The Universality of Music. Pushing the borders of music education : Baltic-Nordic perspectives.

Project summary

NNME - Nordic Network for Music Education has these partner institutions:

Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts, Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, Riga Teacher Training and Management Academy, Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences, Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Luleå University of Technology, Lund University, Ørebro University, Copenhagen,Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Danish School of Education, Århus University in Copenhagen, Hedmark University College, Stord Haugesund University College, Norwegain Academy of Music, University of Iceland and  and  Icelnad University of the Arts.

 

The project aims to: 1. Critically revisit existing approaches to N-B music education, policy and research

- thereby pushing boundaries and 2. Explore new perspectives and venues for music education in NB

countries - thereby broaden students’ perspectives and creating new possibilities for future music educators and researchers

The course Music, language and communication: Building bridges and intercultural connections in a

lifespan perspective (Reykjavik 2015) will focus the multimodal role of language and music during the

lifespan and will adress these topics: music and multimodality, language and singing-acquisition in

infancy and second language learning, remedial effects of music for language impairments later in life,

remedial effects of music for Aphasia and Alzheimer patients’ well-being.

The two next courses will be:

Music education: Identity, citizenship and community (Bergen 2016), and

Pushing borders: Beyond traditional venues of music education (Helsinki 2017).

The intensive courses are partly designed in the form of a professional conference in the field of

music education. The purpose is to give students the opportunity to develop their skills as researchers

presenting and participating in a professional arena. However, students receive much more structure

and guidance throughout the course than would be provided in a regular conference. The course ties

to different curricula in the way that course content touches upon relevant international/N/B topics.

The course contributes to a joint meta-curricular aim: Master programs in the network institutions are

research-based and aim at producing future researchers. The course contributes to the goal as it creates

a frontier in music education research for master students and future PhD students.

Keynote lectures by researchers will be followed by thought provoking activities in groups intended

to deepen understanding of the topics at hand. The methods used include: Group discussions, group

reporting, walk-and-talk in pairs, report-back with posters and post-it reports. Student are encouraged

to present their ongoing master thesis projects. These presentations are followed by a discussion lead

by a teacher commentator coming from a different institution/country than the student. The student

sends their abstracts and papers one month in advance so that the teacher can prepare their comments.

Other pedagogical approaches include master classes (in music), workshops, student panels and

teacher panels on particular topics, live music presentations and multi-media presentations. Students are

encouraged to reflect on their own learning and to report in national magazines for music education after

the course.