This article examines the sociocultural learning of popular and jazz music in communities of practice as part of secondary vocational music education in a Finnish conservatory. The research is based on performance workshops which were implemented as a joint effort between professional musicians and music students. These workshops are suggested as a method of utilising communities of practice. Research outcomes show that the workshops include opportunities for learning and developing musicianship on many levels. The potential of sociocultural learning should be recognised in music schools and teachers should develop learning environments which utilise it. Learning from playing experiences and from the evaluation of learning outcomes are largely the students' responsibility who require autonomy, initiative, the ability to solve problems and collaborate, and a readiness to reflect on experiences.

The present article will examine informal learning in popular and jazz music education in Finland and evaluate it as a part of formal upper secondary vocational musicians' training, which is typically teacher directed. It is not necessarily the best model of working in popular and jazz music learning, which has traditionally benefitted from learning in informal playing situations. This article examines workshops which were implemented as joint efforts with professional musicians. The adoption of this model is proposed for realizing informal learning in the field. This kind of approach is quite new in music education, and the research on the theme is still scarce. The findings of present research show that in workshops there appears multi-level learning which develops musicianship. Music schools and institutions should recognize the potential of informal learning, and the teachers should develop learning environments which can benefit from it. The choice of music to be played, learning from playing experiences, and the evaluation of learning outcomes are to a great extent within students' responsibilities. Carrying them out requires responsible and initiative action, problem-solving skills, communication skills, and readiness to reflect experiences.

This article examines the influence of vocational music education workshops on the learning motivation of popular and jazz music students in a self-determination theory’s (SDT) framework. SDT illustrates that satisfying people’s universal psychological needs has a significant influence on well-being and learning. Psychological needs will become satisfied when the learner autonomously influences the choices and decisions of his or her learning. The learner feels then competent to act in the learning environment and receive the experiences related to it. The present article is based on a qualitative research project that examined 62 Finnish conservatory popular and jazz music students who participated in 11 music performance workshops with professional musicians in 2003–2011. The research data consists of (a) workshop plans and learning goals written by the students before the workshops and (b) reflective essays of experiences after the workshops. The data was analysed using theory-oriented content analyses. The students were responsible for the planning and implementation of music performances with professional musicians. Commitment to challenging performance projects with professional musicians motivated the students to try their best to develop their musicianship.

Vocational education aims to prepare competent workforce for the needs of continuously changing work life. A competent employee does not only carry out routine tasks but is also required to have the ability to act in the communities of practice in his field and develop his way of working. The challenge of Finnish school-based vocational education has been in creating such learning environments that promote learning professional knowledge demanded by work life. The challenge has required vocational teachers to develop their competences in collaboration with employers. The research covers the role of Finnish vocational teachers' authentic work placement periods in developing competences from the viewpoint of sociocultural learning. During the work placement period, a teacher furthers his or her competences by working in goal-oriented and planned ways in the work communities of enterprises or in the public sector of their fields. The purpose of the present qualitative case study is to increase the understanding of the role of authentic work placement periods in vocational teachers' competence. Experiences of teachers representing different subjects were studied during their work placement periods. The results show that work placement period supports the development of teachers' competences and provides prerequisites for work-based vocational education.

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