Educating Music Teachers for the Future: The Crafts of Change

Abstract

In light of current global educational reforms and neoliberal discourses, it is timely to ask about the future direction of music education. This chapter discusses the concept of “crafts” in relation to music teacher education, more particularly from a perspective of change. A starting point for this chapter is that the crafts of music teacher education directly concerns the facilitation of development and change, for example, by deliberating on what is important to keep and build on in the professional practice of music teacher education and what is better left out. When deliberating on questions of traditions and change, I suggest that one should take into consideration if and how the educational practices of music teacher education (a) actively reflect on and productively try to contribute to the big challenges of the world; (b) explicitly address systemic bias and inequalities; and (c) provide spaces for student participation and agency.