Future music teacher has to tackle several aspects in the changing world

New issues in music education are discussed in a podcast by the Sibelius Academy students.

Opiskelijoiden käsiä ristissä päällekkäin

In the changing world, the working field of a music educator – and musician as an educator –  is constantly changing. The new issues to be considered include topics like adult education and “late-bloomers” in music making, students with disabilities, immigration and multicultural environments and student groups and teachers as composers and improvisors. How should the current field of music education answer to the needs that the changing environment has?

The participants of Sibelius Academy, Uniarts Helsinki’s course Current issues in music education approach these questions from their own personal starting points. In their podcast Fresh from the (music education) press you can listen to their experiences on meeting diverse learners. The podcasts will be published individually from February 3rd on. The podcast is found on Soundcloud.

3.2.2020 Music Education and immigration by Koen Van De Velde

  • Van De Velde talks about acculturation, stereotypes and diversity in formal music class settings.

10.2.2020 Jelly II In Russia – Students Composing by Veera Voima

  • Choir teacher Veera Voima talks about composing in choir and plays some fun and touching recordings from the rehearsals. She also refers to some current research articles from Finland, Britain, Australia and USA that ponder the difficulties and necessity of creativity in formal education.

17.2.2020 Playing for myself. Starting violin at adult age by Tamara Lazareva

  • In today’s society lifelong learning is increasingly valued. Many adults start music hobbies, and violin playing can be one of them. Tamara Lazareva talks about violin studies in adult age from violin teacher’s perspective.

24.2.2020 Next Train Is In 5 Minutes by Neus Enrich

  • Neus Enrich is a classical musician who decided to give another chance in learning music after leaving her first music studies. Live has taught her that it’s never too late to follow your desires, even though, at some point someone tells you that you are not good with something.

2.3.2020 Piano with friends! Learning piano in group settings by Melinda Seaw

  • Melinda Seaw discusses her personal experiences and ideas based on research about group piano teaching – the values, importance of cooperative and peer learning.

9.3.2020 Don’t be THAT teacher – Avoiding Authoritarian Teaching by Cowley Fu & Katharine Hao

  • More and more research in music pedagogy is supporting the idea of student-centered teaching. What does it mean and how should it influence our teaching? How does it relate to adult music education? In this podcast, Cowley and Kathy draw from their own experiences as students and music teachers to discuss these emerging topics that are relevant to instrumental teaching today.

16.3.2020 Teaching Expressiveness by Stergios Theodoridis

  • Stergios Theodoridis uses the research he has done on teaching expressiveness, as a gateway to discuss broader concepts of teaching and learning. He is basing my thought process on the following bibliography.

23.3.2020 Engaging with learning differences in music education by José Carlos Domínguez

  • José Carlos Domínguez offers a personal reflection on the current situation of learning differences with students with disabilities and a critique of the ways in which music teacher education prepares graduates to work with such students. This reflection is based on different academic research texts, contextualized within Domínguez’s own experiences as a teacher for students with various disabilities.