I Sverige erbjuder förskollärarutbildningen musikundervisning i begränsad utsträckning, vilket gör att förskollärare kan känna sig osäkra gällande att leda musik i förskolan. Det är rimligt att digitala resurser ses som kunskaps- och hantverksmässiga tillgångar. Studiens syfte är att ur ett musikdidaktiskt perspektiv synliggöra vad som kan känneteckna pedagogiskt riktade musikappar för barn i förskoleålder samt att analysera musikapparnas användningspotential för musikundervisning i förskola. I studien har 21 appar analyserats. Resultatet visar på fem spår: 1) ensidiga aktiviteter och utarmade meningsdimensioner, 2) snäv sångrepertoar, 3) självinstruerande upplägg, 4) innehåll kommunicerat genom djur och figurer, 5) inslag av musikaliskt missvisande kommunikation. Abstract in English: Pedagogically sound and musically enabling? A didactic study of music apps for children of preschool age In Sweden preschool teacher training offers music education to a limited extent, which means that preschool teachers may feel insecure about leading music in preschool. It is reasonable to see digital resources as knowledge and craft assets. The purpose of the present study is to highlight, from a music didactic perspective, what can characterize pedagogically oriented music apps for children of preschool age and to analyze the potential use of music apps for music education in preschool. Twenty-one apps have been analyzed in the study. The results show five tracks: 1) one-sided activities and depleted dimensions of meaning, 2) narrow song repertoire, 3) self-instructional approach, 4) content communicated through animals and figures, 5) elements of musically misleading communication.
This study examined master’s theses completed in Nordic music teacher education through a sustainability lens, analysing how social, cultural, ecological, economic, and integrative dimensions are represented alongside students’ motivations and future visions. From among the completed theses (n = 207; 2022–2024), 50 theses addressed sustainability, predominantly social (n = 37), followed by cultural (n = 9) and integrative (n = 4, including ecological); economic sustainability was absent. Topic choices were mainly interest driven. The findings indicate that many student teachers see themselves as future change agents and emphasise music’s transformative potential in this context. Overall, the theses indicate a growing interest in societal issues and highlight the need to address sustainability more explicitly in music (teacher) education.
This article presents a synthesis of research evidence on the role of social support in learning to play an instrument in one-to-one learning settings, and its relationships with children’s and adolescents’ self-efficacy in learning an instrument by using the systematic literature review. Search was conducted using the EBSCO and Web of Science databases, resulting in a total of 3,740 studies. 40 empirical studies were included in the review. The results indicate that parents and teachers are the primary sources of social support in this context. The influence of social support on self-efficacy was rarely addressed. These findings provide insights for teachers and parents and enhance understanding of social support in music education.
This study explores the role of public music and art schools (MAS) in Norway, focusing on how teachers invest their values and justify their practices within these schools. The empirical material is based on interviews with 18 teachers across four focus groups. Drawing on French pragmatic sociology as a theoretical lens, the findings demonstrate that MAS teachers perceive elementary schools as neglecting their role and responsibility as educational actors in terms of Bildung perspectives and practical aesthetic subjects. This perception prompts a discussion about the teachers emphasizing the importance of human growth over artistic development. To deepen understanding of the role of MAS, it is essential to articulate MAS’ underlying values and justifications more explicitly.
Virtual reality (VR) has the potential to advance higher and primary education. This study focuses on primary school student teachers’ perceptions when employing VR in a music education course. Our data consists of student teachers’ reports (n = 26), which we studied using a theory-driven content analysis approach. We apply a categorization proposed by Bower et al. (2020) to examine influential aspects of student teachers’ reflections and potential usage of VR for music education in primary school. The student teachers felt that VR is a fresh and inspiring tool for learning and teaching music. Yet several issues must first be overcome. The employed musical VR applications proved limited, their quality varied, and their pedagogical applicability was poor. It is necessary to develop music education-related VR technology for educational purposes and to address current, multifaceted technical and pedagogical challenges.
