization is complicated by persistent structural inequalities, requiring high levels of cultural and technical competence that sometimes limit genuine accessibility. Moreover, the optimistic narrative of intuitive, low-threshold technology is contested by the demanding learning curves and the economic pressures exerted on creators within highly commodified markets. Furthermore, technological mediation shapes new power dynamics rather than dissolving existing hierarchies, often reproducing social exclusions based on class, gender, and race. Consequently, democratization manifests less as holistic democratic inclusion. More as fragmented forms of participation shaped by economic and social forces (Wernicke & Ahlers, 2023).

This analysis invites a critical assessment of digitalization’s role in music culture, arguing for a nuances understanding that situates democratization within broader social-economic and political contexts. Is the narrative of intuitive and low-threshold digital music production a realistic portrayal, or does it obscure the complex economic and technical barriers that limit true democratic participation? How can music educators ensure the capabilities of students and teachers and balance the innovative capabilities of digital tools with the preservation of traditional artistic practices and humanistic values?

The topics in this symposium address, respectively, the power relations embedded in participatory concepts and digital infrastructures, the algorithmic dynamics of platform culture as a threat to democratic discourse, and the informal, self-directed learning processes through which students engage with music and cultivate democratic competencies in online environments.

In initial teacher training, reinforcing artistic and cultural experiences is essential (Casals et al., 2024). Artistic and performance-based creation processes, structured through the Service-Learning (SL) methodology, offer effective tools for educational development. This symposium aims to present and critically analizes three experiences from Bachelor’s degrees in Early Childhood and Primary Education, aligned with an emerging training model. The projects, implemented by the University of Barcelona (UB), Rovira i Virgili University (URV), and Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), integrate musical and performative creations with the active involvement of children and the collaboration of cultural organizations. These initiatives culminate in participatory lived concerts conceived as innovative, multimodal, and interactive pedagogical experiences. They transcend traditional academic spaces, fostering meaningful connections between universities and educational communities. Within a framework that conceives the stage as a dynamic and democratic educational space—where sound, body, poetry, and critical thought converge (Raymond, 2019; Palau, 2025)—the projects promote students’ expressive skills, pedagogical knowledge, self-regulated learning, and values related to self-awareness and social engagement. The research, involving 120 university students, uses a qualitative methodology combining observation, photovoice, interviews, and student narratives. This triangulation provides a rich perspective on the initiatives’ educational impact.The symposium is envisioned as a collaborative dialogue with the audience, oriented toward critical reflection on this emerging training model. Musical and performative dynamics will be incorporated, not merely as performative additions but as strategies to activate and collect new insights based on the participants' own artistic experience. This participatory dimension is expected to contribute both to the generation of new data and to the enhancement of the training model being presented.

Sustainability is a broad and complex idea, yet it can be meaningfully introduced to learners of all ages in the context of music education. Grounding music education practice in democratic values promotes inclusion and allows all pupils to participate in creating a shared understanding of sustainability that is relevant to them. Therefore, this workshop presents a pedagogical design that supports primary and lower secondary school pupils’ engagement with sustainability through composition exercises.

By framing sustainability in a relational paradigm, the workshop highlights how music education can support awareness of interdependence in ecosystems and societies, and how such an awareness connects to democratic participation and social engagement (Hess, 2019). Through the integration of music and storytelling, the design seeks to address both cognitive and affective qualities of sustainability (Ojala, 2013).

Developed within the Erasmus Plus TEAM project, this workshop follows a pedagogical design that has been adapted for music lessons in primary and lower secondary school. It contains three parts:

1. Introduction: sustainability is explored through music-based activities adaptable to different ages and levels of musical proficiency. The aim is to build systems awareness by noticing interconnections and interdependence.

2. Composition: participants collaboratively compose a short musical story, using musical elements to represent sustainability-related ideas, thereby practicing both creative expression and relational thinking.

3. Reflection: the process concludes with two levels of reflection: one on the artistic ideas behind the composition and one linking the activities back to participants’ own teaching practices.

Through this design, the workshop offers a concrete approach to integrating global concerns into everyday music teaching. Participants will gain tools to develop pupils’ systems awareness, empathy, and collaborative agency, thereby linking music education to democratic, ecological and social aims.

The musical progression and musical behaviours of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are not fundamentally dissimilar to that of their typically developing peers (Ockelford, 2008; Welch & Ockelford, 2010). Depriving them, therefore, of a high-quality music education that develops them as musicians is literally dehumanizing (Lubet, 2009) and as such, they are entitled to this as a matter of social justice. However, most research that connects disability and music is not aimed at music education or particularly accessible for teachers, but is typically music therapy focused (Berthén et al., 2022). Given the coexisting nature (Ockelford, 2008) and increasing complexity (Salt, 2010; Carpenter, 2007; Pinney, 2017) of learners’ needs in special school settings, this is concerning and has resulted in a lack of professional guidance available for teachers of music.

Based on the research and professional work of both presenters, this workshop explores an intersection of knowledge between the practice of in-service generalist teachers in special schools in England and music teachers in Sweden. Suggestions of the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) required for teaching music to pupils with SEND, and the training required to develop this with both groups of practitioners, are shared and discussed. Practical examples will highlight the importance of teachers knowledge and competence i.e: selecting appropriate and accessible instruments and notation; movements, non-verbal strategies, cues for teaching musical concepts; and principles for adaptions (Backman Bister et al., 2025; Johnston, 2023).

This workshop offers a mutual approach to and understanding of SEND music teaching as an area of professional practice. However, the ideas shared are simply a starting point; given the range of SEND seen in today’s classrooms, teachers will need to continually adapt their pedagogy and teaching strategies further to meet the specific and increasingly complex needs of learners with SEND.

Background: Traditional instrumental education often prioritizes technical reproduction through a master-apprentice hierarchy. While this directive approach can be useful for acquiring specific technical skills, it often limits opportunities for students to develop independent artistic agency and their own musical voice.

Aims: This paper proposes CORE, a conceptual framework that redefines musical creativity not as a transmissible skill, but as an emergent property arising from collaborative processes. It aims to provide educators with a practical heuristic to design environments where creativity is invited to emerge rather than enforced.

Method: The framework is grounded in established music education literature and the authors' own empirical research. To ensure the model is useful for teacher training and policy design, we employed a parsimonious selection of key components, prioritizing theoretical transparency and practical applicability over complexity.

Results: In the CORE framework, Creativity (C) results from the dynamic interplay between three elements:

• Didactic Organization (O): The teacher acts as a "constraint curator," designing ill-defined problems supported by enabling constraints.

• Self-Regulation (R): The student acts as a self-regulating agent, employing creative metacognition to navigate ambiguity.

• 4E Cognition (E): The interaction is situated in a context where cognition is Embodied, Embedded, Enacted, and Extended.

Conclusions: The CORE framework suggests that developing creativity requires balancing teacher-led structure with student autonomy. By explicitly cultivating self-regulation skills within a carefully designed ecosystem, music education can empower students to become resilient, creative agents capable of shaping their own musical worlds.

Key References: Burnard, P. (2012); McPherson, G. E., & Zimmerman, B. J. (2011); Schiavio, A., & Benedek, M. (2020); Juarrero, A. (2023).

Finnish music education is grounded in teachers’ professional independence and capacity for critical reflection to foster students’ autonomy (see Juntunen, 2015). Autonomy-supportive teaching promotes student agency, self-regulated learning, motivation, and well-being for both students and teachers (Moè et al., 2022; Reeve et al., 2022). Yet research reveals a gap between these ideals and classroom realities, as many teachers still display controlling (Jiang et al., 2019) or chaotic (Bouten et al., 2025) styles that thwart students’ basic psychological needs (Deci & Ryan, 2000).

This presentation introduces two approaches to help bridge this gap: the Circumplex Model for examining teachers’ motivating and demotivating styles (Aelterman et al., 2019) and a comics-based reflective tool designed to enhance teachers’ reflexivity in one-to-one instruction. This sub-study, part of an ongoing doctoral project, aims to help teachers reflect on discrepancies between their beliefs and classroom practices in becoming more autonomy supportive.

Five Finnish instrumental teachers and five of their students participated in two semi-structured interviews and a group discussion. In the first interview, participants selected preferred teaching styles from 14 research-based comics depicting seven autonomy-supportive and controlling approaches and explained their choices. Teachers were also introduced to Reeve et al.’s (2022) Autonomy-Supportive Instructional Behaviors (ASIBs). In the second interview, students and teachers identified comics representing their real experiences. Interview and discussion data were thematically analyzed using ATLAS.ti.

Preliminary findings indicate that students of more controlling teachers sought greater autonomy, while those of more autonomy-supportive teachers occasionally desired more structure. Teachers struggled to balance autonomy and control, revealing also clear discrepancies between their ideals and practices. Participants found the comics valuable for pedagogical reflection and the ASIB checklist useful as a practical classroom reminder for teachers. The results suggest that these tools can help teachers navigate in the borderland between (de)motivating teaching styles and strengthen autonomy-supportive practice.

Learning a musical instrument can be one of the most gratifying experiences for a child; however, it may also be a cause of frustration (Costa-Giomi, 2005; Evans, 2009; McPherson et al., 2015). To understand the causes of attrition and lack of persistence in children and adolescents participating in instrumental music education, Deci & Ryan's (1985) self-determination theory (SDT) is most commonly used (Földi & Józsa, 2022; Kavčič Pucihar et al., 2024; Oliveira et al., 2021; Wieser et al., 2024; Wieser & Müller, 2025).

Drawing on the SDT framework, we designed an intervention to study the changes in the behavior of musical instrument pupils when their basic psychological needs (BPN) for relatedness, competence, and autonomy are specifically supported in teaching, and whether these changes would lead to greater learning persistence. The intervention was held at a local music school, where 55 pupils were taught by eight students from the University of Ljubljana's Academy of Music and Faculty of Health Sciences. Pupils had 8-10 weekly 45-minute lessons in addition to the curriculum. Students were instructed to use a teaching approach that supported pupils' BPN. We employed a qualitative research design (Creswell & Creswell, 2023) to study the effects of the intervention.

Analysis of focus group interviews with music school instrument teachers and written reflections from university students revealed observed changes that fell into six categories: motivation, well-being, attitude toward the instrument, learning outcomes, teacher-student relationship, and teaching approach. Pupils' increased motivation and sense of well-being, as well as a more positive attitude toward their instrument, were most highlighted.

These findings suggest that supporting the BPN of pupils who play musical instruments can lead to greater motivation and improve well-being, both major contributors to learning persistence (Schatt, 2024), as well as a shift towards a more positive attitude towards playing a musical instrument.

In the Italian context, the theme of intercultural education (Demetrio & Favaro, 2002; Alleman-Ghionda, 2009) entered the core of the pedagogical debate in the 1990s, when Italy began to experience new migratory flows. The Ministero dell’Istruzione issued specific guidelines on intercultural education (MIUR, 2006; 2014), and both teachers and music educators initiated studies and research in this field.

This paper presents a literature review on the topic of intercultural music education in Italy over the past decades. Italian publications on music education and pedagogy from the last 35 years were examined, with a focus on five editorial series and two journals, selecting articles and essays specifically addressing this theme.

The analysis highlights that the intercultural approach to music education is rooted not only in the broader framework of Italian pedagogical thought (Portera, 2013; Perucca, 2017), but also— and above all— in an anthropological perspective that redefines music beyond Eurocentric paradigms (Blacking, 1976; Piatti, 1994; Facci, 1998; Schippers, 2010; Spaccazzocchi, 2011; Disoteo, 2014). This theoretical orientation has inspired and documented a range of educational practices developed by teachers across various school levels throughout Italy.

Intercultural music education has evolved in close connection with other key themes, particularly identity (Disoteo & Piatti, 2002) and musical creativity (Piatti & Strobino, 2011; Strobino, 2022; Vitali, 2025).

We consider it crucial to bring the intercultural perspective back into the public and academic discourse, especially in light of the current resurgence of nationalist tendencies in Italy, which seek to reform the school system under the guise of a static and idealized notion of “Italian traditions.” The decades-long commitment to music education as a means of overcoming ethnocentrism represents the only viable path toward building an inclusive, free, democratic, and supportive society. This commitment must be narrated, renewed, and strengthened.

Emerging from a pedagogical context that prioritizes participation and intercultural dialogue, this paper outlines a collaborative ethnomusicological project conducted during the 2023–2024 academic year at the Department of Music, University of Prishtina, Kosova. Set within Kosova’s post-conflict, multi-ethnic cultural landscape, the project responded to the urgent need for inclusive and democratic educational practices that engage with diverse cultural narratives.

Undergraduate students from Albanian, Roma, Turkish, Gorani, and Bosniak backgrounds documented and analyzed traditional musical practices within their own communities. Kosova’s rich yet complex cultural tapestry provided both a dynamic foundation for exploration and a meaningful context in which music acted as a bridge between communities.

Grounded in participatory ethnomusicology and democratic pedagogies, the project positioned the classroom as a space for research, cultural exchange, and shared knowledge production. Using a community-based participatory approach, students acted as researchers within their communities, employing interviews, participant observation, and field recordings. The instructor facilitated research design, ethics, and analytical discussions, while students collaboratively analyzed data through transcription, contextual interpretation, and reflection. This collective process ensured that multiple perspectives shaped the outcomes, embodying participatory and democratic principles in both content and method.

The project strengthened students’ ethnomusicological research skills while fostering shared authorship, intercultural understanding, and active representation of cultural heritage. It also challenged traditional teacher–student hierarchies by involving students as co-researchers and cultural mediators. Activities included planning fieldwork, recording performances, transcribing and contextualizing musical materials, and co-producing a collective ethnographic video documentary. Outcomes included enhanced student engagement, strengthened intercultural competencies, and a multimedia ethnographic documentary, demonstrating ethnomusicology’s potential as a democratic and inclusive pedagogical space.

Textbooks remain a central medium through which music curricula are implemented and experienced by teachers and students. Beyond being pedagogical tools, they also reflect societal values, cultural hierarchies, and political agendas. In Kosovo, a country with a rich yet complex cultural heritage and diverse ethnic communities, music textbooks play a critical role in shaping young people’s understanding of musical traditions, identity, and belonging.

This paper critically examines the representation of diversity and inclusion in Kosovo’s music education textbooks. Drawing on my experience as a textbook author and curriculum developer, the study explores the extent to which minority musical traditions, gender perspectives, and diverse cultural voices are integrated—or marginalized—within current teaching materials.

The research employs content and discourse analysis to review textbooks used in primary and secondary schools, focusing on repertoire selection, language, imagery, and pedagogical framing. Complementing this analysis, qualitative data were collected through interviews and focus groups with music teachers and students to explore how they perceive the materials and whether they feel represented by the content.

Findings reveal that while some progress has been made in incorporating elements of cultural diversity, dominant narratives continue to privilege Western classical traditions and majority cultural perspectives. Teachers often feel constrained by rigid structures and limited resources, which hinder their ability to adapt materials to better reflect their students’ backgrounds and experiences.

The paper argues for a participatory approach to textbook development, where teachers, students, and communities are actively involved in co-creating inclusive educational resources. By rethinking textbook design, music education can move beyond mere transmission of knowledge to become a site of democratic dialogue, fostering mutual respect and social cohesion. Recommendations are offered for policymakers, authors, and educators seeking to create materials that truly reflect the diversity of Kosovo’s society.

This workshop presents an interactive and participant-oriented form of poetic inquiry that invites active and collaborative exploration of student voices through artistic, hands-on engagement.

By combining ideas from concrete and graphic poetry – such as those of the pioneering poet and theorist Mary Ellen Solt – with principles of arts-based and participatory research, the session introduces a method of poetic inquiry that turns data into collaborative reflection.

During the workshop, participants – teachers, students, or researchers – are encouraged to create their own concrete (graphic) poems using words and fragments derived from transcripts of student interviews. Drawing on the well-known concept of “Fridge Poetry” or “Magnetic Poetry”, the comparative act of combining in vivo statements (words and sentences derived from raw data) is presented as a creative analytical tool, particularly suited to dialogic group processes where the interpretation of student voice is in focus.

The method showcased has been developed and utilised within a PhD project in music education, focusing on interdisciplinary, project-based learning in the Swedish Arts and Music School. All research participants are fully anonymised in the “magnetic-poetry kit” used during the session. Workshop participants will also have the opportunity to create their own samples of “poetic magnets” – ideal for those wishing to bring home a concrete idea for their own educational/researcher practice.

Ultimately, the workshop demonstrates a playful yet rigorous method with potential to foster democratic participation, strengthen social cohesion, and inspire collaboration across educational communities.

General education schools and their music classrooms are key arenas in which social norms, belonging and participation are continually negotiated. In pluralistic societies they both reflect and shape how difference is addressed, how democratic values are enacted and how power is distributed.

This workshop invites participants to explore the potential of postmigrant perspectives to critically reflect on music education and reshape it in pluralistic societies.

Drawing on Naika Foroutan’s theory of the postmigrant society (2021), which frames migration not as a deviation, but as a constitutive element of society, the workshop positions music education as a space where lines of difference like heritage, language, gender and power become pedagogically relevant and politically meaningful.

The workshop is structured in three phases:

1. Arrival and collective orientation: Two short warm-up activities support interpersonal connection and activate prior knowledge: a “living statistics” exercise and a Mentimeter-based word cloud on the term postmigrant society.
2. Theoretical input and case example: A short input introduces core ideas from postmigrant theory and highlights their relevance to democratic education. A case from school-based music teaching illustrates how belonging and exclusion are negotiated in everyday pedagogical practice.
3. Reflexive exploration: Through the “think–pair–share” method, participants reflect on how these issues relate to their own teaching and institutional contexts, concluding with a shared discussion (via thematic clustering or mapping).

The workshop aims to provide conceptual impulses and participatory tools to advance music education as a field of democratic participation and social cohesion. It offers space for open dialogue, acknowledges diverse educational realities and fosters reflection on how music teaching can respond to societal transformation.

The workshop is intended for 10–20 participants and requires a projector for visual presentation.

Design-based research (DBR) is an internationally recognized framework for the empirically grounded development of educational designs and generating local theories related to the design (e.g. McKenney & Reeves, 2019; Bakker, 2019; Reinmann, 2005). In music education research, Design-based research approaches have been successfully used for the design of and research on various innovative formats of learning and teaching in schools (e.g. Aigner, 2017; Buchborn et al., 2022; Höller, 2022; Konrad, 2021; Theisohn, 2023; Treß, 2022; Völker, 2023) as well as in instrumental pedagogy (e.g. Heiden, 2018; Kehrer, 2013).

However, as first reflections of such projects suggest, collaborations between practitioners and researchers are not always free of misunderstandings or differences in different target objectives, time logics and practices (Konrad, 2019; Endres, Treß & Völker, 2024). Therefore, according to Dilger and Euler (2017), a successful collaboration is not only one that lasts as long as planned and needed, but also one that draws attention to the practitioner’s and researcher’s individual needs, beliefs, values and resources. As hierarchies in resources (e.g. financial, workload, knowledge) and power influence the collaboration, we suggest to understand the democratization of Design-based Research as a resource-sensitive negotiation of roles and role constellations and a self-chosen degree of participation.

Against this background, the current research paper provides an overview over current literature concerning possible roles and role constellations of practitioners and researchers in Design-based Research studies, summarizing them in a model (Endres & Buchborn, in preparation). Drawing on examples from music education research, we will invite to a discussion on subject-specific roles and role constellations as well as the potential of DBR to democratizise music educational research.

Although research-informed teaching is increasingly emphasized in education policy and teacher training, pedagogical research is often perceived by practitioners as inaccessible, irrelevant, or overly abstract (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993; Farley-Ripple et al., 2018; Hargreaves, 2007; Matusov, 2017). Many teachers report that academic articles rarely communicate clearly what works in practice, making them difficult to read and apply. This disconnect poses a challenge to the development of professional competence, which depends on the integration of theory and practice—and is positively linked to student learning outcomes.

This study investigates how Norwegian music teacher students engage with research-based knowledge and how such engagement can support their development as reflective, research-informed, and democratically minded practitioners. The project combines survey data with a practice-based assignment to explore students’ attitudes, experiences, and challenges related to research literacy: reading, comprehending, and applying research in music education.

In the first phase, a survey examines students’ perceptions of research relevance, preferred access formats, and barriers to engagement. It also explores their understanding of what constitutes a research article and whether research has influenced their pedagogical thinking. In the second phase, students select a peer-reviewed article, summarise it in accessible language, and design a teaching plan that applies its insights to a real-world music education setting. They then reflect on the process and its impact on their thinking and practice.

By foregrounding students’ voices and experiences, the project highlights how research engagement can foster critical thinking, professional agency, and pedagogical innovation—key components of democratic education. The findings offer insights into how music education programs can better integrate research literacy to promote participation, diversity of perspectives, and social responsibility.

This 90-minute symposium, in an empty chair format, will present and discuss findings from the Horizon Europe project dialoguing@rts, which explores how performing arts education can foster inclusion and contribute to social cohesion by enhancing cultural literacy. The project spans Norway, Finland, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Uganda, and Aotearoa New Zealand, engaging participants of all ages and roles, especially in schools and community arts.

In Work Package 2, an assessment framework for cultural literacy education has been developed which is now used for a quantitative large-scale survey in 5 European and 2 non-European countries. For the development of the framework, we conducted a participatory approach, also facing questions of decolonizing quantitative research.

Work Package 3 investigates how performing arts education creates spaces for cultural literacy and social inclusion. Through ethnographic case studies across Norway, Italy, Serbia, and Germany, WP3 identifies both drivers and constraints in current practices.

Adopting a critical participatory research approach, Work Package 4 realized artistic interventions through participation-oriented residencies, including one in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Ulm. These residencies aim to foster social cohesion by engaging communities in collaborative performing arts practices. Competence portfolios were developed to capture both individual and collective transformative learning.

By situating these findings within postcolonial perspectives and broader debates on diversity, social (in)justice, and democratic participation, the symposium will reflect on how performing arts education can strengthen inclusion and social cohesion. The comparative view highlights opportunities offered by dialogical approaches

Musicking, in its multiple facets, involves bodily interactions with and through music. Collective musicking can be a way to learn music in a democratic way through embodied musical interactions, enhancing students’ participation and agency. Music teaching and learning through experience has been the basis for active pedagogies since the early 20th century. Actually, the increasing use of technology and AI challenges the role of the body in music learning, but can also open new ways for multimodal approaches. New interactions with sound and other art forms democratise access to music creation. It can be an opportunity for innovative forms of students’ engagement through musicking in interdisciplinary projects.

In our reflection on our teaching practices, we argue that the role of the body is key to support students’ agency and self-expression by referring to a strong conceptual framework provided by research about embodied music pedagogy (Bremmer & Nijs, 2022, 2024). It explains the empowering mechanism of embodied music learning, including agency, pro-social behaviour and creativity (Leman, 2016). It provides orientations for how to engage students in participatory tasks and how to enhance their creative interactions with and through music and other arts.

Our symposium has the aim to bring together different perspectives on embodied music teaching and learning. After a short introduction about embodiment in music education, each presenter will enlarge this perspective through a specific framework (creative experience, active music listening, multimodality, use of technology). Each presentation includes a hands-on activity and specific questions for the audience.

During the discussion part, the participants are invited to share their understanding of practice and research about embodied music pedagogy through a Miro board. In this symposium, we want to connect teachers, students and researchers from diverse backgrounds in order to continue our reflection about practice and research after the conference.

Although music education practitioners are acknowledged as important actors in music education research, their potential role as researchers is sometimes overlooked. Recognising their potential and considering them as fully-fledged researchers empowers them to become initiators, contributors, and participants in the development of knowledge within the field. The practitioner research paradigm offers a response to this issue. Since the establishment of the EAS special focus group Practitioner Research in Music Education (PRiME), this paradigm has received increased attention across Europe. At the two institutions represented in this symposium, practitioner research has even become the dominant paradigm at both the master’s and PhD levels. In this symposium, we aim to present our ongoing work and share examples of ‘good practice’. The first, conceptual presentation will elaborate on the promise of a genuine practitioner research approach, discussing its objectives, methodologies, and potential outcomes. The second presentation will describe a practitioner research project conducted at the Master’s level, in which two case studies and three activities were designed, implemented and studied by the teacher-researcher. The activities focused on creativity and ownership and took place in the context of the Dutch project Orkest in de Klas (Orchestra in the classroom) with small groups of beginner clarinet students aged 9-11. Each activity was documented through classroom observations, followed by student reflections, teachers’ interviews, and feedback. The third presentation will introduce a PhD-level project, in which the presenter engaged in practitioner research as a conductor-arranger in two youth/student orchestra settings. By gathering and discussing musician feedback on their instrument part, he tailored new orchestrations and informed an amateur orchestration framework in which the concept of orchestration was broadened with a pedagogical dimension. A representative of the special focus group PRiME will act as discussant for this symposium, alongside a colleague who researches the research-practice gap.

Portugal is a country shaped by multiple cultures, which resonates every day in vibrant communities of musical diversity in schools. After the 32nd. EAS Conference in Évora, this workshop intends to invite the participants to a joyful musical trip back to Portugal. The session seeks to foster the participants’ creativity and play through music and movement proposals from across the country, with diverse methodologies to unlock voices and bodies: the participants’, and their students’ ones. The workshop is organised in three dimensions: i) creative and playful proposals with Portuguese music, designed as a class for 0-12-year-old children; ii) key concepts for theoretical discussion; and iii) methodological remarks involving planning and classroom management. Activity examples include the dance “Silva silva, enleio enleio” (from the Alentejo region, collected by Marchi, Piedade & Morais 2010), with the participants invited to improvise lyrics and movement; the song “Tia Anica” (from the Algarve region), with the participants engaged in gesture and rhyming improvisation; and the song “Dom Frederico”, with the participants replacing the words with creative gestures. The main concepts to be addressed are: i) the role of music in children’s cultures (Sarmento, 2021) related to learning contexts; ii) children’s musical agency and protagonism (Madalozzo, Fernandes & Ilari, 2025) within the Portuguese educational context; iii) participatory music practices in teaching and learning contexts (Baker, 2021); iv) music education as a common good and a possibility for fostering democratic citizenship based on equality, collaboration, sharing, and care (Kioupkiolis, 2019); and v) active citizenship in school (Fernandes, 2021) though music education. Besides the methodological discussion, the main implication for future practices is the development of a horizontal, democratic, and creative approach to music education among the participants, which may lead to the dissemination of songs, musical games, and inventive ideas to be adapted to their educational contexts.

Sustainability in music education can be approached as topical knowledge and as an integrated way of working with democratic values and societal challenges. Sustainability as a question of equity and justice based in systems thinking highlights the relations between music education practices and socio-ecological issues, enabling the music classroom to become a space where ethical and political questions can be explored. This paper presents two case studies of music teachers who worked with sustainability in their practice as part of a broader research project investigating the nexus between formal music education and sustainability.

The participating teachers work in international primary and secondary schools, respectively. Both independently chose to develop soundscape composition projects, one with six-year-olds and the other with twelve-year-olds. Data was generated through interviews, classroom observations, and materials produced by the teachers and their pupils. Grounded in practice theory (Schatzki, 1996, 2001), the study investigates how music teachers engage with sustainability in their pedagogical practice.

Preliminary outcomes of the ongoing analysis suggest that working with soundscapes provided an accessible connection between the learners, music, and their immediate environment as a form sustainability awareness. The outcomes also raised the question of whether the ‘sustainability label’ is necessary, as it might introduce conceptual complexity that hinders rather than facilitates engagement. Although the music learning outcomes were clear from the outset, the significance of sustainability remained ambiguous. The projects were inspired by sustainability, yet this framing was not revisited with the pupils at the end. While the work allowed pupils to express imagination and ideas musically, it also challenged the teachers’ belief that music lessons should primarily focus on the mastery of musical skills through performance-based practices.

By focusing on teachers’ experiences, the paper illustrates how they construct meaning around sustainability and negotiate tensions between aesthetic and political purposes of music education.

This paper presents the final results of the Musical Narratives project, which explored how primary school students (ages 7–10) invent musical narratives—symbolic sound structures analogous to storytelling (Barrett, 2003; Stadler Elmer, 2015). Building on a participatory action-research framework (Ferrance, 2000; Kindon et al., 2007; Stöckler, 2023), the study examined how students collectively developed, modified, or discarded musical ideas during a ten-week invention process. Three classes participated in the project. Data include audio-video recordings of group work, supported by clip-on microphones capturing peer dialogue, teacher reflections, and transcriptions of the musical narratives. Video-based content analysis (Mayring, 2019; Huber, 2020) focused on moments of negotiation—when students justified why a musical idea should be changed, maintained, or excluded.

Findings reveal a progressive transformation from individually generated ideas toward shared, co-constructed sound structures. Early sessions show exploration, with students collecting personal sound samples inspired by objects; later sessions involve increasing negotiation, coordination, and synthesis of ideas into group narratives. As organisational complexity grew, leadership roles often emerged spontaneously. Negotiation alternated between verbal explanations—such as explicit reasoning for musical decisions—and non-verbal cues, including gestures, movements, imitation, or musical responses within the group. Differences across age groups suggest developmental variations in how students externalise reasoning and manage disagreement. Beyond age, additional factors—such as group composition, prior collaboration, and task framing—appeared to shape how students spoke about, or refrained from speaking about, their creative musical ideas.

These analyses raise a broader question for discussion: What influences the ways students verbalise, negotiate, and transform their musical ideas when co-creating sound structures together? Addressing this question offers insights into how participatory music learning environments can cultivate both agency and relational understanding through shared invention.

Teaching music to children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) is an under-researched (Ockelford & Markou, 2012) but complex area of professional practice. Teachers require a combination of music subject knowledge and specialist SEND pedagogy to meet the coexisting nature (Ockelford, 2008) and increasing complexity (Salt, 2010; Carpenter, 2007; Pinney, 2017) of learners’ needs. Despite this, there is a lack of mutual understanding of the training teachers require to teach SEND music effectively, with little attention paid to this within the professional and academic literature.

As a means of addressing this, a recent doctoral study examined the efficacy of a skills-based teacher training and mentoring model in SEND music (Johnston, 2023). The research involved four generalist (non-music specialist) in-service teacher participants from a primary special needs school (GTSS) in the UK. The longitudinal case study utilised various data collection tools including interviews, focus group discussions and classroom observations. Learner-centred theory framed decisions regarding the pragmatic nature of training and mentoring, as well as the analysis and reporting of data. Findings highlighted the importance of GTSS receiving domain specific, situated training and mentoring (Catalano, 2015; Lave & Wenger, 1991) from a SEND music specialist.

This spoken paper reveals what this training and mentoring looked like, exploring somewhat predictable connections with the music training of generalist teachers in mainstream schools, but crucially, identifying new links with early years music pedagogy (Bremmer, 2021) and with music training for early years teachers (Bainger, 2010; Barrett, Zhukov & Welch, 2019). The idea that music specialist teachers and early years music teachers could therefore play an equally important role in the music training and mentoring of GTSS is proposed, inviting further exploration of the potential interdisciplinary nature of the SEND and early years music education fields in terms of pedagogy, practice and professional development.

Music can play an important role in democratic education by offering students meaningful opportunities for personal growth and active participation within their communities (Hawkins, 2024; Hess, 2019; Okafor & Okunbor, 2023; Woodford, 2005). This is closely linked to the development of socio-emotional competencies within music education settings (Svalina, 2025; Varadi, 2022). Although there is increasing recognition of the importance of socio-emotional abilities, these skills continue to be undervalued compared to academic achievement in many educational contexts (Edgar, 2013; Pešikan & Lalović, 2018).

This paper examines the My Values and Virtues initiative, introduced by UNICEF Montenegro in partnership with the Ministry of Education in 2015 (2015–present), and its subsequent expansion through the Vivum Project implemented in Montenegrin secondary music schools in 2022. The initiative aimed to enhance the following socio-emotional skills: collaboration, self-regulation, creativity, empathy, tolerance, optimism, honesty and gratitude. Manuals were created for primary and secondary education to facilitate the incorporation of initiative strategies into the national curricula framework (Backović et al., 2018; Vujović et al., 2020). These manuals offer teaching guidelines and sample activities across all curricular domains, including science, language, physical education, music, and art. To date, the initiative has engaged a wide range of educators and students through workshops, including music-focused sessions strategically designed to embed values and virtues across learning outcomes of primary and secondary music education. The Vivum Project engaged over 150 students from specialised high music schools in collaborative activities, like orchestral performance and songwriting, promoting teamwork and community building while supporting socio-emotional growth.

By systematically embedding values and virtues within structured music education, the initiative demonstrates the transformative capacity of arts-based pedagogy. Beyond enhancing artistic proficiency, this initiative highlights the potential of values-orientated learning to contribute to the creation of inclusive, democratic, and more tolerant societies.

Theoretical background and context of the paper

English secondary schools have practice rooms besides the music classroom. They are used for group work during music lessons and open outside lesson time providing equal access for all students to musical instruments. Peripatetic teachers also use them for instrumental lessons.

Having taught in the UK for 18 years, I moved to Denmark in 2017 where most schools only have a single music classroom and no practice rooms. The lack of practice rooms limits the variety of teaching and learning styles making lessons predominantly teacher-led. To change this, I created some make-shift practice rooms in 2018 which inspired a few schools to build practice rooms in 2021-2023.

Aims of the project

In 2021 the Danish Cultural Ministry made available a pool of 40 million DKK, entitled ‘Seize the Engagement’. Music services could apply for funding for projects focusing on increasing children’s access to and engagement in cultural activities. Musik & Billedskolen applied to purchase four containers which were placed in the playground at a local state school and filled with musical instruments.

Method or pedagogical approach

I have carried out interviews with students and headteachers in the UK and DK on the benefits of practice rooms and creative containers.

Focus on students working in groups with the teacher as a facilitator.

Activities

The Creative Containers are open during breaks and after school as alternatives to the sports field and as free creative spaces to explore and engage with music.

They are used for curriculum music lessons as well as instrumental tuition.

Certain students are in charge of overseeing the rooms or Containers.

Outcomes

The free access is breaking down socioeconomic barriers to learning and accessing musical instruments.

Creating a space for deliberation, inclusion, agency and shared responsibility.

Informal Music Learning (IML) is regarded as a pedagogical approach that fosters autonomy, collaboration and creativity within music education (Green, 2017). It has been researched within Western contexts over many years and has gained positive findings (Hallam et al., 2017; Weatherly et al., 2024). However, it is still at the exploration stage in Chinese school music education (Law & Ho, 2015). The latest “Chinese Compulsory Education Arts Curriculum Standards” (2022) emphasised concepts such as fostering students’ autonomy, creativity, and comprehensive practical abilities, thereby providing opportunities and conditions for exploring democratic and inclusive approaches within school music education.

This qualitative study explored how music teachers from two different primary schools in Beijing who had, previously, no experience of IML, included the IML approach within their own teaching environments. The case study data consisted of semi-structured individual interviews, notes from group meetings with the two teachers, classroom observation field notes, teachers’ reflective diaries and a classroom evaluation form developed in collaboration with teachers.

Research findings showed that the two teachers did not replicate the whole IML approach but, rather, selectively adopted its core principles and methods based on the demands of their educational environment and personal teaching experience. In group meetings, they designed and developed a series of teaching strategies, such as constructing instructional scaffolding, creating a formative evaluation form, and integrating IML with Chinese traditional music and project-based learning.

Findings have revealed that in democratised music classrooms, teachers still play a key role. In this paper I will discuss how the teachers balanced innovation and norms, managed emotions and institutions within specific cultural contexts and pressures, and constructed teaching spaces that facilitated democratic practice for students. This study could also provide a reference case for subsequent IML practices within the context of Chinese schools.

This workshop explores how collective singing in school-based pop and youth choirs can foster participation, creativity, and musical engagement. Focusing on accessible and motivating approaches to choral work, it demonstrates how popular music can become a bridge between students’ everyday musical worlds and the goals of music education in schools.

The session begins with a short “Pop-Up Pop-Choir” experience, illustrating how spontaneous participation and instant music-making can create a sense of community and shared ownership. Building on this idea, the workshop then turns to more traditional choir settings, including singing from notation. Participants will experience and discuss practical methods for rehearsing and performing pop choir repertoire with adolescents.

A key focus lies on musical co-creation: how students can be involved in artistic decisions—not only by choosing repertoire, but shaping their meaningful interpretations and developing ideas for performance and movement. These participatory processes encourage motivation, self-efficacy, and collective responsibility, while strengthening the social dimension of school music-making. Also democratic dimensons of choir singing - which are easier to access with young people in popular music - will be highlighted.

Participants will receive hands-on ideas for selecting suitable songs, leading rehearsals, and arranging pop choir pieces—sometimes even “live” during the rehearsal process. Core musical elements such as groove, phrasing, timing, and stage presence will be explored practically through singing and movement.

By combining musical experience, practical engagement, and collaborative creativity, the workshop invites reflection on how pop choir work can support participatory and musically high-quality learning environments. It aims to inspire music teachers and educators to integrate popular choral practices that are both artistically fulfilling and socially meaningful.

Recent German-speaking research on digitalisation in music education highlights both opportunities and research gaps: On the one hand, empirical studies have examined the use of apps in music-making processes (Gerland, 2022). On the other hand, there is little research on using digital musical instruments in special educational contexts (Förster, 2022). Völker et al. (2025) identify participation as one central orientation of music teachers, emphasising that digitalisation can promote musical participation through accessibility, particularly for learners with special educational needs. Yet, inclusive ideas are not consistently reflected in teachers' everyday practices.

The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in music education appears both challenging and promising: While AI technologies may trigger a paradigm shift (Krebs et al., i. r.), they also create tensions between the potential loss and the enhancement of creative processes in music learning (Rotsch, 2025). Against this backdrop, the present study asks what is essential to ensure low-threshold access to AI technologies that foster participation and agency, thereby supporting the inclusion of all learners in creative music-making processes.

Group discussions with teachers were conducted in professionalisation programmes for music educators. The collected data were analysed using inductive qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz, 2010). The study examines how teachers perceive the relevance of participation and agency in the context of AI in music education, the challenges they face in fostering agency, and the conditions they consider crucial for meaningful participation. Furthermore, it highlights teachers’ concerns, uncertainties, and fears regarding the use of AI, alongside the opportunities and potentials they associate with it.

Finally, the contribution contextualises these findings within the competency models DigCompEdu (Joint Research Centre, n.d.) and UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Teachers (Miao & Cukurova, 2024), advocating reflective and responsible use of AI in music education while positioning AI competence as a factor of social inclusion and exclusion.

The content, curricula, and entrance examinations of music teacher education (MTE) tend to attract and select relatively homogenous groups that do not represent the existing societal and musical diversity (BFG Musikpädagogik, 2024 (MULEM-Ex); Hall et al., 2024; Elpus, 2015). Whether as a symptom or a cause, only a small fraction of the vast (and particularly in the digital domain rapidly expanding) range of existing musical instruments is present in MTE.

From poststructuralist and new materialist perspectives, musical instruments carry and produce knowledge and culture. Ismaiel-Wendt coined the term MusikmachDinge ("MusicmakingThings", MMT) to describe musical instruments as actants (Ankrich & Latour, 2006, pp. 399-400) that shape how music is made, perceived and learned – sometimes even more than the humans engaging with them (Ismaiel-Wendt, 2016, pp. 9&17).

A holistic, culturally responsive and diversity-conscious MTE must reflect on the accessibility of different MMT and the material aspects that shape music (education).

This practice paper discusses an approach to addressing this need through the co-creation of a so-called Digital-Analog Music Lab (DAMuLab)—a flexible multi-purpose environment (e.g., for ensemble playing, teaching-lab projects, research) that offers low-barrier access to a wide variety of MMT—following a participative approach in which students take the leading role in deciding on budget allocation, instrument selection, concept and use-scenarios of the space, accessibility etc.

The project aims at (1) strengthening democratic competencies by creating space for negotiation, collaboration and shared responsibility through its participatory approach, (2) creating space for experiencing musical diversity and developing cultural sensitivity, (3) attracting more diverse people to MTE, (4) reflecting on the role of material in musical praxes, also regarding sustainability aspects.

The presentation will report on key learnings and challenges, reflect on the project’s potential for democratic education in MTE and share transferable insights that may inspire other institutions starting similar initiatives.

The goal of any music program is to provide access to music learning for all students in the most inclusive environment possible, including to those with disabilities. With Universal Design as a theoretical framework (Hourigan et al., 2024), the purpose of this presentation is to share practical applications that focus upon the use of multi-sensory learning and adaptive technologies in elementary band/orchestra classrooms. I will share aspects of music lessons developed with and by students in an American university instrumental music methods class as part of an inclusive music education unit. This pedagogical project impacts several conference foci, such as inclusive curricular concerns, student participation in music learning, and the desire to overcome social barriers incurred by inclusive music education.

Music educators must push beyond their preconceptions to provide music to all students (Draper & Bartolome, 2021). Some researchers have considered inclusion options for students with visual and auditory impairments (Rush, 2015; Schraer-Joiner & Prause-Weber, 2008), while others have shared specific strategies for including students with a variety of special needs, for example, composition strategies accompanied by multi-sensory approaches including listening and visual activities (Clipper & Lee, 2021). Researchers have also examined the incorporation of multi-sensory or multi-modal strategies in a variety of settings to uncover effective approaches for inclusive music learning (Bremmer et al., 2021).

In this University instrumental music methods class (2023-present), preservice music teachers developed lessons for a peer-teaching experiences. The aim of this pedagogical project was to include adaptive technology and/or multi-sensory strategies in an elementary band/orchestra setting. Successes of this project included high engagement and creativity in lesson design, interest in teaching students with disabilities, and growing awareness of technological advances. Challenges to consider are difficulties with incorporating technology, lesson pacing issues, and the need to use these strategies in truly practical environments.

This symposium investigates the enduring impact of social class within music teacher education (e.g. Bates, 2023; Bull, 2019, 2025). While entrance exams and program descriptions emphasize musicality, motivation, and pedagogical skills, we argue that socio-economic factors, including social and economic backgrounds, play a significant role in access to and success in music teacher training. Drawing on recent scholarship exploring the intersection of class and cultural capital in higher education, this symposium examines how class functions as a structuring and shaping force for pre-service music teachers from various European perspectives. The symposium will center on how implicit biases, institutional structures, and curricular content can perpetuate class-based inequalities, effectively reproducing existing social hierarchies. Specifically, the symposium will draw on three intersecting lines of inquiry:

1. Natasha Hendry’s work on the ‘hidden curriculum’ and how seemingly neutral pedagogical practices can reinforce racial and class-based inequalities.
2. Kirsty Devaney’s research reveals a persistent underrepresentation of individuals from diverse socio-economic backgrounds in UK music conservatoires, influencing students’ perceptions of belonging and career aspirations.
3. Fiedler and Tralle’s (2025) findings in Germany reveal significant correlations between the pre-service music teachers’ educational backgrounds and their institutional choices in higher music education.
4. A final panel member is still waiting to be confirmed; we are keen to have colleagues that offer a variety perspective and from diverse geographic locations.

We aim to examine how these dynamics unfold within the specific context of European music teacher training and seek to promote a critical dialogue on dismantling class-based barriers in higher education.

Technology-based music practice is ubiquitous: musical engagement and learning unfold in hybrid ecologies where analog and digital media, human and nonhuman agencies, and in- and out-of-school practices are densely entangled (Buchborn & Treß, 2023; Weidner & Stange, 2022). Postdigital denotes this normalized hybridity: technologies operate less as tools than as mediating conditions that co-configure educational tasks, roles, participation and even evaluative practices (Jandrić et al., 2022; Knox, 2019). Within such ecologies, musical improvisation is best conceived as an embodied, technology mediated practice through which musical interaction becomes audible, negotiable and learnable.

Improvisation and creative musical action appear tightly coupled within postdigital music practice, where hybrid analog–digital ecologies shape how students make and learn music. Recent literature indicates that creativity and technology are co-constitutive in music education (Burnard, 2007; Lam, 2023). Enactive and sociomaterial perspectives foreground embodiment, materials and environments (Fein, 2017; Hayes, 2017). A critical strand cautions that celebratory narratives of “creative technology” can obscure inequities, platform dependencies, and datafication; thus ethical attention to access, authorship, and transparency is integral to democratic participation (Banaji, 2022). Despite growth, explicit studies on the improvisation–technology relation in school music remain scarce.

The symposium aligns explicitly with EAS themes 2) Democratic and participatory processes, 3) Music education, power and politics, and 7) Current and future trends. Improvisation is presented as a vehicle for student agency, voice, and participation; for critical thinking, dialogue, and social critique as well as for future-oriented and sustainable practice.

The symposium comprises four short inputs followed by an extended, moderated discussion with structured audience participation. Collectively, contributions articulate design principles for equitable, technology-mediated improvisation in schools and teacher education, foregrounding democracy, power, and sustainable futures.

This 90-minute workshop focuses on utilizing social justice pedagogy in music education as a framework to advance student agency and participation in the music classroom. Over the last few decades, social justice (Ryan, 2020), critical pedagogy (Abrahams, 2005), culturally responsive teaching (Gay, 2002), artistic citizenship (Bradley, 2018) and anti-bias education (Derman-Sparks, 2010) have become more prominent research topics in education – although they are still often omitted from music curricula. With increasingly heterogeneous student populations, it is even more important that we understand the significance of these social justice concepts and the potential they have for application in music education settings. Many music teachers may already be unknowingly using elements of social justice pedagogy in their current teaching practices, or may be interested in using them but do not know where to begin. This framework aims to help music teachers affirm student identity, bring awareness to diversity, advocate for justice, and take action to make sure all students have agency in the music classroom and beyond. The workshop will begin with a group warm-up and overview of the social justice pedagogy framework. Participants will then take part in a self-reflection activity before collaborating in small groups – where they will be guided in discussing the elements of social justice pedagogy and brainstorming how these concepts can practically be applied in a variety of music education settings. This workshop will further music educators' understanding of social justice pedagogies and empower participants to begin thinking about music education through a social justice lens.

In Germany, the far right has long propagated anti-immigrant (Nann et al., 2024) and anti-Turkish (Bayır, 2025) ideologies, while instrumentalizing queer-feminist agendas to legitimize racist discourses (Boulila et al., 2025; Hajek & Dombrowski, 2022). All of this collectively poses serious threats to fundamental democratic principles and underscores the growing importance of these issues within music education. Even though migration and gender studies within music education discourse exist separately, and intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) has been increasingly discussed in Germany (Dunkel et al., 2022; Grow et al., 2022), research on LGBTQ+ individuals with a Turkish-German migration background remains very limited. Therefore, the present study explores how artists who identify under the LGBTQ+ umbrella and move between Turkey and Germany navigate their voice(s) as a site of identity, oppression, and resilience.

The paper focuses on the Berlin-based actress-singer Hayal Kaya, originally from Ankara, Turkey. She is the first trans actress to play a chief inspector on German television (Bakmaz, 2024) and has also appeared in the highly successful Netflix series Woman of the Dead, for which she contributed to the soundtrack as a singer. Drawing on semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and music analysis (using the toolbox by Müller, 2022), and employing content analysis (Mayring, 2022), the study identifies emerging themes such as how her voice becomes a tool for resistance, the challenges she has faced across different axes of oppression—class, gender, body, and race (Winker & Degele, 2009, 2011)—and the strategies she has developed to survive and thrive. Using Kumashiro’s (2000) anti-oppressive education framework, as adapted to music education by Bengonzi (2015), the paper concludes with implications for music education.

Music education is a central arena for cultural and societal negotiation. Teaching music history in particular raises questions of representation, belonging, and cultural participation, and is therefore closely linked to democratic education and diversity. Teachers decide which musical narratives are conveyed, which perspectives become visible, and which are implicitly excluded. While music education discourse has revealed culture-essentialist and normative tendencies aimed at reproducing conservative value systems (Blanchard, 2019; Vogt, 2019), the perspectives of teachers have so far received little empirical attention, apart from a single case study (Grow & Roth, 2024). At the same time, greater diversity in music history curricula is discussed (Walker, 2020).

The presented study investigates the practical knowledge teachers draw upon when teaching music history and how this knowledge is connected to implicit concepts of culture. Based on narrative interviews with eight teachers from secondary schools in Germany, the study applies the Documentary Method (Bohnsack, 2021; Nohl, 2010) to reconstruct teachers’ orientations and to develop a sociogenetic typology that sheds light on the genesis and reproduction of these orientations.

The results reveal different frameworks of orientation ranging from knowledge-centered and canon-oriented to experience-based and participatory conceptions of music history learning. The identified connections between teachers’ orientations and their experiences in higher music education highlight how normative ideas of culture and musical value are reproduced in teacher education. The presentation discusses how teaching music history can be understood as a practice of cultural participation and explores the implications of these findings for diversity-sensitive and democracy-oriented music teacher education.

Eight decades after the Second World War, the question remains how schools, as central institutions of education, can foster democratic dispositions through contemporary forms of memory work (KMK 2014). Artistic and aesthetic approaches enable historical learning not only cognitively but also emotionally and participatorily (Drechsler 2024; ZE 2024; MK 2022; Brauer 2021).

Against this backdrop, the project Vom Schauplatz zum Hörplatz (From the "visual site" to the "sonic site") was carried out in 2025 at the University of Würzburg. It was designed for school students, university students, and the interested public, aiming to make historical sites of Würzburg’s National Socialist past experientially accessible as „Hörplatz“ (sonic site) through musical practice.

Theoretically, the project drew on concepts from history education (learning at historical sites, performative memory work, participatory history education; e.g., Bundschuh et al. 2024 & 2022) as well as on music education discourses (community music, intercultural music education; e.g., Hömberg 2022; Barth 2022 & 2000).

Three subprojects were realized: a public choral event at the deportation memorial at the central railway station, a concert format with participatory elements in the Neubaukirche, and an intercultural concert with a photo exhibition in the Würzburg Residence.

The summative evaluation, based on input/output-oriented self-evaluation, considered organizational, content-related, and pedagogical dimensions. Results indicate that the chosen approach holds considerable potential for student-centered civic education: in particular, the aspect of artistic self-empowerment and self-discovery in relation to historical sites provides significant points of connection for future initiatives. Here, music functioned not merely as a bridge to historical contexts but opened spaces of experience and decision-making that would not have emerged without the interplay of historical site and musical performance.

The presentation outlines the theoretical and project-specific background and discusses the opportunities and limitations of this approach within the school context.

Dual lesson planning, which refers to the simultaneous consideration of subject-specific content and areas of individual development, is a fundamental concept in special educational lesson planning (Heimlich & Kahlert, 2012; Jöhnck, 2024; Jöhnck & Baumann, 2023; Urban & Leidig, 2017). Various planning aids for dual lesson planning have been developed (e.g., Wember, 2013; Heimlich & Kahlert, 2012; Sasse & Schulzeck, 2021). In music education, Laufer (2019) introduced a matrix that provides insights into music-related learning opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities. Lutz (2018, p. 38) utilizes a didactic reflection instrument focused on the musical potential of areas of individual development. The instrument of inclusive didactic networks extends beyond the contributions of Lutz and Laufer in its application within inclusive pedagogy. On one hand, inclusive didactic networks allow for a precise analysis of all life and areas of individual development concerning students' learning opportunities. On the other hand, this instrument can be applied across disciplines. Nevertheless, this instrument has not yet been referenced in music educational literature (cf. Eberhard, Hirte & Höfer, 2017; Eberhard & Höfer, 2016; Kurzius-Beuster, 2015; Laufer & Vogel, 2022; Lutz, 2020), while extensive contributions are available for other subject didactics (Ferreira González, 2019; Heimlich & Kahlert, 2012; Henrichwark & Kuckuck, 2019; Kahlert, 2015; Rank & Scholz, 2017; Wölki-Paschvoss, 2018).

This contribution presents various approaches to dual lesson planning from a music pedagogical perspective and elaborates on the instrument of inclusive didactic networks based on a case study. In analyzing areas of individual development, this contribution relies on the systematization by Flott-Tönjes et al. (2017) as well as an analysis focusing on subject-specific perspectives derived from the music curriculum (MfSB, 2021).

The concept of dual lesson planning, grounded in inclusive didactic networks, assists both students and teachers in conducting an inclusive didactic analysis of music lesson topics.

Recognising diversity is a fundamental democratic skill (Council of Europe 2018), and valuing difference is a prerequisite for successful inclusive learning situations.

Adaptive teaching concepts and the differentiation of learning processes have proven to be effective methodological tools for successful inclusive teaching (Göllner/Niessen 2016). Nevertheless, there are no systematic studies on how music teachers fulfil the task of individual support through differentiation. Our two qualitative studies aim to fill this gap:

The completed part of our study was focused on the teachers' perspective. We examined the differentiating approaches of teachers in training by analyzing their impulses (written and oral) based on their lesson plans and through interviews conducted after the lessons using qualitative content analysis (Kuckartz/Rädiker 2024).

The results show that teachers use the entire range of possible forms of differentiation as found in theoretical models (Letzel 2021; Schilling-Sandvoß 2022). The question of whether differentiation should be made transparent to pupils or not, i.e., whether difference should be addressed or de-emphasized (Budde 2017), also proved to be an important factor in teachers' decisions.

In our current study, we are now focusing on the perspective of pupils. Through video analyses in specific teaching situations and subsequent interviews, we want to find out: How do students perceive the roles assigned to them in heterogeneous learning processes and how do they reflect on them? How do students experience differentiation processes in music lessons? How do they evaluate it when learners are supported differently through different requirements or tasks?

In our presentation, we would like to present the results of both studies to date and discuss our conclusions and interpretations and their relevance for inclusive music education.

Background

Music practices such as Drake Music Scotland (DMS) and National Open Youth Orchestra (UK) offer inclusive approaches to music-making. Their practices seem to be characterized by a blend of conventional and technology-based music instruments, the use of varying types of music notations, and collaborative composing (Gall et al., 2018; Sound Connection, 2022). Composers – who might be used to composing individually and autonomously - may need to work in a different way with these inclusive music ensembles or orchestra’s.

Aim

We wanted to understand: (1) What attitude, knowledge, and skills do composers need to compose collaboratively with an inclusive music ensemble that includes music technology? (2) What education do students in higher music education need to develop as composers in inclusive music practices?

Method

We set up a qualitative survey study (Bremmer & Schuijer, 2024). The participants of the 4-day project Collaborative Composing with Inclusive Ensembles at the Amsterdam Conservatoire under supervision of DMS were interviewed or completed an online questionnaire. Participants were students, professional composers and Disabled musicians. We conducted a cross-case, thematic analysis of the data.

Findings and conclusion

First research question: Findings show that composers need to develop attitudes, knowledge and skills in the social and musical domains. In the social domain, they need to work from a sense of equity, to develop an understanding of inclusion and draw on pedagogical skills. In the musical domain, composers need to develop an open attitude toward collaborative composing, a broad understanding of the concept of music, and develop digital sound production skills. This then, can bring about a shift from composing for instruments to composing with people. Second research question: Findings exemplified that students felt that conservatoires should prepare them for working with inclusive ensembles by providing them with co-creative working strategies and knowledge on music technology.

Recently, two new subject areas —Digital Literacy and Citizenship Education (SLO, 2025)—have been introduced in the Netherlands to define what pupils are expected to achieve in these subjects during primary education and the first years of secondary education. This development prompted last semester’s innovation assignment for third-year students (pre-service music teachers at a Dutch conservatoire) in the music education laboratory course called moLab (Author, 2021).

The course aims to help students innovate music education through the iterative development and implementation of technology, while also practicing research skills and learning how to design technology as domain experts in music education. Last semester’s innovation assignment explored how democracy—as a key theme within citizenship education—can be taught through technology by integrating these new subject areas with music education.

In this workshop, participants will engage in the same innovation assignment while experiencing the key elements of the moLab course. Following a short introduction to the course and the assignment, participants work in groups through six stages of design thinking: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, 2018) and implement. Each group will be joined by one or more moLab students.

In four short rounds (10 minutes each), the groups will: 1) briefly research the theme of democracy; 2) decide on the main design criteria; 3) generate ideas for possible technology designs that fit the criteria; and 4) the moLab students will then present their own prototypes. Participants will subsequently be invited to test these prototypes, which will be accompanied by posters to illustrate the implementation stage of the moLab course. We conclude with a plenary discussion in which participants reflect on their experience and leave with practical ideas for connecting democratic and digital literacy goals to music education in their own teacher training programmes.

Music has been widely acknowledged as a valuable tool for fostering social cohesion and bringing diverse groups of people together (Hebert, 2024). However, music education specialists in schools face significant challenges when attempting to develop inclusive pedagogies that acknowledge individual differences and cater to all pupils (Burnard et al., 2008).

In Europe, there is a wide range of music education curricula, which vary according to country, region and educational institution (Fortissimo, n.d.). Although some policy documents often emphasise diversity, inclusion, and equality, classroom practices may still differ. Regarding the function of curricula, it may privilege the formal, notated traditions of Western music over oral, improvisational or community-based practices. The way these ideas are implemented depends entirely on the music teacher, who decides what to teach and whether to include the students' own musical cultures or dismiss them as illegitimate, as well as their training and biases, which may shape inclusion.

This roundtable will focus on the music education curricula of five European regions, including Germany (three Southern states: Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse), Greece, and Sweden. The session will begin with an overview of the five music education curricula, highlighting both opportunities and challenges through selected excerpts from the curricula. Then, in the World Café format, participants will work together in five groups to analyse the underlying concepts of inclusion and how it is constructed. These discussions will focus on several key aspects, such as how curricula address different learner needs, how they encourage participation and collaboration, how they promote the representation of diverse musical traditions, and what strategies are used to encourage inclusive practices. The roundtable will conclude with a collective presentation of the group outcomes, accompanied by an outlook on the role of music curricula in building inclusive learning communities and suggestions for future research directions.

This workshop invites participants on a sonic expedition through the conference venue and its surroundings, transforming them into a post-digital sonic playground. After a short introduction to the construction and use of DIY piezo microphones, participants collaboratively explore the acoustic qualities of everyday spaces and objects. Guided by the ideas of post-digital storytelling (Jordan, 2019), recorded sounds, resonances, and found materials are transformed into miniature sound stories and improvisational performances. Drawing on concepts of Maker Music Education (Treß, 2024) and Critical Eco-Literacy (Schmid, 2023; Shevock, 2018), the workshop links artistic sound exploration with reflection on sustainability in a technology-driven world and material agency. In the final part, developed teaching materials and design principles are presented, fostering sustainable, collaborative, and creative forms of musical learning.

The Informal Learning Approach (ILA) in music education emphasises self-directed learning, drawing on the informal practices of pop musicians (Green, 2008). This calls for a shift from instructing to facilitating. Thus, teachers should create a positive learning environment, encourage students, and promote democratic structures (Cremata, 2017; Gramm, 2023). However, empirical research shows that teachers' role in guiding creative processes often remains unclear. Some intervene without being asked (Fautley, 2004) or are too open (Mause, 2020) while others alternate between indifference and devaluation (Godau & Haenisch, 2022). Even though many welcome a supporting role, this may cause uncertainty, guilt or frustration if teaching interventions are ignored or rejected (Godau et al., 2025).
In the research project Musical Communities in the (Post-)Digital Age, a didactic design for self-directed songwriting was implemented and researched between October 2023 and April 2024 in thirteen classes in grades 9, 10 and 12 at six German schools (Godau et al., 2025; Weidner et al., 2025). The analysis of qualitative data (interviews, videography, participant observation) revealed a complex set of divergent roles for teachers, who must balance intimacy and distance as well as supportive and assessive practices.
What pedagogical attitude do teachers need in order to deal with these tensions productively? Our presentation discusses the empirical results against the background of relational pedagogical approaches. These include the Compassionate Music Teaching Framework, which places six qualities of compassion (trust, empathy, patience, inclusion, community, authentic connection) at the centre of teaching practice (Hendricks, 2022), as well as resonance pedagogy (Rosa & Endres, 2016), which describes school music lessons as a resonance space (Beljan, 2017). The results connect to European discourses on democracy education and social cohesion by showing how independent music-making in the classroom can serve as a basis for democratic action skills and pluralistic learning cultures.

As music teacher educators, we can actively promote the cultivation of democratic skills in higher education that are essential to educate tomorrow’s diverse learners. Aspects like agency, deliberation, and shared responsibility help develop teacher education courses not only fostering knowledge about democracy but rather instilling in future teachers an imminent experience of democratic principles (Spruce & Stanley, 2020). One example of such learning design is the regular course Fachdidaktik II in the secondary school music teacher training program in Innsbruck (Mozarteum University). Here, university students teach music lessons in teams in a middle school with diverse student population. Each team takes responsibility for one lesson a week, with three teams rotating over the course of a semester. All university students observe each other’s lessons, followed by a joint reflection with the two instructors. Before they start teaching, students develop a semester plan, think about their goals, pedagogical principles, classroom rules and procedures they want to implement as a team. The unique goal of this course is to not only implicitly lead students to co-teaching, but rather to explicitly convey and reflect on how to effectively work and teach as a team (Vangrieken 2015).

This paper examines retroactively the impact of working in teams during preparation, teaching and reflection on students’ thinking. Therefore, with students’ approval, three different types of written documents are examined using content analysis (Kuckartz & Rädiker 2022) in light of the framework from Gräsel et al. (2006) for cooperation. Whereas some students focus on other topics, others write in-depth about their experiences with team teaching, revealing a delicate balance of autonomy and trust (Achinstein 2002). We present findings that show how students’ thinking about collaboration evolved and strife to connect these to the promotion of democratic attitudes. Conclusively, we aim to show how to explicitly foster “team teaching” may enhance these principles.

The importance of student participation for motivation, learning outcomes, and institutional development has been widely acknowledged in higher education research (Tremp et al., 2024). Involving students as active partners rather than passive recipients fosters democratic competences, autonomy, and responsibility - key qualities for future music educators (Clausen & Sammer, 2023; Schmidt & Abramo, 2020; Anderson et al., 2019). However, despite a growing international discourse on student voice and partnership (Fredriksen et al., 2023; Müller-Kuhn et al., 2021), there remains a lack of systematic empirical research on the actual scope and quality of student participation in music teacher education (MTE).
This study presents the first large-scale empirical investigation of the status and aspirations of participation among German MTE students. Using a quantitative survey design, it examines both the experienced reality and the desired ideal of participation across five domains of higher education: (1) governance, institutional culture & financial decision-making; (2) curriculum development; (3) teaching, courses, and projects, (4) individual study pathways; and (5) networking within and beyond the institution. Building on frameworks of student voice and participatory governance, the study explores existing institutional structures, their utilization by students, and students’ normative expectations toward their institution and themselves. Furthermore, it investigates the relationship between participation and variables such as motivation, responsibility, study satisfaction, and self-efficacy, informed by self-determination theory.
By focusing on the under-researched field of participatory culture in artistic-pedagogical higher education, and by contrasting experienced with desired forms of participation, the project seeks to identify structural and cultural factors that shape students’ agency. The findings contribute to evidence-based discussions on participatory governance and institutional development within (music) universities.

‘Cultural diversity’ has been addressed in many music educational theories and concepts, such as Multicultural Music Education (Elliot, 1990) World Music Education (Campbell, 2016), Intercultural Music Pedagogy (Ott, 2011; Barth & Stroh, 2021) or Culturally Responsive Teaching (Lind & McKoy 2016). However, the problem of reproducing inequalities by addressing difference remains unsolved (Honnens, 2017), both in music classrooms and music universities. Thus, critical voices have been asking about the underlying reasons for continuous inequalities within diverse music practices in music teacher training (Buchborn et al., 2021) and consequences associated with addressing ‘cultural diversity‘ (Tralle, 2024).

Based on such considerations my empirical research focusses on discourses of ‘cultural diversity’ that underly social practices of privilege, oppression and marginalization (Klingovsky et al., 2021) in music teacher training. I argue that ‘cultural diversity’, as we reproduce it, is embedded in power structures. Therefore, the research question addresses how ‘cultural diversity’ is being (re-)constructed and what knowledge on cultural differences and normality are being (re-)produced in this context? Following Bührmann’s “reflexive diversity research programme (2021), I understand “diversity not as [a] given, but [rather] as an effect of diverse practices.“ Therefore, I analyse effects of practices that produce ‘cultural diversity‘, including practices of normalisation (Foucault, 1977) or arrangements of differences (Bührmann, 2021).

The study draws on data from problem-centred interviews (Lamnek, 2005) with students of different semesters and music education university curricula. Through „interpretative-reconstructive discourse analysis and grounded theory methodology“ (Gasteiger & Schneider, 2014), this study aims to uncover practices that shape our knowledge of ‘cultural diversity‘ in music teacher training. Preliminary findings on power relations, hierarchies and differentiation that structure the formation of knowledge in music teacher training in Austria will be shared. The overall goal to critically expand reflexive positions on ‘cultural diversity’ in music (teacher) education shall be discussed.

Music practice has been the focus of music education in many international curricula in recent years. “Practice before theory” is considered a didactic principle. Accordingly, many educational institutions have more and more established corresponding courses in the curricula of teacher training and further education. At the same time, numerous publishers offer a variety of publications and materials especially for classroom music. The following basic problems usually arise for class music practice: Pupils are very often only equipped with modest musical skills and little previous experience. On the one hand such arrangements therefore need to consist of very basic elements but on the other hand this should not be at the expense of musical quality or style. The publication “Classic crossover” of the presenter tries to meet this requirement. The concept is based on well-known works from jazz, pop and classical music. Specific stylistic features in terms of rhythm, melody or harmony provided the author with impulses for the composition of musical homages and metamorphoses for classroom music lessons in secondary education. All arrangements included go by the principle of inner differentiation, meaning the individual voices take into account the heterogeneous musical abilities within the class group.

The arrangements created in the classroom can obviously then be compared to the corresponding original classical pieces. In this workshop the speaker presents some arrangements and works with the participants musically. Basic instruments (percussion, body percussion, boomwhackers, keyboards ...) as well as voice and singing will be used.

The workshop promotes democratic participation by actively involving all students—regardless of their musical background—in making music together. Through stylistic diversity and internal differentiation, diversity is valued and used as a creative resource. This creates a musical togetherness that strengthens social cohesion and makes the foundations of democracy tangible in the classroom.

The projects presented in this symposium are united by the quest to stretch out for new fields in music education: Can institutions open up to more diverse environments? Can they bridge the traditional boundaries between “high brow” and “low brow” music? Can they develop new formats of musical and pedagogical work? And can they by doing so contribute to social cohesion (and possibly democratic mindset) that may prevent a perception of being excluded (Koppetsch, 2019)?

Important scholarly work on this topic has been done stressing the importance of musical projects in general for children (e. g. Bamford, 2010; Schumacher, 2007; Langer, Stern & Schroeder, 2020). However, the link between the music education projects and the individual growth is often more on a hypothesized level failing to show the connection between participation in musical work and the benefits for students of various ages.

Thus, the symposium aims at presenting programmatic ideas, a concrete example of bringing together high-class musicians and socially disadvantaged students on a long-term basis and the results from an evaluation that focusses on individual perceptions within such a project and feelings of wellbeing. The experiences within the projects and the effects for students will be critically discussed. The symposium aims to engage participants in an exchange on these examples on the backdrop of competing ideas about cultural and musical education projects which may help to answer the question of music’s contribution to transformation processes.

Musical improvisation in educational settings has recently become the focus of increased attention, both as a subject of research and as the content of music education projects (Johansen et al., 2020). Many educators view improvisation as a powerful tool for developing creative and communication skills (Nikolaou, 2024). It is also widely recognized as a valuable means of promoting inclusion and participation in diverse learning environments (Murphy & Shortall, 2023).

This growing interest raises important questions for teacher education: How can future educators be prepared to facilitate inclusive musical improvisation? What knowledge, skills, and dispositions are required to successfully implement improvisational practices with heterogeneous groups of learners? And how can these be effectively taught in higher education settings?

These questions are the focus of the Erasmus+ project "Everyone Can Improvise" conducted by the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, the University of Music, Drama and Media Hanover, the University of Music Lübeck, and the University of Zagreb. Within the project, music students and music teachers learn to facilitate inclusive musical improvisation with socially diverse groups of pupils. Lecturers from the universities base their teaching on project-related research.

The symposium will present key findings from the project. Through interactive elements – such as musical improvisation with participants and discussion forums – the symposium invites participants to engage with the research outcomes, reflect on implications, and explore innovative approaches to improvisation in teacher education.

Johansen, G. G., Holdhus, K., Larsson, C., & MacGlone, U. (Eds.). (2020). Expanding the space for improvisation pedagogy in music: A transdisciplinary approach. Routledge.

Murphy, L., & Shortall, E. (2023). Exploring processes of inclusion and creativity in music education showcases in schools. Dublin City University.

Nikolaou, E. (2024). Encouraging creativity through music improvisation activities: Pre-service primary general teacher-students’ reflections and beliefs. International Journal of Music Education, 42(3), 461-479.

Within many ensemble classrooms, particularly string orchestras, students are often positioned as interpreters rather than creators of music. This traditional hierarchy limits opportunities for agency, collaboration, and shared decision-making. In contrast, creative ensemble pedagogies that include improvisation, composition, and arranging invite students to participate as co-constructors of musical and social meaning, embodying democratic principles through practice.

Aims:
This workshop aims to model participatory approaches that cultivate democratic values within ensemble settings. Through hands-on activities, participants will explore how creative processes can promote inclusion, collective ownership, and student voice in music learning, aligning with EAS themes of participation, diversity, and social cohesion.

Activities:
The session is structured around three creative dimensions—improvise, create, and arrange. Participants will:

1. Engage in improvisation and collaborative riff-building exercises that encourage risk-taking and active listening.

2. Explore classroom-ready composition activities adaptable for various age and ability levels.

3. Collaboratively arrange short musical excerpts in small groups to experience distributed decision-making.
   Video examples, reflective discussion, and practical resources will support each phase.

Implications for Practice:
By engaging teachers as active participants in democratic music-making, this workshop demonstrates how ensemble settings can move beyond performance toward shared authorship, critical listening, and mutual respect. Attendees will leave with adaptable classroom strategies, assessment tools, and reflection prompts that position creativity as a pathway to democratic participation in music education.

Background.
Discourses on participation and Teilhabe in music education and community music are conceptually blurred, especially in German-speaking contexts where Partizipation and Teilhabe carry distinct connotations. While participatory music theatre projects are increasingly widespread, little is known about how adult participants and project leaders construct meanings of participation in practice.

Aims.
This paper reconstructs implicit orientations and meaning structures regarding participation in four participatory music theatre projects in Germany. It seeks to identify commonalities and differences between institutional, community-based, and civil-society contexts.

Method.
Empirical material comprises four group discussions with adult participants and four narrative interviews with project leaders, conducted between 2020–21 in projects located in Impuls, Hamdorf, Neuenstein, and Restadt. Data were analyzed using the documentary method (Bohnsack), including formulating and reflecting interpretation, comparative analysis, and subsequent type construction.

Results.
Analysis reveals distinct orientation frameworks:

1. Logic of open, transformative practice (Impuls/Hamdorf), stressing self-expression and civic empowerment.
2. Logic of controlled opening (Neuenstein), balancing institutional structures with participatory aims.
3. Logic of normatively framed inclusion (Restadt), emphasizing access and social integration over shared authorship.
   Across cases, tensions emerge between artistic quality, institutional expectations, and participants’ desire for agency.

Conclusions.
The comparative findings highlight differentiated modes of participation that go beyond binary notions of inclusion vs. exclusion. They suggest the need for music educators and cultural institutions to reflect on underlying orientation frameworks when designing participatory projects. The study contributes to refining conceptual models of participation and offers analytical tools for both teacher education and community music practice.

Key references.
Bohnsack (2014); Brown & Novak (2004); Geiger (2016); Higgins (2012); Mörsch (2012); de Banffy-Hall & Hill (2017, 2019).

Context
Kooperieren is an annual initiative at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw), developed by faculty from the Departments of Music Education Research and Practice and String Instruments. Inspired by the international Fête de la Musique, the event occurs each June and emphasizes amateur and community music. The event brings together students, teachers, and community musicians for open music-making, improvisation, and performance. It combines artistic experimentation with pedagogical reflection, exploring the space between didactic and non-didactic practice. Conceptually, it draws on Artistic Citizenship (Elliott et al., 2016) and Artistic Identity (Gruhn et al., 2017) - understood as a dynamic process shaped by musical activity, social interaction, and institutional context -, linking artistic development to democratic participation and social cohesion.

Aims
The initiative creates inclusive, participatory musical spaces where participants with diverse backgrounds converge. It fosters democratic competencies - dialogue, empathy, and shared responsibility - through collective artistic processes. A key aim is to encourage IGP (Instrumental and Vocal Pedagogy) students to reflect on their roles as musicians, educators, and “Makers of Society” (Gaunt et al., 2021), highlighting its pedagogical and social significance in higher music education.

Approach and Outcomes
Participants from various musical disciplines engage in improvisation and collaborative performance through open sessions, ensemble rehearsals, and a final concert. The process is dialogical and egalitarian, with teachers and students as co-learners and community musicians contributing their perspectives. The Fête de la Musique provides a symbolic framework of participation, accessibility, and diversity. The project exemplifies collaborative music-making as a democratic practice in tertiary education and as an innovative pedagogical format (Kertz-Welzel, 2024). It strengthens connections between the university and the wider community, demonstrating how shared artistic processes foster participation, diversity, community, and social cohesion (Borwick, 2012).

In times of rapid production and spread of (mis)information through social media and streaming platforms, critical thinking is essential as resistance to fake news and distorted facts. Thus, processes of learning and teaching that promote what Freire (1994) defended as a dialogical, liberating, and humanising education, can be an inspiration for the development of critical consciouness (conscientization) leading to social and political responsibilities and decisions. Such responsibilities are often related to understandings of citizenship. Advocating for the political in education, Freire argues that teachers and the act of teaching are never neutral. Musical (teaching) choices imply adherence to a certain political project and, consequently, disregard to others. By extension, choices of musical repertoire and teaching approaches reflect teachers' openness (or not) to a diversity of genres and music-making practices.

This research paper will explore and discuss how citizenship is enacted in music-making and music teaching across different music school contexts. Aware that the notion of citizenship is complex and contested (Yuval-Davis, 2011; McCowan, 2012; Bradley, 2018), this paper will share findings from a qualitative study with music teachers from various musical backgrounds across a variety of teaching contexts in Munster, Ireland. Implications for a more diverse and inclusive music education whilst exercising (artistic) citizenship will be explored to facilitate critical reflection on music teaching practices, developing conscientization. This, we argue, can be achieved through dialogical teaching approaches in which the richness and diversity of ideas, ideals and musics shared in the learning and teaching contexts are valued. We will conclude by situating and problematising practices which call for critical awareness of the choices and music teaching contexts where our artistic citizenship can be enacted.

Secondary school music classrooms often reproduce dynamics that render certain student identities invisible, leading to disengagement and limited participation. Addressing this challenge requires approaches that not only acknowledge cultural diversity but also transform it into a shared pedagogical resource (Campbell, 2018; Hess, 2019).

This paper reports on an action research project in a Catalan secondary school, where a Moroccan musician (culture bearer) collaborated in co-teaching music classes (Escoda, 2023). Over several weeks, students engaged in collective performance, improvisation, and critical dialogue about repertoire and its meanings. The culture bearer was not presented merely as someone who “brought” a culture into the classroom, but as a living example whose personal trajectory and musical practice made visible the cultural diversity already present among the students. His role went beyond demonstration: it included co-leading rehearsals, sharing life experiences, and inviting students to connect their own identities with the music.

Findings show that the project reduced prejudices, enhanced intercultural empathy, and encouraged inclusive classroom practices oriented toward coexistence. Observable changes included increased participation in group singing and instrumental activities, more frequent collaboration across cultural groups, and a stronger sense of pride among Moroccan-background students. At the same time, the process challenged the teacher to adopt a more musically responsive stance, redistributing authority and integrating students’ cultural resources into the learning process (Hess, 2019; O’Flynn, 2005; Olcina-Sempere et al., 2020).

The paper argues that the figure of the culture bearer can act as an agent for democratization, legitimizing diverse voices and transforming diversity into a driver of participation and social cohesion. This practical case offers transferable insights for European schools seeking to foster democratic values and build inclusive communities through music (Campbell & Higgins, 2015).

Background. In Denmark, school singing is culturally celebrated yet increasingly marginalised as a pedagogical domain—a “singing paradox” (Borčak & Baunvig 2023). Across the Nordic region, a band-oriented and digital classroom logic has gradually displaced vocal work (Holgersen & Holst 2020; Schei & Balsnes 2022; Horwitz et al. 2023). This development contrasts with research showing that guided vocal learning supports children’s sense of belonging, confidence, and inclusion (Welch et al. 2014; Papageorgi et al. 2022; Dalla Bella 2019), suggesting that pedagogical neglect may undermine singing’s democratic and formative potential.

Aims. This paper presents findings from the first national survey of singing in Danish primary schools. It maps how singing features in both school life and music lessons, identifies implementation gaps between cultural ideals and classroom realities, and situates the Danish case within a Scandinavian context.

Method. A nationwide online questionnaire to current music teachers (N = 500) examined school-wide singing (e.g. assemblies), lesson content and priorities, and the time devoted to singing, vocal technique, and other activities. Additional sections addressed repertoire choices, technology use, barriers (time, confidence, motivation, facilities), and teachers’ attitudes toward singing in school and society. Respondents also provided open reflections on local conditions (Borčak et al. forthcoming).

Results. Teachers express strong symbolic support for singing but report clear implementation gaps. Instrumental work dominates lessons, and vocal pedagogy is uneven. Barriers include limited time, institutional prioritisation, and teacher confidence. Open comments reveal ambivalence toward communal singing’s cultural or national undertones, echoing Nordic debates (Kertz-Welzel 2020, 2021; Johnson 2021).

Conclusion. The Danish case exemplifies how singing, though culturally valued, can become pedagogically marginalised, thereby constraining its democratic potential. Re-centring voice as a learnable domain may help foster participation and inclusion in schools.

Based on hybrid setups developed within the German research project lernen:digital, this workshop explores how hybrid music-making can foster shared participation, creativity, and collective authorship in music education. Drawing on the concept of the post-digital (Clements 2018; Buchborn & Treß 2023), the workshop addresses material, bodily, and digital dimensions of music-making and illustrates how hybrid setups can provide low-threshold access to it. This approach represents a relevance to everyday life, serving as a common language for building musical community in the classroom (Gerland & Niediek 2022; Werner & Rotsch 2025) and for connecting to diverse youth cultures (Treß 2024).

In our 90min-workshop, participants rotate through three hands-on stations and engage in performative and artistic actions with interactive, inclusive, and implementable setups (Schaubruch & Feneberg 2026). Each setup invites exploration, co-creation, and reflection – for instance, on questions of shared control, agency, and authorship.

1. DJing, VJing & LJing: combining music, moving images, and light in a collaborative performance inspired by popular music and club culture. Participants experience how sonic, visual, and spatial dimensions intertwine within a hybrid setup.
2. Playtronica & Everyday Objects: making music through touch and connection. Using Playtronica devices, everyday materials and even physical contact become interfaces for triggering and shaping sound.
3. Synths & Sonification: exploring organic and environmental interactions with sound. Participants use devices to integrate plants, light, or motion sensors into music-making – creating evolving, responsive soundscapes.

The workshop provides practical strategies for designing participatory, hybrid music lessons that embody democratic values. It offers inspiration for developing individual or combined setups that can be adapted to diverse teaching contexts. At the same time, it highlights both challenges and opportunities of hybrid music-making to democratize classroom practice – by enabling students to listen, negotiate, and act together across human, technological, and aesthetic boundaries.

In the course of comprehensive reform efforts (Clausen & Sammer, 2023), some German (music) universities have recently introduced the option of choosing DAW-based music production as an artistic major in music education degree programmes such as teacher training or instrumental pedagogy.

While initial research has focused primarily on structural and curricular challenges in implementing music production (e.g. Baxter, 2019; Berg, Heß & Honnens, forthcoming; Buchborn, 2019; Kattenbeck, Kautny & Schaub, forthcoming), an in-depth understanding of the students’ perspectives is still lacking. However, their views and experiences are crucial when it comes to questions of participation, recognition of diverse forms of musical expression, and negotiations taking place between individual artistic practice and institutional structures. This presumably concerns both coherence with existing curricula and possible conflicts between practices of music production and the aesthetic and institutional logics of Western art music, which tend to prevail at universities (Buchborn, Schmauder, Tralle & Völker, 2021; Buchborn & Clausen, 2023; Honnens, 2025).

The planned presentation is based on a qualitative empirical study that uses semi-structured interviews to examine how students experience the integration of music production into their studies. The research design follows the Constructivist Grounded Theory Methodology (Charmaz, 2014) and Situational Analysis (Clarke, 2012). The expected results promise insights into the potential and areas of tension surrounding this artistic major with regard to democratic education and social cohesion: What forms of participation can be unlocked by music production as part of a degree programme? In what ways can it contribute to incorporating different musical backgrounds and aesthetic orientations, thereby diminishing institutionally effective social barriers? And what challenges arise in the tension between non-university production practices and university traditions – including the continuing dominance of Western art music? Our aim is to provide impetus for diversity-sensitive, participatory and democracy-promoting development of music education degree programmes.

Across German universities of music, the field of instrumental and vocal pedagogy is marked by persistent hierarchies in the music program between performance majors and music education majors. This paper investigated how music performance teachers at music universities perceive music education programs and their students, and how such perceptions shape professional recognition and participation within higher music education.

A group discussion with five teachers from different stylistic areas (classical, jazz/pop) was conducted and analysed following the documentary method (Bohnsack, 2021). All participants had experience teaching both performance major and music education major students.

The analysis shows that pedagogy is frequently devalued and perceived as a “plan B” for those considered less artistically capable. The idea of the “dream profession” of being an artist dominates, positioning pedagogical studies as a fallback option rather than an equally valuable career path. Expectations toward applicants are often framed in terms of perceived artistic deficits, while pedagogical strengths remain largely unacknowledged. At the same time, teachers and institutions are attributed a particular responsibility in how pathways into pedagogical careers are presented and supported, as their advising practices can significantly shape whether pedagogy is viewed as a valid and valued professional direction.

The findings indicate that implicit valuations and hierarchies influence not only students’ professional identities but also their opportunities for participation and recognition within institutional structures. Reflecting on how artistic and pedagogical excellence are valued in music higher education can open pathways toward more inclusive cultures of learning, teaching, and collaboration.

School internships are key sites of collaboration, where student teachers (STs), teacher educators (TEs), and mentor teachers (MTs) play vital roles. When such internships take place internationally—as in school internships abroad (SIAs)—collaboration gains an intercultural dimension, with added complexity from language issues and differing educational systems and practices (Vass, 2017). While the characteristics of quality mentoring have been discussed in domestic contexts (Ellis et al., 2020), there is limited evidence on what constitutes quality mentoring during SIAs. Feedback processes, support for ST self-reflection—vital for developing intercultural sensitivity (Malmberg et al., 2025)—and administrative structures are among the aspects shaped by this intercultural collaboration.

These issues raise key questions: How do such complexities shape SIAs? What constraints and opportunities emerge, and which, if any, are specific to music education? How can strong, equitable collaborations be fostered, ensuring all stakeholders’ voices are heard and that exchanges in music education remain productive and meaningful? These questions have guided the ERASMUS+ project TEAM (Teacher Education Academy for Music) for nearly three years. Within a design-based research framework (Bakker, 2018), TEAM has investigated SIAs and intercultural mentoring, developed practical tools for these contexts, and initiated TEAM-IN, a network designed to facilitate SIAs beyond the project’s duration.

This roundtable brings together perspectives from researchers, TEs, MTs, and STs who have engaged in SIAs as they share experiences of intercultural collaboration and discuss the possibilities and limitations of such placements. Emerging tools—such as materials for intercultural mentoring and for teaching in linguistically complex situations—will also be presented. Audience members are invited to contribute their perspectives, provide feedback on the tools, and connect with others to lay the groundwork for further collaboration.

This roundtable brings together representatives of European music teachers’ associations (MTAs) to foster professional dialogue on current developments, pressing challenges, and future directions in music education across Europe. The primary aim is to re-establish regular meetings among MTAs to strengthen collaboration and develop shared strategies for a forward-looking and resilient music education landscape.

Central to the discussion are educational policy and societal challenges faced by music educators in different countries. Topics include the curricular status of music as a school subject, issues of professionalization, approaches to diversity and inclusion, and the role of music education in promoting democratic values. Participants will share best-practice examples from their respective contexts, particularly in the areas of curriculum design, innovative teaching formats, and partnerships with non-formal education providers.

In addition, the roundtable will engage with the thematic focus of the conference and explore its relevance for transnational collaboration in music education. A key objective is to define concrete next steps toward a structured and sustainable exchange among MTAs within the framework of the EAS. Potential formats for future cooperation include joint position papers, cross-border initiatives, and digital platforms for professional dialogue.

This paper explores the particular relevance of political engagement within the field of music education. In times marked by a societal shift to the political right, growing populism, and threats to democratic values, confronting political issues has become essential for pedagogy—and therefore equally for music education. Music education must be understood as a form of political education that both reflects and responds to broader sociopolitical developments, while engaging with questions of disciplinary self-understanding and the preservation of its curricular responsibilities (e.g. Dunkel & Oeftering 2023).

Fulfilling this mandate requires a thorough engagement with key political concepts. The paper emphasizes the necessity of conceptual clarity regarding democracy, extremism, and populism (e.g. Mudde 2020; Mouffe 2000; Zick et al. 2011; Laclau 2007), as these terms underpin both analytical frameworks and pedagogical practice. Understanding what constitutes democratic values, what distinguishes extremist ideologies from populist movements, and how these manifest in musical contexts enables educators to navigate complex political content responsibly. Such theoretical grounding fosters critical reflection, informed curriculum design, and pedagogical strategies that foster democratic awareness and critical engagement through music.

Building on perspectives from political and social science as well as media and cultural studies, the presentation focuses particularly on the ways in which right-wing extremism and populism are disseminated through and via music and explores the educational and political implications that emerge from this for music education. It argues that addressing such phenomena requires not only pedagogical sensitivity, but also conceptual clarity and theoretical grounding.

Ultimately, this presentation conceptualizes music education as an existential and ethical space of democratic formation — one in which listening, participation, and reflection are practiced as both musical and political acts, and where the study of music becomes a means of sustaining democracy in times of crisis.

Music is not merely an aesthetic experience—it is also a tool of power, a symbol of identity, and a medium of social critique. This paper explores the intersection of music education with issues of power, ideology, and political discourse. It demonstrates how music has been used both to reinforce authority and as a means of resistance and emancipatory expression.

Through specific historical and contemporary examples, the paper illustrates how music has repeatedly been mobilized in contexts of absolutism, monarchy, totalitarian regimes, and democratic movements. Special attention is given to the shifting functions of music—from a symbol of state power and identity, through expressions of defiance and protest, to a vehicle for articulating civic, cultural, or environmental concerns in a globalized world. The paper thus offers a comparative perspective on music as part of political, cultural, and social events and histories in the Czech Republic and beyond.

Music education, through musical analysis, interpretation, and the confrontation of diverse listening preferences, provides a space for the development of critical thinking, cultural reflection, and democratic dialogue. The presentation includes findings from a repeated cross-sectional quantitative study on musical preferences among Czech upper secondary school students, involving 402 respondents. The research was conducted via a questionnaire survey that included listening samples from 32 genres. Students’ evaluations and identifications of these samples were used to assess their attitudes toward music and their level of musical tolerance. Sociomusical factors of the respondents were also considered. The results indicate that the length and continuity of music education increase tolerance toward musical genres and foster a more open approach to musical diversity.

The aim of this paper is to highlight how music pedagogy can support the education of engaged and receptive citizens who view music not only as art but also as a social phenomenon.

The didactic principle of multi-perspectivity means recognising and appreciating diversity and differences in people's lives and values. This makes it particularly well suited to doing justice to the colourful heterogeneity in the classroom and enabling all learners – with their individual backgrounds – to participate equally in lessons.

This principle opens up many exciting and creative approaches to music teaching. For example, topics such as music history can be viewed from very different perspectives. The various interpretations and personal associations that arise when listening to music can also be taken up and used productively.

In the workshop, we draw on Dankmar Venus's system of five approaches to music – production, reproduction, reception, transposition and reflection. Using these categories, concrete methods of multi-perspectivity are presented, tried out together and reflected upon in discussion.

In addition, participants will learn about specific operators – verbs that describe multi-perspective processes, such as "fantasise," "narrativise," "associate" or "construct." These serve as impulses for developing your own project ideas, which can then be shared directly with the group and further developed.

A particularly enriching aspect of this is the diverse composition of the participants: different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives not only make the workshop interesting, but also particularly lively. Since multi-perspectivity is geared towards participation and democracy, no prior knowledge is required – everyone is welcome!

Schools and universities provide places where pupils, students and educators can work on creating a common world, by developing common sense (Gemeinsinn) (Arendt, 1994; Arendt, 2018; Assmann & Assmann, 2024; Reichenbach, 2025) together. In the symposium, we examine and discuss possible ways to foster common sense. We argue that specific human capacities are needed to reach this democratic ideal. In the late 1950s, Hannah Arendt argued that common sense comes into being when humans act together in any given community, and she described the decrease of common sense as a sign of alienation from the world (Arendt, 2018). Today, many people think and feel that we live in a world that is torn (Nierth & Huber, 2023). Hence, a question that is significant for music education is how we can decrease possible feelings of alienation that arise in a world that consists of different political camps, in which differing values impede the sense of not belonging (Deci, Olafsen & Ryan, 2017). We want to address this question by presenting answers to these subquestions: What kinds of learning settings can we create in universities that make the practice of finding common sense possible? And what specific human capacities can music educators (in schools and universities) foster that make the reaching of common sense in challenging group situations possible? We want to answer these questions from three different angles and illustrate our answers with examples from our practice as music educators who work in music teacher training at different universities.  

This symposium aims to explore the concept of common sense (Gemeinsinn), how it shows and can be developed in various “projects” based on the theoretical concept.  As a follow-up to our three inputs, we invite the participants of the symposium to take some time for self-reflection about the issues we have raised.  

This symposium examines how various forms and media of music education and music mediation - such as program booklets, textbooks, and concert formats - function as communicative practices that construct and negotiate narratives about music. These formats are not neutral vessels of information; rather, they position actors, address audiences, and shape the ways in which music is framed and understood.

By analyzing the communicative intentions (what is conveyed), the set of actors (who speaks, with what authority), and the addressed counterpart (who is meant to read, listen, or act), the symposium explores how education and mediation media build bridges between actors and audiences, while also drawing boundaries by staging voice, authority, and address.

The symposium addresses the following key questions:

• How do different media communicate musical knowledge and meaning?
• In what ways do these media shape narratives through their modes of address and authority?
• How do textual and performative mediations converge and diverge in their communicative practices?
• What are the implications of these mediations for democratic engagement, participation, and social cohesion in music education?

Drawing on discourse analysis, textbook research, and practice-based reflection, the symposium provides a comparative view of how education and mediation formats “speak”, to whom they speak, and to what ends. By foregrounding audience engagement and community involvement, it examines how communicative practices in music education and mediation contribute to participatory, inclusive, and socially connected learning environments. The session aims to stimulate dialogue among presenters and participants, highlighting how diverse formats can facilitate co-creation, critical reflection, and deeper understanding of musical meaning.

How can music teachers create improvisation activities that encourage participation and engagement? This interactive workshop invites participants to reflect on how task constraints and self-regulation interact in musical improvisation. It also gives them useful tools for teaching music in an engaging and democratic way.

Participants will engage in hands-on improvisation exercises that demonstrate how different levels of freedom and preparation time affect how creative flow, especially in novice improvisators. The workshop addresses the significance of finding a balance between structure and freedom. It also covers basic self-regulation skills like setting goals, reflecting on creative action, and using different strategies.

We will look at how self-regulation can help different types of learners deal with challenges, take creative risks, and find their own musical voices in class settings through group work and guided discussion. At the end of the session, participants will work together to come up with flexible lesson plans and classroom scenarios that will give teachers real tools to promote agency, belonging, and creative expression. These methods are based on recent empirical studies we did on flow, constraints, and self-regulation in music education.

Digital literacy (DGL) is recognised as one of the key 21st-century competences (EU, 2018; UNESCO, 2021), yet access to digital resources and knowledge remains unequal, raising concerns of inclusion and participation. In parallel, school music education often prioritises performance and reproduction, leaving less scope for experimentation, ownership, and creative uses of technology. The project Digi-skills with Music Tech addresses these dual challenges by integrating music technology into classroom practice as a means to foster digital inclusion and creative participation, with the central aim of equipping teachers to embed digital literacy goals into music lessons.

Developed by SKVR in collaboration with O21, HKU Music & Technology, and the music teacher community SKVRTech, the project offered two four-lesson series in primary and secondary schools. It reached 991 students across 60 classes across 19 schools, with support from the City of Rotterdam’s Digital Inclusion programme. SKVRTech - a community of 30 diverse music teachers founded in 2020 - played a central role in co-designing, testing, and refining music technology lesson materials, ensuring scalability and sustainability. HKU contributed expertise in creative agency and process pedagogy, while O21 embedded the DGL goals and co-developed a self-evaluation tool enabling students to reflect on both musical and digital growth.

Evaluation combined interviews, surveys, and 926 self-assessments. Findings demonstrate strong impact: students enhanced listening, composition, and collaboration skills, while experiencing joy and ownership through creative experimentation. Digital literacy outcomes were notable: in primary education, students reported mastering 83% of goals (90% for tasks), and in secondary education, 82%. Operational and information skills showed the greatest grains, while conceptual understanding also processed. School teachers reported high engagement and observed students continuing music technology independently at home.

Digi-skills with Music Tech demonstrates how music and technology can be combined to nurture creativity, strengthen inclusion, and equip students with future-oriented skills.

This paper presents the professional development format Maker Music Expeditions, situated within the KuMuS-ProNeD network at the University of Education Freiburg. The project responds to the challenges of digital transformation in music education by establishing teaching-learning labs (Kirchhoff et al., 2024) as interfaces between school practice, teacher training, and higher education. The design of the Maker Music Expeditions builds on the emerging concept of maker music education (Treß, 2024). Informed by postdigital perspectives (Buchborn & Treß, 2023; Clements, 2018), the format emphasizes hybridity of technologies, creative musical action, ecological awareness (Schmid, 2024) and co-construction as core design principles. These principles aim to empower teachers to explore technology not merely as tools but as catalysts for participatory and sustainable forms of music-making, aligning with critical perspectives on educational technology (Selwyn et al., 2020).

In our presentation, we offer a multi-perspective situational analysis (Clarke et al., 2022) of the Maker Music Expeditions. Drawing on interviews, video data, and teaching materials, it provides (a) insights into the practices of teaching-learning labs, (b) a critical reflection on our roles as project leaders, trainers and facilitators, and (c) implications for further development. The analysis shows how our design principles evolved through situated collaboration and professional learning. Findings indicate that role fluidity is central: teachers often act as learners, students as co-teachers, and lecturers alternate between guiding and exploring. While participants valued the creative impulses and institutional support, challenges remain regarding scalability, sustainability, and curricular integration.

In resonance with the EAS 2026 themes of encounter and exchange through music education and critical engagement with current and future trends, our study explores how collaborative partnerships with schools and teachers, situated within postdigital learning environments, can foster reflective, sustainable, and critically informed uses of educational technologies that may contribute to a more democratic and inclusive society.

“How to teach about democracy through technology that connects learning objectives from three subject areas: music, digital literacy, and citizenship education?” This was last semester’s innovation assignment for third-year students (pre-service music teachers at a conservatoire in the Netherlands) in the music education laboratory course called moLab(Author, 2021). This practice paper presents the context, process and outcomes of this assignment.

Education in the Netherlands is guided by national Core objectives—set by the government for different subject areas—that describe what pupils are expected to achieve during primary education and the lower grades of secondary school (SLO, 2025a). These objectives are now in the final stages of a national curriculum reform. In addition, learning objectives for two new subject areas—Digital Literacy and Citizenship Education (SLO, 2025b)—have recently been introduced to be integrated across the curriculum, with democracy as a key theme within citizenship education.

The moLab course aims to help students innovate music education through the iterative development and implementation of technology, while also practicing research skills and learning how to design technology as domain experts in music education.

To integrate the new Core objectives with music education, four groups of moLab students worked systematically on the assignment introduced above (two hours per week for 14 weeks), following six stages of design thinking: empathise, define, ideate, prototype, test (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, 2018) and implement. This resulted in four different approaches: a technology-enhanced music board game; a technology-enriched escape-room activity (based on the historical Silk Roads) to teach about diversity and inclusion, and two different apps to musically teach how elections may be influenced by (social) media.

Finally, we reflect on these results. Participants leave with practical suggestions for using design thinking to link democratic and digital literacy goals to music education in their own teacher training programmes.

Music-related professions are undergoing a period of change. As a result, further education programmes in artistic and music education contexts at music colleges could become important. Unlike other professional development fields, academic further education at music colleges has yet to establish itself. Therefore, it is crucial that music universities enable individuals to continue their education in their specialist areas (Bosch Sanfélix & Ahner, 2025).

The University of Music in Trossingen is breaking new ground by developing innovative content and institutional structures. These programmes are aimed at artists, music school teachers, project managers, concert organisers, music journalists, and freelance musicians. The programmes designed for the University of Music in Trossingen will enable participants to expand and deepen their existing skills or acquire new knowledge and expertise. The focus is primarily on the concepts of 'lifelong learning' and 'lifelong education'. These include perspectives on inclusion, personal and professional development, and active participation in an ever-changing society (UNESCO, 2022; Howard Morris et al., 2024). For this reason, the university's specific academic further education programmes in music-related areas always have two objectives in mind: Firstly, the content of academic further education should be closely related to relevant pedagogical or artistic practice. Secondly, academic further education should convey a message to society, raising stakeholders' awareness of the achievements of music and music-related fields in today's world (Bosch Sanfélix & Ahner, 2025).

In this contribution, we present the concept behind Trossingen’s pilot project and three innovative ideas currently under development. This highlights the possibilities and opportunities, as well as the challenges, of implementing an academic further education programme at music universities, with a particular focus on the potential to provide music professionals with new career development opportunities throughout their lives.

Musical identities, along with individual views and values regarding music education, are culturally embodied and embedded in specific cultural spaces (Holloway & Valentine, 2000; MacDonald & Saarikallio, 2022 ). However, technology with its interactive tools enable individuals to engage and navigate complex networks of information and resources, fostering global collaboration and supporting a world-centered approach to education (Biesta, 2021)Indeed, shared interactive digital spaces (such as internet) may enable the interconnection and mediation of diverse musical identities, facilitating collaboration to create a common space for dialogue.

To address this goal, a six-week curricular project was implemented within two courses in music education for preservice music teachers, held in Rome (Italy) and in New York (USA) to create a digital shared space of work. The project sought to integrate diverse perspectives on music education, examining approaches to repertoire selection, pedagogical strategies, and the suitability of repertoire for children's learning contexts.

Pre-service music teachers of both Countries, pursuing bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music education, were engaged in cross-continental musical collaborations, exploring the many ways music can promote peace and contribute to conflict resolution, empathy, and social inclusion (Marsh, 2019).

Participants were indeed involved in a collaborative composition activity, co-creating musical pieces for elementary-age children on the theme of peace across continents. The collaborative work between students involved negotiating the creation of a musical composition alongside the exploration of the concept of peace as experienced in diverse cultural and social contexts in which they live, integrating local and global perspectives.

The enrichment of this process emerged through constructive dialogue, where sharing insights and strategies encouraged critical engagement with content and perspectives from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Enhancing students’ ability to navigate and appreciate diverse musical perspectives, educational orientations and cultures can foster a deeper understanding of how to create inclusive and democratic learning environments.

Background and Aims

This paper is based on the ERASMUS+ project TEAM’s work package on mobility. Student mobility promises academic, professional and intercultural gains, yet participation in the performing arts remains low due to structural and curricular barriers (Teichler, 2017; Hovdhaugen & Wiers-Jenssen, 2021; Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, 2020).

Our study aims to address these challenges by developing research-based strategies for enhancing mobility in music teacher education (MTE). The paper synthesizes the main findings from our empirical work and focuses specifically on the developed design principles for mobility in music teacher education.

Method

We employed a mixed-methods approach across 13 European higher education institutions (offering MTE) in 10 countries: (1) document analysis of existing exchange curricula/study plans; (2) 32 focus-group interviews with students, teacher educators, and international coordinators; (3) design-based research cycles to articulate and iteratively refine mobility design principles.

Findings

Document analysis showed few formal, MTE-specific mobility study plans; most institutions rely on ad hoc arrangements, producing inconsistencies in learning opportunities and credit recognition. Interview data highlighted four recurring barriers: weak cross-institutional alignment and occasional faculty resistance; limited pre-departure preparation and in-situ support; uneven funding that skews access; and difficulties integrating music-specific coursework within general exchange frameworks. In response, we formulated 13 design principles clustered in five areas: (1) Foundations and Motivations; (2) Institutional Collaboration and Communication; (3) Curriculum and Course Design; (4) Cultural Immersion and Socio-cultural Experiences; and (5) Information Access and Student Support. The design principles are being piloted across partner institutions through autumn 2025, and piloting will inform iterative revisions in line with a cyclical design-based research approach. The consolidated set will be published as an interactive online resource, which we will demonstrate at the conference to invite critical discussion and support uptake.

Gumboot dance is a dance form (traditionally dominated by men) also known by its traditional name “Isicathulo” (meaning shoes). According to tradition, it originated in the late 19th century in the gold mines of Johannesburg by South African workers who had to work there for mine owners under catastrophic conditions during apartheid.

Later, the gumboot dance became a form of cultural expression among miners who suffered from harsh working conditions and thus had an opportunity to let off steam, experience fellowship and to be revived.

Influenced by this history, the gumboot dance originally combined socio-political themes with rhythm, body percussion, dance, and singing.

The 90-minute workshop provides insights into the origins and practice of South African gumboot dance, which is still relatively unknown in Europe. It teaches the basics and demonstrates numerous ways in which rubber boots can be used creatively to make music in groups or classes. The practical examples are designed to bedirectly integrated into your own concepts.

Regardless of the experience of immersing oneself in this culture, gumboot dancing offers many points of reference to reflect on democratic and societal values; those will be explored during the workshop.

The aim is to give teachers of all school types an opportunity to make music in class size groups, regardless of prerequisites, while developing musical skills and immersing in music and socio-political topics.

For the practical part, please bring: sufficient beverages, comfortable clothing, and, if available, high (clean) rubber boots.

Team teaching has become a prominent topic in education worldwide. It describes a teaching model where two teachers share responsibility for organizational tasks, pedagogical tasks, pedagogical planning and student care. Research indicates that this collaborative approach can lead to positive outcomes such as workload reduction methods, increased diversity and a shared feedback culture.

In choir conducting, leadership has traditionally been hierarchical, with one conductor leading the ensemble. However recent decades show a shift towards shared leadership, driven by a new generation of conductors. This trend reflects broader societal changes that prioritize collective action over individual authority, and is therefore also a political statement for increased participation in music learning as well as an opportunity to overcome hierarchical boundaries.

My doctoral research explores why choir conductors choose to lead as a team and how this affects their competencies and rehearsal work. The study is based on interviews with choir conductors and choir members in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Up to this point, the interviews have been coded in three steps following Reflexive Grounded Theory (Breuer et al., 2017), through which a preliminary theory was inductively developed.The further goal is to develop a competence model for Co-Conducting Choir Conductors.

This presentation outlines the current state of theoretical development and explores the potential of co-conducting for future choral practice, highlighting emerging aspects of participation and co-determination.

This project investigates how ensemble music-making can nurture democratic participation, inclusion, and creativity among beginner students. Conducted during the 2025–2026 school year with class 1B of the “Città di Chiari” middle-school music program (Italy), it involved 23 students beginning the study of flute, violin, guitar, and piano. The goal is to develop an alternative model of ensemble music-making that fosters shared exploration, co-creation, and collective meaning-making.

The theoretical framework draws on embodied cognition and the 4E cognition model, which view musical learning as a sensorimotor, relational, and social process (Leman, 2008; Schiavio & van der Schyff, 2018). It also builds on the conception of collaborative learning, emphasizing the importance of shared experiences, mutual challenges, and collective success (Schiavio and Nijis, 2022). Learning is thus conceived as a participatory and dialogical process in which each student contributes to a common creative goal.

Following Bremmer and Nijs (2024), the project first promotes the incorporation of basic musical ideas—pulse, rhythm, and pitch—through bodily engagement and group activities. This foundation supports the later integration of instrumental practice. Through shared exploration, the class co-creates an original composition using ideas developed collectively during the first three months of school, represented on a visual score and performed during the Christmas concert. Within this framework, the teacher’s role is redefined from instructor to facilitator, guiding processes of collective discovery and student agency (Allsup & Benedict, 2008; Biesta, 2011).

Methodologically, the project follows a qualitative, action-research design. Activities included body-based warm-ups, collective improvisations, sound-mapping exercises, and collaborative composition tasks to promote listening, cooperation, and creativity (Burnard, 2012; Sawyer, 2018).

Preliminary outcomes indicate greater engagement, confidence, and belonging among students, showing how embodied and participatory approaches can transform ensemble music-making into a democratic practice—a space for inclusion, shared responsibility, and collective creativity.

Choral improvisation is ideal for school classes and choirs. With a democratic setting, a well-thought-out but simple structure, and controlled by breath, interesting soundscapes are created. The center as a place of listening and experiencing is a central component.
Different settings are tested and reflected upon on site.

In the Netherlands, the Music Educators Agreement unites all Dutch conservatories, primary teacher training colleges, vocational education programs for teaching assistants and relevant networks. The More Music in the Classroom foundation—established to promote arts education for all children in and around Dutch and Caribbean schools—initiated the 12-year collaboration in 2020 and coordinates it.

Many of the main themes of the EAS 2026 conference align closely with current discussions in the Netherlands. Teacher training programs aim to increase diversity both in their curricula and among staff and student population, for example through democratic citizenship, and to make music education and the canon more inclusive in scope.

However, as in other European countries, Dutch institutions face many challenges in this process. This will be explored further during a national conference for music teachers and educators in March 2026, gathering questions, issues and good practices from the Dutch perspective.

To exchange and discuss these insights and examples within a European context, the network of the Music Educators Agreement proposes to organise a roundtable on how democratizing music education can contribute to increasing diversity and inclusion within (music) teacher training programs.

The roundtable will begin with four short presentations by representatives of the main partners in the Music Educators Agreement, who will share key Dutch insights and examples. Following these introductions, the representatives will join the roundtable participants in smaller groups to discuss the presented information and stimulate exchange, thereby using the effectuation approach (Sarasvathy, 2001;2008). The aim is to foster mutual learning and inspire new approaches. Finally, one member of each group will briefly summarize their discussion plenary. The resulting collection of good practices and effective strategies will be shared with the wider music education community to support the diversification of teacher training programmes.

While ‘participation’, ‘wellbeing’, and ‘active learning’ are central to contemporary discourses on democracy in music education practice and research, the notion of beauty is often remarkably absent. Notwithstanding the welcome historical shift from predominantly aestheticist to praxialist accounts of music education, this absence could be considered problematic. Do music-educational practices and discourses not risk being limited to mere fun and conviviality, if they not also continue valuing musical beauty and aesthetic quality?

In this session, we explore how striving for beauty in music education can be understood today, beyond risks of conservatism and nostalgia, in a more democratic sense that reappraises the power of music itself as pedagogical actor in the classroom. The presenters introduce several perspectives using examples from their research in general schooling, music schools, and amateur ensembles. How are norms of musical beauty already collectively shaped, negotiated, and even created, by educators and educands alike, in such diverse practices as, e.g., music theory and instrumental learning, participative score arrangement, or a school trip to a musical instruments museum? And how might these practices' engagement with musical beauty bring about modes of experiencing, thinking, and living that strengthen democratic society?

We further relate these questions around the table to the methodological issue of researching and discussing beauty in music education. This seems notoriously difficult, as assessment of beauty is easily branded subjective and culturally diverse, but also socially imposed, exclusive, and/or intellectualist. Together with discussants, we hope to explore which new practices and methodologies could help capturing and mapping beauty as quality of democratic and inclusive music classrooms.

Watts, R. (2018). A Place for Beauty in Art Education. The International Journal of Art & Design Education, 37(1), 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12185 Westerlund, H. (2003). Reconsidering Aesthetic Experience in Praxial Music Education. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 11(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.2979/PME.2003.11.1.45

For decades, the repertoire performed in Norway has been dominated by male composers from the Western world, a trend that is also reflected in the teaching materials used in higher music education. In recent years, there has been a growing desire—both nationally, within my institution, and personally—to highlight repertoire from a broader diversity of composers, particularly in terms of gender (Mittner, L., 2024). As an aural skills teacher, I have a unique opportunity to introduce students to unfamiliar music through the examples and exercises I use in my teaching. By incorporating works by underrepresented genders, I aim to amplify the voices of composers who deserve greater recognition and encourage future musicians to perform music from a more diverse range of creators.

This workshop seeks to share the outcomes of my efforts to diversify the repertoire used in aural skills education, with a particular focus on Norwegian female composers. Participants will gain insight into how inclusive repertoire can be integrated into teaching practices and how it can contribute to a more equitable musical landscape.

The workshop will feature a collection of exercises and teaching materials developed through my research and repertoire exploration. Participants will engage in interactive activities, including singing, movement, and improvisation, to familiarize themselves with music by Norwegian female composers. These activities will also demonstrate methods for developing harmonic understanding, audiation skills, rhythmic proficiency, and more. The session emphasizes hands-on participation.

By showcasing music from an underrepresented group, this workshop provides educators with practical tools to diversify their teaching repertoire. It also highlights the importance of representation in shaping the future of music education and performance. Participants will leave with concrete strategies to promote inclusivity and celebrate the contributions of female composers in their own teaching and professional contexts.

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.

Almost all children attend daycare and primary school, most can use their voice for musical learning - regardless of their respective musical background and socio-economic status. This shows the great potential of singing for an equal, sustainable access to musical education. In practice, however, there is not much inclusive participation in music culture through singing in these educational institutions, because there are too few staff trained in music and the non-specialist music teachers have inhibitions to sing.

With the app "Sing without fear!“ (presented on the EAS Conference 2025, at that time in development), freely available from spring 2026 for mobile phone and smartboard, the educators can train their singing voice and use playbacks as support, both for their own preparation and together with the children.

"Sing without fear!“ is intended to supplement the existing successful training offers, requalifications, etc. by being individually useable at any time and accompanying the educators in everyday professional life, so that they sing more often and better with the children.

After an overview of the background and goals of the app, the participants of the workshop download the free app on their mobile phone and test it. The results will be summarised in the plenary session and made available to the authors as feedback for further development.

The app is intended to help, on the one hand, to overcome social barriers, by singing with as many children as possible, on the other hand, to promote participatory processes: Children and teachers, but also parents and other caregivers, learn the songs together 'at eye level'. Teachers do not have to be vocal role models. Ultimately, students understanding of democracy can be promoted through their participation in music lessons. It should also be used in the training of educators and primary school teachers and in teacher training.

Background
Across various disciplines and theoretical perspectives, research studies have consistently shown that self-concept predicts a wide range of desirable outcomes (Lohbeck, 2023; Valentine et al., 2004). Self-concept refers to a person’s self-perception across multiple domains (Shavelson et al., 1976; Trautwein & Möller, 2016). Therefore, in the domain of music, music self-concept includes one’s self-perception of competence in music (Vispoel, 2021; Schnare et al., 2012). As a result, many studies have demonstrated that music self-concept is linked to various outcomes (Fiedler et al., 2024; Schmidt, 2005). However, there has been limited research on the role of music self-concept and musical activity in explaining students’ music-related achievements.

Aim
We examined how students' music self-concept, musical activity, and music-related achievements are related, and whether musical activity moderates or mediates these relationships.

Methods
The sample included 1,230 students with an average age of 12.79 years (SD = 1.81). All students were from German middle- and high-track schools (grades 5 through 10). We asked students to share demographic and music-related background information, along with details about their musical activities and their most recent school grades in music. We also assessed music self-concept (Fiedler & Spychiger, 2017; Schwanzer, 2002) and musical competencies across three dimensions: instrumental and rhythmic music-making, as well as singing (Hasselhorn & Knigge, 2021). Data were analyzed with correlation, moderation, and mediation analyses.

Results
The results showed that all measures are interconnected. Moderation analyses revealed that the relationship between music self-concept and musical competencies depends on the level of musical activity. Mediation analyses indicated that music self-concept and musical activity together mediate their relationship with students’ grades in music.

Discussion
Overall, the results support existing theoretical models and previous studies, while highlighting the importance of examining moderation effects before considering mediation effects.

The project Musik-Multis: Next Generation (University Mozarteum Salzburg, Austria) is an innovative support programme situated at the interface between school and university. It targets musically and pedagogically talented young people aged 15 to 18, preparing them for potential studies and careers in music education. Building on the successful predecessor projects Musik-Multis 1.0–4.0, where school teams independently designed and implemented music projects, the current phase offers a structured two-semester qualification pathway focusing on artistic, theoretical, communicative, and pedagogical competences.

Participants experience the university as a creative learning and exploration space, grow together as a musical peer community, develop their own artistic initiatives, and gain first-hand teaching experience on a basic level. The programme combines individual mentoring with collaborative, project-based learning, thus fostering participatory and democratic practices in music education. Young people are encouraged to take responsibility and experience music as a medium for connection, agency, and shared creativity.

At the same time, Musik-Multis: Next Generation responds to pressing educational challenges, particularly the increasing shortage of qualified music teachers and the decline in first-year enrolments in music education programmes across Europe (cf. MULEM-EX study 2024). By promoting early identification and support of music education talents, the project contributes to the long-term sustainability of the profession.

This practice paper presents the structure, aims, and initial outcomes of the programme and critically reflects on how targeted support for music-pedagogical competence development in adolescence can strengthen participation, bridge the transition between school and higher education, and contribute to a diverse, cohesive, and future-oriented culture of music education in democratic societies.

van der Sandt, Johann¹; Jiřičková, Jiřina²
¹Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy; ²Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Singing is more than a musical act – it is a practice of participation and belonging. In classrooms, it offers children the chance to connect across differences, to negotiate meaning together, and to experience themselves as valued contributors. This workshop explores how creative singing activities can nurture diversity and strengthen democratic life in schools.

Our starting point is simple: every child has a voice worth hearing. When children are encouraged to experiment with sound, rhythm, and movement, they learn to take initiative, respect others, and collaborate in shared musical moments. Such experiences build bridges between cultures and empower children as capable agents in their communities.

Participants in this workshop will try out inclusive practices such as call-and-response games, rhythm circles, and group improvisation. These methods demonstrate how singing can generate trust, spark creativity, and foster social cohesion. By placing children at the centre, teachers can turn music-making into a living practice of democracy.