A Mozart Concert or Three Simple Chords? Limits for Approval in Admission Tests for Swedish Specialist Music Teacher Education

Abstract

Against the background of problems with unarticulated concepts of quality and assessment criteria when assessing music, this article concerns how the limit for approval is constructed and legitimised by jurors when assessing entrance auditions to Swedish specialist music teacher education. The data comprise video documented auditions, focus group conversations, and stimulated-recall based interviews, involving jury members at four music education departments. Social semiotic theory is used to study how jurors assess applicants’ knowledge representations in main instrument tests, what is considered decisive for an approval, and how this set limit is legitimised. Four approaches have been constructed: the demanding education and profession, the supposed capacity of the applicant, the flexible admission situation, and the care of the applicant. What is considered to be the minimum requirement for approval in these constructions differs markedly, which shows a striking difference between the views of jurors within and between institutions on how the applicants’ musical performances on a main instrument should be assessed. These findings are discussed in relation to two possible scenarios of revised admission tests.

The Discursive Terms of Music/Teacher Education at Four Higher Educational Institutions

“…En annen utfordring med kvalitetsvurdering i kunst og kunstuttrykk er hvordan subjektive, ikke-verbaliserte og personlige vektlegginger kan gjøre kriteriegrunnlaget uangripelig og vanskelig diskuterbart (Kjølberg, 2014;Sandberg-Jurström et al, 2021;Waagen, 2021). Det synes viktig å sikte mot å utvikle en felles forståelse eller felles kriterier for hva og hvordan man skal vurdere kvalitet, også i kunstnerisk sammenheng.…”

“…Som musikklaererutdannere ser vi at det er behov for et samtalerom og et analyse-og evalueringsverktøy som ØM. Selv om man kan stå i fare for å miste det holistiske av syne ved å rette oppmerksomheten mot spesielle evalueringskriterier, peker forskning mot at det kan gi gode effekter å tydeliggjøre spesifikke aspekter ved musikkutøvelse, og å beskrive hva som konstituerer akseptable former for utøvelse (Sandberg-Jurström et al, 2021). Vi oppfatter heller ikke at det trenger å vaere noe enten-eller her, siden vi gjennom arbeidet med ØM og oppmerksomhet på kunnen, villen og skullen har erfart økt bevissthet og et større helhetssyn, både på faget og på måter å evaluere på.…”

Struggles of Governance and Autonomy in the Field of KulturskoleStruggles of Governance and Autonomy in the Field of Kulturskole

“…In this portfolio, as well as in music education research, Foucauldian discourse theory is a common approach in a Nordic context (Rolle et al, 2017). For example, in examination music teachers practices and negotiations of professional identity and expertise (Angelo et al, 2019(Angelo et al, , 2021Jordhus-Lier, 2018;Karlsen & Nielsen, 2021;Nerland, 2003;Schei, 2007), in examining collaborations between kulturskole and compulsory school (Ellefsen, 2017;Ellefsen & Karlsen, 2019;Emstad & Angelo, 2017;Westby, 2017;Øyen & Ulrichsen, 2021), and in examining the admission test in higher music education (Lindgren et al, 2021;Sandberg-Jurström et al, 2021). In addition, discourse analysis is widely used in studies of general cultural policy and governance (Bjørnsen, 2009(Bjørnsen, , 2012bPyykkönen, 2012;Pyykkönen & Stavrum, 2018;Røyseng, 2007;Tröndle & Rhomberg, 2011).…”

Care as technology for exclusion

“…We should also recognise that both students and staff are intertwined in the discursive rules governing higher music education in relation to specific contextual perspectives. Therefore, we must consider increasing transparency in the recruitment processes (Sandberg-Jurström et al, 2021a. And, in addition, this study has shown that we must also take into account the ethical aspects of power operating in the governing of the tests for admission to music teacher education.…”

“…Another problem is that jurors assessing applicants' performances have markedly different opinions regarding the minimum requirements for approval. Also, the jurors legitimate these variations with reference to the demanding education and profession, the supposed capacities of the applicants and the flexible admission conditions (Sandberg-Jurström et al, 2021a). One further important issue in our research project on entrance auditions is to uncover the power and power technologies in the governing of the tests, which is the aim of this article.…”