Narrating Change, Voicing Values, and Co-constructing Visions for Intercultural Music Teacher Education

Abstract

Researchers have suggested that higher education institutions need to be re-thought as 'imagining universities' that continually engage in re-imagining themselves, in order to be able to justify their own existence in a fast-changing world. It can be expected that music teacher education programs, as part of higher education, would benefit from envisioning their shared future from the same starting point. This chapter presents the second-stage inquiry of "Co-creating visions for intercultural music teacher education in Finland and Israel," an ongoing collaborative research project between the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki and the Levinsky College of Education in Israel. The study is based on the constructionist pre-understanding that music teacher education programs ought to be developed by conversations and collective reflections, and that it is through these reflections that we narrate change. As an overall methodological framework, the study draws from Appreciative Inquiry (AI), emphasizing the positive as the basis from which to envision together what the future of intercultural music teacher education would look like. The data was collected through four workshop discussions, two at each site, totaling 24 participating teacher educators. The forward-looking themes of these second-stage discussions were developed from the groundwork of the first-stage focus group interview inquiry that mapped the present situation. This study suggests that there is an increasing need to create spaces where music teacher candidates and music teacher educators creatively face uncertainty rather than security, and where risk-taking can be encouraged and practiced safely. There is also a need to increase flexibility and openness, and to continue working more collaboratively within the institutions.

Visions for intercultural music teacher education in complex societies

“…• • Examine how issues of power, values and ethics intersect with intercultural work (Ehrlich & Badarne, 2020;Miettinen et al, 2018;Timonen, 2020;Treacy, 2020b), entailing a continuous interrogation of the fundamental values of music teacher education programs themselves (Ehrlich, 2016;Kallio & Heimonen, 2018;Kallio & Westerlund, 2020;Timonen et al, 2021) and the ongoing revision of assessment to facilitate mutual exchange and learning; • • Invite discussions on the tensions that exist between an openness to diversity and resistance to change (Miettinen et al, 2020) in ways that recognize the emotional dimensions of such learning (Kallio & Westerlund, 2020;Miettinen, 2020Miettinen, , 2021Timonen, 2020;Timonen et al, 2020); • • Consider the concept of intercultural competence critically and more holistically, including its social, relational and emotional (Miettinen, 2020(Miettinen, , 2021Miettinen et al, 2018;Timonen, 2020), and political and historical aspects, and construe intercultural competence as "perpetually unfinished business" and necessarily uncomfortable (Kallio & Westerlund, 2020;Miettinen, 2020Miettinen, , 2021Timonen, 2020;, thus preparing music education professionals for a lifelong engagement with uncertainty and inquiry; • • Provide the necessary support to establish shared spaces for intercultural music learning, reflection, and reflexivity (Miettinen, 2019(Miettinen, , 2020(Miettinen, , 2021Timonen, 2021;Treacy, 2020a), such as intercultural outreach projects (Kansakar & Tuladhar, 2020; and professional learning communities (Timonen, 2021;Treacy, 2020a) where student teachers and teacher educators can practice taking risks and dealing with uncertainty…”

“…Invite discussions on the tensions that exist between an openness to diversity and resistance to change (Miettinen et al, 2020) in ways that recognize the emotional dimensions of such learning (Kallio & Westerlund, 2020; Miettinen, 2020, 2021; Timonen, 2020; Timonen et al, 2020);…”

“…Provide the necessary support to establish shared spaces for intercultural music learning, reflection, and reflexivity (Miettinen, 2019, 2020, 2021; Timonen, 2021; Treacy, 2020a), such as intercultural outreach projects (Kansakar & Tuladhar, 2020; Westerlund, Kallio, & Karlsen, 2021) and professional learning communities (Timonen, 2021; Treacy, 2020a) where student teachers and teacher educators can practice taking risks and dealing with uncertainty (Ehrlich & Badarne, 2020; Miettinen et al, 2020);…”

“…Commit to the integration of diversity-related learning throughout the curriculum (Miettinen et al, 2018; cf. Schippers, 2010), promote institutional collaboration for developing music teacher education, and consider how leadership is understood and can support this collaboration (Miettinen et al, 2020).…”

Professional reflexivity and the paradox of freedom: Negotiating professional boundaries in a Jewish Ultra-Orthodox female music teacher education programme

“…The relatively recently established Ultra-Orthodox Jewish music teacher education programme aims to provide religious schools with teachers representing their own community as well as offer new career paths for Ultra-Orthodox women. The programme sits alongside other teacher education streams that certify graduates to work in state-secular Jewish Hebrew speaking, state-religious Jewish Hebrew speaking, state-Arabic, and state-funded independent schools (Miettinen et al, 2018(Miettinen et al, , 2020Volonsky, 2010). While divided by religion and language, all of these separate music teacher education programmes are expected to fulfil the academic requirements set by the Israeli higher education system.…”