Catharina Renate Christophersen

Field of work

Catharina Christophersen is Professor of Music Education and a Distinguished University Teacher.  She holds a doctorate in music education from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and also has a background as a music teacher in schools and in municipal schools of performing arts. She teaches music education, research methods and research ethics, and supervises master's and PhD theses.

She was  the Principal Investigator of the research project "Music Teacher Education for the Future" (FUTURED 2019-2022), which was financed by the Norwegian Research Council. In this project the researchers examined the music subject and music education practices of the new 5-year teacher education in Norway, aiming both to map and challenge existing practices, as well as contribute to developing new educational practices.

Catharina is the Leader of the faculty's interdisciplinary forum for PhD fellows (Stipendiatforum) and Head of Music at Campus Kronstad. She has previously led the research group Culture-Criticism-Community and served as a Research Program Leader at the faculty. She has been a member of the faculty’s Research Ethics Committee and is currently a member of the Faculty Research and Innovation Committee. She is active in the field of music education research as Chair of the Norwegian forum for research in music education (FoMuP), and one of the editors of the podcast MusikkPed Podden. 

Recent publications: 

• Christophersen, C. & Onsrud, S. V. (accepted). Transitioning from music teacher education to work life: Spatially situated possible selves. British Journal of Music Education
• Kenny, A. & Christophersen, C. (accepted). Searching for spaces of encounter and disorientation: Teachers' lived experiences of music in diverse classrooms. Research Studies in Music Education. 
• Sørbø, E. & Christophersen (2025). Explicit cultures - music education in an accelerated world. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education 24(7), 139-161. https://doi.org/10.22176/act24.7.139
• Bjørnevoll, S. & Christophersen, C. (2025). Embracing complexity in music education: rethinking practice,knowledge, and learning. Music Education Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2025.2593378
• Aróstegui, J.L., Christophersen, C., Nichols, J., & Matsunobu, K. (2024.). The SAGE Handbook of School Music Education. SAGE (forthcoming).
• Christophersen, C., Holdhus, K. & Kenny, A. (2024). Third Space Moments: Exploring a university-school partnership through collaborative action research. Teaching and Teacher Education 141, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104499  
• Christophersen, C., Aróstegui, J.L., Holdhus, K., Kenny, A., Knudsen, J.S., Lindgren, M., Väkevä, L. & Viig, T.G. (2023). Music Teacher Education for the Future: Reflections on Change. Action, Criticism, and Theory for Music Education 22(3). https://doi.org/10.22176/act22.3.7 
• Viig, T.G., Onsrud, S.V., Lewis, J. Christophersen, C. & Kvinge, Ø. (2023). Developing Vision for the Future? A Reflection on Utopias in Music Teacher Education. Visions of Research in Music Education 41, p. 1-15. https://digitalcommons.lib.uconn.edu/vrme/vol41/iss1/2  
• Kvile, S. & Christophersen, C. (2023). Recognising intra-actions of music and pupil. Music Education Research 25(2), p. 205-215. https://doi.org/10.1080/14613808.2023.2193204 
• Holdhus, K., Christophersen, C., & Partti, H (2023). Soundtrapped? Socio-material perspectives on collaborative teaching within the music classroom. Research Studies in Music Education 45(3), p. 539-554.  https://doi.org/10.1177/1321103X221115978 

Courses taught 

• PhD program "Studies of Bildung and Didactic Practices"
• Primary and Lower Secondary School Teacher Education
• Music pedagogy
• Music didactics
• Philosophy of science
• Qualitative research methods
• Research ethics

Research areas

• Music in schools
• Music teacher education
• Partnerships
• Policy studies
• Social justice in music education
• Sustainability in music education
• Complexity in music education
• Educational change

Research groups

• Culture, Criticism, Community
• Compete​​​​​​​