Presentations

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Enric Aragonès Jové
Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, Barcelona

Those who are not there: An ethics of absence in music schools

In recent years, the framework of diversity, equity, and inclusion has spread as a general ethical guide, also reaching music schools. These reflections, however, have focused mainly on the experiences of students already enrolled: perceptions of belonging, representation, and curricular diversity. This theoretical discussion paper focuses on a less explored phenomenon: absences. Who does not attend music schools? Who enrols, but does not stay? Which absences have become normalised over time?

Drawing on existing research on inequalities in cultural participation and arts education, as well as on conceptual frameworks developed to study early school leaving in compulsory education, this paper argues that absence is not a neutral phenomenon but an institutional indicator. Research on school dropout shows that processes of exclusion cannot be explained solely by individual decisions, but are shaped by institutional and structural dynamics. These insights are mobilised here, through conceptual analysis, to think about access, continuity, and trajectories in music education.

This paper proposes a preliminary analytical framework to identify the barriers that hinder entry and continuity in music schools and the gaps that separate non‑presence from full participation. It suggests that the focus must shift to the conditions that make learning possible, rather than remaining limited to the formally available opportunities. Certain institutional configurations—time demands, expectations, or the moralised reading of "commitment"—may naturalise absence, turning structural patterns into seemingly individual decisions. In this sense, conceptual frameworks developed for studying school dropout offer useful tools for understanding presence, continuity, and trajectories in music education.

To advance genuine equity, music schools must read "non-presence" as relevant institutional data that guide the actions required to ensure equitable access and enables institutions to assess their impact. Ultimately, music schools bear responsibility not only towards those who enrol on their own initiative, but also towards those who, at present, are not there.

 

Maria Argyriou
University of The Aegean, Greece

Ethical reflexivity as educational infrastructure: Reimagining professional responsibility in music and art education in the age of artificial intelligence

The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into educational and artistic environments is transforming pedagogical practices, professional competencies, and research cultures across music and art education. While technological innovation creates new opportunities for creativity, collaboration, and knowledge production, it also raises critical ethical questions regarding professional responsibility, academic integrity, and the role of educators as cultural mediators in increasingly complex learning environments. 

This paper explores the concept of ethical reflexivity as a framework for rethinking professional responsibility in music and art education in the age of artificial intelligence. Moving beyond the understanding of ethics as regulatory compliance or individual moral judgment, the study conceptualises ethical reflexivity as a multi-layered ecology of responsibility operating across pedagogical, institutional, and technological dimensions. Drawing on recent debates in music education scholarship, the discussion engages with calls to revisit moral questions and social epistemology in contemporary music education (Westerlund et al., 2021), emphasising how knowledge, authority, and responsibility are negotiated within diverse and technologically mediated educational contexts. At the same time, emerging perspectives on research ethics highlight the importance of relational accountability, ethical care, and response-ability in educational and artistic research practices (Burnard & Mackinlay, 2024). 

These approaches suggest that ethical responsibility cannot be reduced to formal guidelines or methodological transparency alone but must instead be understood as a reflective and dialogical practice embedded within professional communities and institutional cultures. Building on these perspectives, the paper proposes a shift from viewing ethical reflexivity as an individual competence toward understanding it as a form of educational infrastructure within music and art schools. In this sense, ethical reflexivity becomes a collective capacity that enables institutions, educators, and researchers to critically engage with artificial intelligence while safeguarding the cultural, pedagogical, and humanistic values that underpin artistic learning and the transmission of cultural knowledge across generations.

 

Maria Argyriou
University of The Aegean, Greece

Teaching with artificial intelligence in music education: Ethical challenges and pedagogical strategies

The increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into educational environments is transforming pedagogical practices, professional competencies, and research cultures across disciplines, including music education. European policy developments such as the EU Artificial Intelligence Act and initiatives within the European Research Area (ERA) highlight the growing need for educators to develop AI literacy, ethical awareness, and responsible technological engagement in teaching and research contexts. This practitioner presentation examines how music educators can respond to these developments through ethically informed pedagogical practices. Drawing on recent European policy frameworks, the presentation focuses on the role of ethical reflexivity, research integrity, and AI literacy as key components of contemporary educational practice. 

This paper presents three case studies that illustrate emerging approaches to AI in education. The first case study examines AI literacy initiatives in higher education, including national frameworks developed in the Netherlands and Flanders that aim to support educators and students in understanding the pedagogical implications of AI technologies. The second case study explores the implications of the EU Artificial Intelligence Act for educational institutions, highlighting how regulatory frameworks shape responsible technology use in learning environments. The third case study focuses on European Research Area initiatives promoting ethical and responsible research practices, emphasising their relevance for arts and humanities education. By connecting policy developments with classroom practice, the presentation proposes pedagogical strategies that support educators in integrating AI responsibly while maintaining ethical standards, critical reflection, and professional responsibility in music education.

 

Hanna Backer Johnsen
Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Beyond inclusion: An ethical reimagining of belonging in Finnish music schools

This qualitative study examines the politics of belonging that shape inclusion practices in Finnish music schools through the case of Floora, a social innovation established in 2013 to increase participation among children and adolescents traditionally marginalised by socioeconomic and cultural barriers. Social innovations are often positioned as experimental interventions designed to tackle societal inequities. However, their transformative potential depends on how they navigate the boundaries that define who is considered to "fit", whose voices are legitimised, and whose remain unheard. Methodologically, this case study draws on a secondary analysis (Heaton, 2008) of interview material with adolescents and parents involved in Floora. By "plugging in" (Jackson & Mazzei, 2013) theories of belonging (e.g. Monkman & Frkovich, 2022) to the empirical material, this study investigates the conditions under which such innovations can catalyse systems transformation in music education. 

The analysis centres on the boundary judgements articulated by the participants in Floora. It identifies institutional norms, pedagogical expectations, and assumptions that regulate access, legitimacy, and student identity. The findings show that while inclusion initiatives such as Floora expand access, they also reveal how music school practices and structures subtly reproduce boundaries that determine who is recognised as a "real" music school student. In other words, belonging (or non-belonging) emerges not merely as an individual feeling, but as something structurally shaped by practices, teacher expectations, and the social imaginaries underpinning music school culture, or the politics of belonging. 

The study highlights the responsibility of institutions to avoid tokenistic inclusion and to radically reimagine the roles of families from diverse backgrounds in the music school context. Furthermore, it proposes an ethical stance that goes beyond good intentions when working with young people, and calls for a rejection of hierarchical knowledge and authority. This involves listening-with (Backer Johnsen, forthcoming) young people beyond mere "hearing", not as a polished exercise in researcher or teacher reflexivity, but as a practice that unsettles rather than reassures. Ultimately, this ethical approach invites both researchers and teachers to attune to emergent possibilities in silence, tensions, and disruptions: moments that, when carefully acknowledged, can become catalysts for social change in music school education.

 

Bjørn-Terje Bandlien
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Ethical plurality in music education: Virtue, relationality and fidelity in kulturskole–compulsory school collaboration

This theoretical paper investigates how three ethical positions, virtue ethics, relational ethics, and fidelity ethics, can be understood as distinct normative frameworks for music education practices in the context of collaboration between municipal schools of music and performing arts (kulturskole) and compulsory schools. The paper takes as its point of departure Bandlien’s (2023) analysis of this type of collaboration as discursive fields characterised by asymmetrical positionings of the two collaborating school types. 

The kulturskole, with its didactics predominantly based on western art musical ideals, positions itself as offering a higher level of professional artistic quality and competence than compulsory schools. At the same time, compulsory school, with a didactic practice geared more towards inclusion and general education, operates as a veto authority vis‑à‑vis the kulturskole, with the power to determine any aspect of the collaboration. The paper argues that these discursive differences may be met with ethical plurality rather than converging into shared, clearly defined and bounded didactic norms for the collaboration between the school types. Such plurality in music education is discussed through three exemplary configurations of music education that illustrate respectively the three ethical orientations: a) the art‑music tradition as a virtue‑ethical practice (MacIntyre, 2007) with an emphasis on aesthetic judgment and professional cultivation; b) community music practices (Higgins, 2012) as an expression of relational ethics (Noddings, 2013; Tronto, 1993) where care, inclusion, and social relevance are guiding principles; and c) creative, didactic design (Selander & Kress, 2012) in music education as expressions of a fidelity‑oriented ethics (Badiou, 2012) in which resources are performatively transformed into new and unforeseen aesthetic representations and knowledge. 

The paper's contribution is to investigate how different ethical positions can produce distinct conceptions of art, learning, and didactic priorities, and how this can enrich professional reflection in kulturskole–compulsory school collaboration. Further, the paper addresses aspects of research ethics concerning the responsibility to avoid reducing the complexity of practices and theoretical concepts, and to refrain from marginalising particular practices or ethical orientations. In this way the study seeks to contribute to a professional field in which ethical plurality can be sustained, allowing multiple forms of practice and ethical orientations to develop side by side and, at times, to inform and enrich one another.

 

Hilde Synnøve Blix¹ , Gry Sagmo Aglen^2
1UiT The Arctic University of Norway; ²University of Inland Norway, INN

Practice architectures of practicum supervision in instrumental music teacher education in Norway

Learning to play a musical instrument is a particular way of engaging in music and the world, with potential contributions both to the public good and to individual self-constitution. Excellent instrumental teachers play a key role in fostering young people’s musical aspirations. Yet there is limited knowledge about how profession-oriented practice and practicum supervision in music education are organised and interrelated (Østern & Engvik, 2019). This study is part of the priMus project, whose primary objective is to develop new knowledge about, and models of, practice and practicum supervision in music education, including action-based investigations that can support collaborative transformations in the field. Within this broader framework, the present substudy focuses on Norwegian music teacher education programmes that qualify students to become music instrumental teachers. We will investigate how practicum supervision is organised in these programmes: which kinds of teaching practices student instrumental teachers participate in, how practicums are structured in institutions such as kulturskoler, upper secondary schools, and community music settings, and how practicum guidelines are designed and interpreted. Further, we examine who the practicum supervisors are in instrumental pedagogy, and what forms of competence in supervisory pedagogy they possess in different practicum contexts, including their backgrounds, education, and the values and beliefs communicated in supervision.

The study is framed by practice architecture theory (Kemmis et al., 2014), which conceptualises practices through interrelated sayings, doings, and relatings shaped by cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements. Empirically, we combine document analysis (curricula, practicum agreements, practicum guidelines) with in-depth interviews involving leaders, administrative staff, practicum coordinators, practicum supervisors, and student music teachers. An anonymous questionnaire to practicum supervisors further elaborates their supervisory competence and roles. All empirical work will be conducted in accordance with established guidelines for research ethics, including informed consent, confidentiality, and careful handling of potentially sensitive professional information.

By illuminating the practice architectures of practicum supervision in music teacher education, the study aims to clarify how current arrangements support or constrain ethically responsible, professionally sustainable supervision in and around music and art schools.

 

Christian Braun
Verband Musikschulen Schweiz, Switzerland

Design thinking and futures literacy as methods for collaborative music school development

Music and art schools are facing the challenge of being not only places of learning, but also spaces for participation and collaboration. The symposium explores the 'ethical horizons' of these institutions, and it is precisely here that a user-centred approach opens new perspectives: to develop music schools as living places for visitors and to make better decisions together in the present that will ensure compatibility for future generations.

Teaching and learning in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world requires agile approaches to school development. These promote better understanding, especially when different generations meet at a music school and provide innovative foundations for creating shared and safe spaces that broaden horizons and bring people together.

The presentation shows how design thinking and futures literacy can be used to systematically incorporate the perspectives of students, teachers and parents. Instead of making top-down decisions, the needs, experiences and ideas of those involved are made visible in iterative processes, condensed, translated into concrete solutions and continuously developed. This is not merely a methodological innovation, but a fundamental ethical attitude that touches the core of a music school's culture. Participation is not seen as an add-on, but as a core mission. Futures literacy helps communities prepare for complexity and novelty, enabling constructive engagement with uncertainty.

Music schools that cultivate their culture through collaborative processes build trust, transparency and shared responsibility, strengthening their capacity to face the future. The point here is to view the future not only as something that lies ahead, but as a space that can be shaped by us (students, teachers, parents, society etc.). What would a desirable future look like if it focused on aspects of interpersonal, institutional, social and societal ethics?

Using practical examples from music schools, talent development and festival design, the presentation introduces tools and workshop formats that illustrate how a design thinking approach can expand the horizon, bridge generations and roles, connect educational practice with institutional development, and link individual creativity with collective responsibility. In the spirit of "thinking out of the box", the methods encourage the search for creative and innovative solutions.

 

William J. Coppola
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, USA

What do we mean when we talk about ethics? Arts education and ethics beyond praxis

Ethics has long been positioned at the centre of music education. Confronting claims that the arts offer an essential arena for moral growth and human flourishing, alongside ethical concerns for responsibility, agency, justice, and care, a shift from aesthetic judgment toward ethical concerns helped produce what has often been called the "praxial turn" in music education. Today, praxis has become so synonymous with ethics that one might think of them as one and the same. Yet, music educators seldom make explicit the beliefs that underpin their ethical positions, commonly appealing to praxial claims while failing to question the normative assumptions underlying their calls (Higgins, 2011). When they do situate their work within moral theories, says Lauren Richerme (2020), educators "rarely acknowledge any drawbacks of their selected lines of thinking" (p. 68), pushing divergent accounts of ethics and moral philosophy to the sidelines.

Yet, if the arts should indeed serve as a tool for developing ethically minded and responsible citizens (Elliott et al., 2016), it is necessary to question in more depth what we really mean when we talk about ethics in education (MacIntyre, 1984/2013). In this presentation, I consider several moral questions that music educators ought to grapple with. Should praxis' implicit reliance on Aristotelian virtue ethics be taken as the only path to educational progress and moral development, or can multiple moral truths co-exist? What does it really mean for artists to pursue the "good" in their lives and through their art? Do humans truly have an "end" (telos) that the arts can help us to realise? How should one's freedom of artistic self-expression be weighed against others' rights for moral dignity, especially when these exist in tension with one another? Drawing from normative and metaethical perspectives, I confront these and other questions to highlight a need for more expansive thinking about ethics beyond educational praxis alone.

 

Ana Čorić
Academy of Music, University of Zagreb, Croatia

Walking with Elly Bašić: Rethinking ethical horizons of the music education ecosystem in Croatia

Music schools in Croatia have a long history of providing comprehensive education in Western classical music, dating back to the socialist Yugoslavia. Their curricula have remained unchanged for the past twenty years, and the Law on Arts Education (2011) reflects an exclusive approach to school access based primarily on age and talent. However, the School for Life curriculum reform, introduced in 2019 within the general education system, opens new perspectives by emphasising interdisciplinarity, creativity, interculturalism, pluralism of musical genres, and community development. Since 2023, general education has also entered an experimental phase, implementing a whole-day school model which may affect the existing music school system and prompt a reassessment of the broader music education ecosystem.

This presentation explores ethical horizons of the music education ecosystem through a dialogic encounter with the Croatian music pedagogue Elly Bašić (1908–1998), founder of Functional Music Pedagogy (FMP) and the Elly Bašić Music School in Zagreb. The aim of her pedagogy extended beyond music instruction toward the development of a child’s multifaceted personality, a holistic and syncretic experience of music, and the enrichment of the broader cultural life in society. Inspired by dialogic approaches in music education research, the presentation juxtaposes two perspectives: the researcher’s contemporary walk through the music education ecosystem in times of uncertainty and polycrisis, and a historical reflection on Bašić’s pedagogical work in the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on systems learning theory (Barrett & Westerlund, 2023; Westerlund, Laes & López-Íñiguez, 2025; Westerlund & Karttunen, 2025) and the concept of a usable past (Cox, 1999), the presentation treats historical inquiry as a resource for reflecting on contemporary practice and questions related to interpersonal, professional, institutional, and societal ethics in music schools. In this perspective, the music education ecosystem becomes a place where ethical questions of participation, responsibility, collaborative professionalism, and value are negotiated.

 

Thomas De Baets^1,2, Thomas Geudens^1,2
1LUCA School of Arts, Belgium; ²KU Leuven, Belgium

Cracks in the system? How Flemish music schools navigate a flawed ecosystem

In Flanders, Belgium, music and art schools belong to part-time arts education, which is integrated into the official Flemish education system. Although these schools have high enrolment numbers, especially in music, participation remains modest relative to the total Flemish population. While their strong government-funded status enhances accessibility, they cannot compensate for the limited provision of music learning in general education.

When, on an educational macro level, the different sectors of music education (including general education, music schools, non-formal initiatives and higher music education) are viewed as an interconnected ecosystem, it becomes clear that the Flemish ecosystem has systemic flaws which have been further reinforced by recent developments and innovations. Ideally, all sectors should be logically connected to support coherent music-learning trajectories – ranging, for instance, from a democratic provision of music learning within general education to music schools that offer an additional layer of learning for those who wish to progress further. From there, motivated learners can proceed towards higher music education, including teacher preparation.

Cracks in the system become visible through studying practices intended to bridge gaps between the music education sectors. These practices may be regarded as ‘symptoms’ of the problem because they demonstrate how the system searches for a sticking-plaster solution to cover its 'wounds'. Examples include the Kunstkuur project, which connects general education and music schools through teacher exchange; the Alternative Learning Contexts, in which amateur arts practices can be formally recognised by music schools; and research efforts to transfer community music facilitators’ pedagogical-artistic strategies into formal music education.

While music schools navigate this ecosystem, music education researchers must also relate to this educational ecology. Rather than reporting on a single research study, this presentation offers two researchers' informed perspective on making ethical judgements about future research directions.

 

Amber Deckers
LUCA School of Arts / KU Leuven, Belgium

Whose voice counts? Ethical negotiations in youth choir pedagogy

Youth choirs are often described as spaces for artistic development, personal growth and community building. These choirs constitute a pedagogical context in which artistic performance, traditionally hierarchical musical leadership, collaboration and the development and well-being of young participants intersect. As youth choirs are found in diverse educational contexts – including music schools, general education, and non-formal arts organisations – they provide a relevant site for exploring pedagogical and ethical questions in music education.

While participatory and democratic approaches are increasingly encouraged in music education, the inclusion of young people's perspectives may be understood not only as a pedagogical strategy but also as an ethical commitment to agency and expression. In this presentation, we discuss how these approaches and interactions influence young singers’ experiences of agency and belonging in the choir. At the same time, participatory practices generate certain tensions. Choir leaders must frequently navigate between artistic standards and democratic involvement, between rehearsal efficiency and collaborative decision-making processes, and between traditional choral leadership and shared forms of leadership.

This presentation focuses specifically on how the perspectives of young singers are acknowledged and negotiated during choir rehearsals – in decisions about artistic output, rehearsal strategies and feedback. More specifically, it asks how choir leaders negotiate ethical tensions between artistic leadership and the participation of young singers during rehearsals.

The analysis draws on a qualitative case study involving observations of youth choir rehearsals and focus group interviews with choir members, the choir leader and a board member, and concentrates on moments when choir leaders invite, respond to, or reject the input of young singers during rehearsals. The findings illustrate how the voices of young singers are acknowledged, negotiated or constrained in rehearsal interactions, and how this influences participants' experiences of agency and belonging.

 

Nikolay Tomov Demerdzhiev
ELCHK Lutheran Academy, Hong Kong S.A.R. (China)

Sonic migrations: Exploring musical identities in school communities

Music and art schools, as publicly funded institutions, have responsibilities that extend beyond promoting arts and cultural education. They should respond to contemporary societal challenges, and in doing so adapt their educational offerings to meet community needs (Hahn et al., 2024; Westerlund et al., 2019). The aim is to ensure social diversity is represented across all levels of school stakeholders.

This paper is intended to raise awareness of student‑body diversity as part of a broader examination of the role of music and art schools in society. Although the project is situated in a different context, it illustrates how European music and art schools might promote migrant musical cultures that often remain invisible. This pilot project is proposed for a Hong Kong-based secondary school, forming music-major student study groups around three inquiry areas: diaspora and identity; cultural fusion; and Hong Kong’s soundscape.

This pilot project is guided by three research questions:

1. Are migrants able to maintain their original musical identity?

2. How does migrant musical culture blend with the local culture in a global context?

3. What influences can be traced within the Hong Kong soundscapes?

To analyse the interview data, the inquiry will use Toolkit III from the Ungleiche Vielfalt initiative (www.ungleichevielfalt.at), applying its qualitative coding and analysis framework to explore themes related to cultural diversity within the school community. Through this research, students are expected to deepen their contextual understanding by investigating how music expresses the identities and experiences of individuals with migrant backgrounds in their school community. Their creativity is encouraged through composing original works that integrate elements of migrant musical cultures with their own styles. By developing practical competencies in musical analysis and digital music production, students will meet the requirements of their music programme.

Finally, the project will prioritise genuine inclusivity by engaging underrepresented voices collaboratively rather than extractively, avoiding tokenism. These obligations align with Korsgaard’s account of moral agency and integrity by protecting participants' autonomy and identity through respectful practice. The students will act as responsible moral agents who constitute themselves through ethical commitments (Korsgaard, 2009).

 

Vassilis Digos, Georgios Tsitas
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece 

Discernment (diakrisis) as an ethical virtue in music mentoring: A duoethnographic study of a mentor-mentee relationship in teacher education

What makes a good music teacher today? While debates on teacher adequacy and effectiveness have intensified internationally, scholarly attention increasingly turns to the ethical dimensions of teaching and the relational qualities that sustain meaningful educational practice. In Greece, this discussion has gained particular relevance with the introduction of teacher evaluation systems and the institutionalisation of teaching internships. At the same time, research explores the qualities that define the "effective" music teacher, prompting renewed reflection on the moral foundations of pedagogical work within traditions of virtue ethics – particularly in Orthodox Christian ascetic thought – and contemporary mentoring scholarships.

The present study emerges from an ongoing dialogue between two musician–researchers whose relationship originated in a mentoring context during a school-based music teaching internship in a Greek secondary school. Over eight years, their evolving mentor–mentee relationship repeatedly returned to a shared question: Who is truly a good teacher? This question was revisited through personal experiences, dialogic discussions, and engagement with scholarship on the ethics of education and conceptions of the ideal music teacher.

Adopting a duoethnographic approach, the researchers engaged in dialogical exploration of data derived from experiences, memories, and influences shaping their musical and pedagogical trajectories. The data consisted of dialogic conversations, retrospective narratives, and written reflections, which were analysed through an iterative, dialogic interpretation process. Through this process, the researchers revisited educators who had shaped their development and examined the qualities they most admired in them.

An unexpected convergence emerged. The teachers they regarded as exemplary consistently demonstrated a widely recognised – yet often overlooked – ethical virtue rooted in Greek cultural life and the Orthodox Christian tradition: discernment (diakrisis). In this context, discernment refers to the educator’s capacity to adjust attitudes, expectations, and pedagogical responses in a context-sensitive manner, offering each student what is most needed for growth.

Ultimately, this duoethnography highlights discernment as a central ethical orientation in music mentoring and teaching. Rather than proposing a universal prescription, the study invites renewed consideration of the ethical frameworks that inform educational practice and the ways teachers cultivate meaningful relationships with students and colleagues.

 

Julia Espinet Alegre
Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, Barcelona

Migrant families and the ethics of access in music and arts education

Questions of access to music and arts education raise important ethical challenges for music and art schools across Europe. This presentation examines these challenges through the experiences of migrant families in Barcelona, Spain, where despite inclusive policy frameworks, migrant, racialised, and low-income families remain underrepresented in out-of-school music and arts education.

Drawing on Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital alongside race-conscious critiques, the study explores how music and art schools might move beyond symbolic inclusion toward more relational and ethically accountable forms of engagement with minoritised communities. The study draws on qualitative interviews with migrant parents alongside arts-based responses developed from their narratives. The study received ethical approval from King's College London and followed protocols of informed consent and confidentiality, with particular attention paid to the positionality of the researcher and the potential vulnerabilities and power dynamics involved in working with minoritised families.

Within this ethical framework, the analysis identifies four key insights: (1) families often break inherited patterns of cultural participation in order to create new opportunities for their children; (2) arts education is valued primarily for emotional growth and family connection rather than academic achievement or social mobility; (3) access is hampered by structural and social barriers, including limited enrolment capacity, timing disparities, opaque communication, language exclusion, and racism; and (4) despite these challenges, families demonstrate significant resilience, and once enrolled, experience arts education as socially and emotionally transformative for both children and family life.

By centring the voices of migrant families, the presentation highlights the ethical responsibilities of music and art schools in addressing structural exclusion. It argues that expanding access requires not only inclusive policies but institutional practices that actively dismantle barriers to engagement. In doing so, the study reframes access to arts education as an ongoing ethical responsibility of music and art schools rather than a matter of individual family participation.

 

Erik Esterbauer
Mozarteum University Salzburg, Austria

The significance of assessing the ability to relate in inclusive contexts

Relationships form the basis of human development and have a crucial influence in educational contexts. Inclusive learning environments, especially in mixed-ability groups, are most successful when the children’s varying abilities and needs, as well as their capacity for forming relationships, are properly assessed. Teachers should tailor their support to each child on this basis and include ethical considerations.

This presentation provides a short overview of the concept of the quality of relationship and its significance in music education. The purpose of the study to adapt of the tool for Assessment of the Quality of Relationship in pedagogical contexts (AQR-P Tool) for observation, didactic ideas, research, and evaluation. Based on Daniel Stern’s concept of the development of self, attachment theory and the work of Karin Schumacher on the quality of relationship, the AQR Tool was adapted for pedagogical purposes.

The study was conducted in the context of a study programme for elemental music pedagogy (for later work in music schools) as well as kindergarten, primary, secondary and special schools. After consideration of ethical and data protection issues, music and movement lessons for inclusive groups were filmed and selected scenes were assessed for phenomena related to relationship matters. Data analysis was conducted using aspects of grounded theory and content analysis. New aspects of observation were generated and validated through interrater reliabilities, thus leading to an adapted version of the tool for the Assessment of the Quality of Relationship in pedagogical contexts (AQR-P Tool).

The findings of the study (see Esterbauer et al., 2025) suggest that the use of the AQR-P Tool supports music teachers’ evaluation of the child’s current level of relating ability and enables them to select appropriate content and teaching methods for group lessons with children or adults with disabilities or developmental disorders.

Reference:
Esterbauer, E., Salmon, S. & Schumacher, K. (2025). Assessing the ability to relate in inclusive group music teaching. In K. A. McCord, C. Colwell & D. VanderLinde (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of special music education and music therapy (pp. 173–188). Oxford University Press.

 

Søren Friis Møller
Danske Musik- og Kulturskoler, Denmark

Celebrating new practices in music schools

Following changes in their legal framework, municipal music schools in Denmark have, since 2012, been obliged by law to collaborate with primary and secondary state schools and vice versa. After a tentative start, municipal music schools now increasingly engage in such collaborations, not least due to closer political scrutiny. However, the collaborations present music school teachers with pedagogical challenges as they move from one-to-one teaching to classroom teaching. It also presents them with ethical considerations as they may feel unqualified to meet new teaching obligations and reluctant to perform politically imposed tasks. 

According to a recent study (Friis Møller, 2025), these feelings of inadequacy and reluctance tend to be heigthtened when no 'celebratory mechanisms' are available. 'Celebratory mechanisms' refer to rituals and incentives that encourage and make visible behaviour perceived to be right, good, fair, and worthy of respect by peers, superiors, and broader society. Traditionally, such mechanisms are well in place when it comes to one-to-one teaching. In contrast, music school teachers who are asked to or who voluntarily engage in classroom teaching in primary and secondary state schools are left with a diffuse or even deteriorating sense of self, professional identity, and sense of purpose.

The context of the presentation is the launch of the national pedagogical training programme for music and culture school teachers, the DMK Pædagogikum. The presentation describes two ‘paradigmatic cases’ (Flyvbjerg, 2026) of municipal music schools actively developing new celebratory mechanisms, e.g. structural mechanisms, such as salary increases, and cultural mechanisms, such as highlighting achievements in staff meetings to explicitly give value, meaning and sense of purpose to classroom teaching obligations. The case studies include quantitative and qualitative data and the co-researchers’ own involvement in the cases, and draws on McNamee and Hosking (2013) to explore the transformative potential of the cases. Ethical aspects are discussed drawing on Løgstrup’s relational aesthetics (2020/1956). The paper explores how development of celebratory mechanisms along with newly acquired skills from the DMK Pedagogikum can contribute to a new work ethic for music school teachers.

 

Michael Göllner
mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria

Ethical tensions in music school teachers' support of students' pathways to music studies

Music school teachers play a central role in shaping students’ pathways to music-related careers. They advise pupils on whether to pursue a degree in music and support them in preparing for entrance examinations. As access to music degrees is generally contingent upon passing such examinations, preparation in German-speaking countries predominantly takes place at publicly funded music schools (Hahn, 2017). Music school teachers therefore play a crucial role in enabling access to music-related educational and professional pathways. In light of the frequently diagnosed shortage of skilled personnel in music education (Dartsch et al., 2026; Hahn et al. forthcoming), as well as ongoing debates about widening access to higher music education (Honnens, 2024; Saner & Vögele, 2016), this role has attracted increasing attention in discussions on music education and cultural policy (Bradler et al., 2026).

The presentation addresses the ethical questions raised by this situation and draws on an exploratory qualitative interview study with music school teachers in Lower Austria (Göllner, 2026). The study examines how teachers identify pupils who might be suited to a music-related degree and how they support them in preparing for entrance examinations. Interviews were conducted in accordance with established research ethics standards (Helfferich, 2011) and analysed using grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 2010).

Drawing on the concept of status passages (Behrens & Rabe-Kleberg, 2000), the analysis shows that teachers take on different roles during the transition to music studies. On the one hand, they actively support and shape students' educational pathways in music. On the other, they also exercise forms of gatekeeping by influencing who approaches the threshold of music-related professional training. The findings further suggest that teachers' assessments also consider pupils' family backgrounds and associated resources, pointing to social selection mechanisms that shape transitions from school to higher education (Friebertshäuser, 2008). Against this background and drawing on existing research on social justice in education and inequalities in access to higher education, the presentation addresses the following question: What relationship can and should exist between talent development, pedagogical care (López-Íñiguez & Westerlund, 2023), and socially equitable access to musical education (Krupp, 2022) and professional opportunities (Tralle et al., 2025) within a predominantly publicly funded music school system?

 

Marja Heimonen
Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

In search of phronēsis: Finnish Basic Arts Education in music as a case in point

This paper examines phronēsis, i.e. practical wisdom (Annas, 2006), as a mediating concept between ethical and legal principles in Finnish basic arts education, with a particular focus on music education. In Finland, teachers enjoy a comparatively high degree of professional autonomy, while their work is simultaneously guided by legislation, national core curricula, and locally defined curricula (Heimonen, 2023). This dual structure creates a pedagogical context in which abstract norms must be interpreted and enacted in concrete educational situations.

The research question is: How can phronēsis support teachers in applying ethical and legal principles, especially the principle of the best interests of the child, in everyday practices of music and arts education? The argument advanced is that phronēsis enables teachers to translate general principles into situationally sensitive pedagogical action, thereby bridging formal regulation and lived educational reality.

Methodologically, the paper adopts an analytic-hermeneutic approach, drawing on philosophical ethics, legal theory (Tuori, 2019), and music education research (Björk, 2016; Björk & Heimonen, 2019). It clarifies conceptual distinctions and overlaps between ethical and legal principles, highlighting their shared openness and case-sensitive interpretation. 

Preliminary findings suggest that phronēsis in music education consists of professional-pedagogical knowledge, moral sensitivity, relational care, and ethical courage. It enables teachers to assess, for example, appropriate levels of challenge, the meaning of practice demands, and the long-term sustainability of a pupil's good relationship with music and art. The paper concludes that phronēsis is indispensable for ethically responsible arts education, allowing teachers to act wisely within, and sometimes critically against, institutional norms while safeguarding pupils' well-being and good, enduring relationships with music.

The research follows national (TENK, 2023) and institutional ethical guidelines and provides timely, relevant insights into ethical issues in music education to inform current and future reforms in Finland and internationally.

 

Thomas Albæk Jakobsen
Frederikshavn Kommune, Denmark

Changing conversations: Ethics, reflexivity, and organisational learning in a Danish music and art school

In Denmark, changes in conversations among teachers have been observed during efforts to develop pedagogical practice in response to increased complexity in teaching. Tacit knowledge has become explicit, generating new ethical questions about teaching approaches and ways of relating to students. This process has led to organisational learning within a Danish art school offering music and filmmaking education to children and adults.

The purpose of this study is to explore how conversations change and how ethical questions arise when working with a formulated child and youth perspective. The hypothesis is that, over time, such conversations will lead to a shift in the the professional culture in which the individual private music teacher increasingly gives way to an organisational and learning-oriented professional approach. Two research questions guide the study:

1) How do conversations change when a shared language about a child and youth perspective is developed from a care ethics perspective, and what does this mean for learning in the organisation?

2) In relation to ethical questions, what signs of openness, shared concepts and knowledge sharing appear and what remains undiscussed, and why?

The data derive from qualitative interviews, observations of pedagogical discussions, autoethnographic descriptions and organisational documents. The analysis draws on theories from the complexity sciences with a focus on paradoxes, perspectives from critical management studies with emphasis on culture, and theories of reflexivity, closeness and closure in autoethnography related to ethics. Since the study is conducted by the leader of the art school, working in a dual role as manager and researcher, questions of duality, psychological safety, and organisational politics are addressed reflexively in relation to research ethics.

Over time, changes in pedagogical conversations and professional standpoints have been identified. Tacit knowledge becomes explicit, but this also brings forward questions of identity, belonging and ethics in teaching. The study finds that ethical dilemmas – and the conversations surrounding them – shape the organisational culture.

Because the study is closely connected to ongoing reflexive discussions in daily pedagogical practice, the insights may be of value to teachers and leaders in music and art schools across Europe.

 

Eliise Kannukene
Tartu I Music School, Estonia

Developing and implementing a learning-outcome-based curriculum in a results-oriented context: ethical dilemmas and pragmatic countermeasures

Music schools operating within competitive, results-oriented traditions face a persistent ethical tension: how to honour the professional responsibility to support each learner while operating within systems that prioritise measurable achievement and demonstrable excellence. This practitioner contribution reflects on one Estonian music school's ongoing redesign of its seven-year curriculum around learner-centred principles and the ethical dilemmas encountered in doing so.

Strong local and shared tradition, sector networks and the demanding entrance requirements of conservatories shape deeply rooted teaching practices and institutional expectations. While most pupils will not pursue further studies, all deserve an enriching, lasting foundation, since the decision on whether to continue is frequently made late in the programme or after graduation. In a municipally funded system where parental fees cover only 15% of costs, curriculum design must balance excellence, positive experience, and the ethical responsibility to support all learners.

The curriculum reform shifts from grade-specific repertoire requirements to study-level outcomes deliberately calibrated as minimum requirements for average and moderately progressing pupils, while teachers retain autonomy in repertoire, pedagogy, and pacing. Within a leadership-for-learning approach, the reform has gradually steered assessment culture away from graded performances toward descriptive feedback, conceptions of assessment for learning over assessment of learning, and self-determination theory practices that support pupil motivation. Level examinations remain a pragmatic compromise, ensuring minimum requirements while grounding discussions of progress, support, or additional study time. Ethical countermeasures emphasise transparency, early discussion of expectations and readiness, and structured preparation. Examinations therefore function as tools supporting learning rather than punitive judgement, maintaining trust in the school's commitment to every pupil's development.

For European music schools operating in similar contexts, this case offers a practical example of what institutions can do to safeguard genuine educational quality and ethical responsibility toward every learner — and a frank account of why policy alone cannot guarantee either. 

 

Ritva Koistinen^1,2, Jussi Rinta^1,3
1University of Eastern Finland; ²Kuopio Conservatory; ³Palmgren Conservatory

Tradition meets transformation: Finnish piano teachers' responses to a changing music education landscape

Finnish music schools are entering a period of significant structural transformation as both the Act on Basic Education in the Arts and the National Core Curriculum undergo renewal. Within this context, this symposium contribution revisits the 2018 core curriculum reform which introduced a notable paradigm shift in Finnish music institutes (Pohjannoro, Ojala & Lähteenmäki, 2024). Although music schools had already improved accessibility and inclusiveness in their practices (Pohjannoro, 2011), the 2018 reform generated notable tensions in the field (Vähäsarja, 2018). By examining Finnish piano teachers' pedagogical thinking and their perceptions of the reform, this study aims to understand these tensions and their ethical implications at interpersonal, professional, and institutional level.  

Pedagogical thinking is approached as an integrated framework of beliefs concerning learning, human beings, knowledge, and music (Patrikainen, 1997). It encompasses the values, beliefs, and meaning-making processes that impact teaching practices. Such thinking implicitly defines the objectives and processes of learning, enabling certain learner pathways while potentially excluding others (O’Neill & Senyshyn, 2011).   

The study draws on survey data collected in spring 2024 from 147 Finnish piano teachers, combining statistical and qualitative analysis in a mixed‑methods design. In constructing the survey, a strong emphasis was given to ensuring the anonymity of respondents even for us researchers in recognition of our dual position as researchers and members of a relatively small group of Finnish piano educators. The findings reveal that teachers strongly valuing traditional piano pedagogy and prioritising musical quality tended to regard the reform critically. Conversely, more learner‑centred orientations and an emphasis on pedagogical quality were associated with positive views of the reform. Furthermore, concerns were expressed about the erosion of pedagogical traditions and the evolving nature of piano teachers’ professionalism. Respondents also recognised the need to relax established norms and increase pluralism to secure the long‑term sustainability of music education in a changing society.   

This contribution offers insights into tensions in professional identity and ethics arising from an institutional change. It invites discussion on the role of leadership and continuous professional reflection when navigating these transitions. 

 

Anthoula Koliadi-Tiliakou¹, Angeliki Triantafyllaki², Panagiotis Loukas Bellos¹, Christos Theologos^1
1Music School of Rhodes, ²National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece 

Balancing artistic excellence and professional well-being: An institutional ethics perspective on working conditions at music schools in Greece

Within the framework of institutional ethics, teachers’ working conditions constitute a fundamental moral indicator of an organisation’s self-understanding. Recent research in music education and teachers’ professional well-being (Makripouli, 2025) has highlighted issues of workload, professional stress, burnout risk, and role conflict among music educators, particularly in environments where artistic excellence is closely associated with intensive rehearsal practice and responsibilities that extend beyond formal teaching hours. This paper presents an empirical field study of Greek music schools that explores the attitudes and perceptions of teachers regarding their professional environment, specifically focusing on the curriculum structure and the demanding rehearsal schedules required for public performances. While the mission of Greek music schools centres on holistic artistic education, the ethical dimension of the "labour behind the art" remains unexamined. 

The study uses data collected through structured questionnaires distributed to Greek music schools. The research objectives are to identify the ethical tensions arising from the "expanded" working hours, the intensity of extracurricular rehearsals, and the pressure of maintaining high performance standards within the rigid timetable in secondary education. Key research questions address whether the current institutional framework adheres to the principle of "nonmaleficence" towards teaching staff and how these conditions affect teachers’ well-being and the teacher-student dynamic. Preliminary findings reveal a complex ethical landscape where the commitment to artistic quality often leads to "professional self-sacrifice". Teachers report a tension between their pedagogical duty and the logistical burdens of the curriculum, raising questions of justice and fairness regarding work-life balance. The study suggests that institutional ethics must move beyond celebratory narratives of success and address the obligatory care of the educators. In conclusion, the paper argues for a more sustainable and ethically grounded institutional policy at Greek music schools that values the labour entailed by rehearsals and administrative coordination as integral, rather than peripheral, components of the educational mission. By ensuring fair working conditions, the institution can better uphold its ethical integrity and long-term educational efficacy.

Reference:
Mavropouli, E. (2025). The role of music in positive psychology, mental well-being and burnout among primary education teachers. [Doctoral dissertation, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens].

 

Norbert Koop
Musikschule Bochum, Germany

Enabling participation – a music school for all people

The Bochum Music School has adopted the phrase "Embracing Diversity" as its motto. Since its foundation 60 years ago, all staff members have strived to ensure that the music school is accessible to everyone. The school’s first head, Werner Probst, developed programmes for people with disabilities in Bochum – the first of their kind in Germany. In the 1980s, Reinhart von Gutzeit set out to develop the "music school for all". From 2003, the "An Instrument for Every Child" (JeKi, later JeKits) programme was implemented in Bochum, and around 2020, a comprehensive, diversity-sensitive development programme was carried out. 

Over many decades, an ethical foundation characterised by openness, tolerance and flexibility has been established at the Bochum Music School. People of all cultural backgrounds, ages, genders, with or without disabilities, and from all social classes are welc'me to attend the school. In this way, it remains relevant to large sections of the population, thereby securing its existence as a publicly funded music school. Academic research shows that the music school’s users reflect urban society in many respects. Nevertheless, efforts to promote openness in the day-to-day running of the music school must be further developed.

This presentation will outline the music school's journey. The current situation, including challenges and successes, will form the focus of the talk, followed by a look at future developments.

 

Julia Katarzyna Leikvoll
University of Bergen, Norway

Ethical dimensions of instrumental music education: A comparative study of Norway and Poland

This presentation examines the ethical implications of two contrasting systems of non-compulsory instrumental music education in Norway and Poland. By analysing governmental documents, curriculum frameworks, and statistical data on participation and access across levels and age groups, the study compares how these systems define their target groups, educational purposes, accessibility, and organisational structures. Although Polish music centres and Norwegian schools of music and performing arts offer similar forms of instrumental tuition, Poland also maintains a highly specialised, state-regulated system of music schools that provides professional, goal-oriented training at all levels of pre-tertiary education.

The statistical comparison highlights significant differences in access to sustained, high-quality training pathways. In Poland, a structured system enables children to engage in intensive, long-term musical development from an early age. In Norway, access is broader but typically limited in depth: most pupils receive short weekly lessons with limited theoretical or ensemble components, and systematic pathways toward professional musicianship emerge only at the upper secondary level. This places greater responsibility on families and private providers for those pursuing advanced development.

The analysis reveals that the underlying concept of a "music school" differs significantly between the two countries, reflecting divergent ethical orientations. Polish music schools are designed to prepare pupils for professional musicianship and therefore demand commitment, structured progression, and performance-oriented achievement; pupils who do not meet these expectations may need to pursue music outside the system. Norwegian schools of music and performing arts, by contrast, adopt a more inclusive and flexible approach, aiming to support personal growth, well-being, and broad participation without imposing strict expectations.

Interpreting these findings through an ethical lens informed by theories of educational equality (Brighouse & Swift, 2006; Satz, 2007) the study discusses tensions between excellence and accessibility, structure and autonomy, and professional preparation versus leisure-based participation. The presentation invites reflective dialogue about how music schools constitute themselves ethically through their commitments, their assumptions about learners, and the kinds of musical lives and identities they make possible.

References:
Brighouse, H., & Swift, A. (2006). Equality, priority, and positional goods. Ethics, 116(3), 471–497.
Satz, D. (2007). Equality, adequacy, and education for citizenship. Ethics, 117(4), 623–648. 

 

Chun Li
Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

The ethics of self-cultivation: A conceptual framework for aesthetic care in gifted music education

In the high-stakes environment of gifted music education, the pedagogical focus often tilts heavily toward technical virtuosity, frequently at the expense not only of the student’s psychological and physical well-being, but of ethical grounding too. Gifted music students face unique vulnerabilities, including intense performance pressure, maladaptive perfectionism, and precarious identity formation. Traditional instruction often overlooks these "hidden" dimensions, necessitating a pedagogical shift that integrates artistic excellence with ethical responsibility.

My presentation proposes a novel conceptual framework for "aesthetic care". It synthesises care ethics with Michel Foucault’s notion of "aesthetic existence", suggesting that the cultivation of the self is an ethical-artistic project in its own right. To map the dynamics of the learning environment, my research uses Engeström’s Activity Theory, analysing the contradictions and mediations within the gifted music classroom.

Drawing on a critical synthesis of philosophical, theoretical, and critical literature, this conceptual-theoretical study positions aesthetic care as a multifaceted relational, perceptual, and ethical orientation. By using Activity Theory to map the complex interactions within the music classroom, the research identifies a series of interconnected pedagogical principles that bridge the gap between technical mastery and socio-emotional development. My presentation suggests that by fostering multi-voiced participation and reflective aesthetic consciousness, teachers can implement developmental differentiation and integrative musicianship. Ultimately, these elements converge to create transformative aesthetic encounters, shifting the focus from mere performance outputs toward the cultivation of the student’s moral-aesthetic discernment and holistic artistic identity.

The framework argues that by linking ethical attentiveness with aesthetic sensitivity, music education can serve as a caring site for human flourishing. This approach empowers gifted and talented students to navigate their vulnerabilities and cultivate fulfilling musical lives. By reframing the teacher-student dyad through the lens of aesthetic care, we can ensure that the pursuit of any musical path remains a deeply humanising endeavour.

 

Vedrana Marković¹, Andrea Ćoso^2
1University of Montenegro, Music Academy, Montenegro; ²School for Elementary and Secondary Music Education Vida Matjan Kotor, Montenegro

The position of Roma students in the music education system in Montenegro – a case study

Students from Roma communities who enter the music education system in Montenegro face numerous challenges. To highlight the various difficulties, a case study was conducted. The interviewee was a solfeggio teacher who taught Roma pupils of elementary-school age for several years at the music school in Kotor, Montenegro.

The system of primary and secondary music education in Montenegro is free. As with the general elementary school, pupils are enrolled in the first grade of elementary music school at the age of six. In the lower grades, they study solfeggio with music theory and an instrument, while choral singing or orchestra is added in later grades. There is low enrolment of Roma students in music schools. Reasons for this are their disadvantaged social status and a lack of material resources in their home environment (Flecha et al., 2022).

Analysis of the responses obtained from the case study suggests that the personality of the teacher is a key factor in the success of students from this population, a point also emphasised by Fehérvári (2023). The presentation will outline the conditions in which instruction takes place, the problems and barriers faced by both teachers and students, students’ level of achievement, as well as their reasons for abandoning music education. The research indicates that a significant number of Roma students do not speak or fully understand the language of instruction, lack access to educational materials, and face considerable financial difficulties when attempting to purchase their own instruments. Parents often do not provide continuous support to their children in the pursuit of music education, as they deem music unimportant, perceiving it merely as a hobby. The study concluded that one of the crucial aspects of music education for Roma students is the acknowledgment of their unique cultural musical traditions and customs, as also suggested by Bai and Jimenez (2023). The research was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards and procedures of the University of Montenegro and complied with institutional regulations.

 

Beatrice McNamara
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Germany

Rethinking inclusive music education: Empirical insights and egalitarian difference as an ethical perspective

Findings from a paper-pencil survey with 73 participants using five vignettes adapted to music-specific contexts suggest that inclusive music education is still associated with special educational needs teaching. The study, conducted between 2019 and 2023, was part of the LMU project "Teaching Music Inclusively". The vignettes addressed different forms of diversity relevant to music education, including linguistic comprehension, physical challenges, behavioural difficulties, socioeconomic disadvantage and prior musical experience. Regarding research ethics, the principle of autonomy as specified in the Belmont Report was upheld. Participants were neither restricted nor guided by predefined definitions of inclusion; instead, autonomous reasoning and introspection were encouraged to allow them to articulate their own values and norms concerning diversity and inclusive classroom scenarios.

Closed items used a seven‑point suitability scale (1 = suitable; 7 = unsuitable), while open responses captured participants' perspectives. Quantitative results indicate a general openness towards implementing inclusive music education (M ≈ 3.7, SD ≈ 2.6). Nevertheless, responses show a persistent tendency to associate inclusion primarily with disability and special educational needs. These findings indicate a broader structural tension within inclusive education: while inclusion aims to move towards decategorisation, educational systems frequently rely on such categories for the allocation of resources. As a result, inclusion may continue to be perceived as addressing "the few rather than all", a dilemma also discussed by Äli Leijen et al. (2021).

The findings, obtained in a university context, are also relevant for inclusive and multifaceted teaching in music and art schools. Fostering collaborative professionalism and social responsibility (Westerlund, Hahn, & Björk, 2024) should be integrated into teacher education for careers in both general school settings and music and art school contexts.

Based on these research findings, the paper discusses the concept of egalitarian difference proposed by Annedore Prengel as a normative perspective for inclusive music education. The concept emphasises the reciprocity between equality and diversity as a guiding principle for democratic and inclusive educational practice.

 

Federica Marchi
J. A. Comenius Secondary School, Italy

Ikigai, voice and ethical responsibility in vocal pedagogy: play, motivation and self-inquiry in music education

This paper examines the ethical dimensions of vocal pedagogy in music schools through the conceptual lens of ikigai, a Japanese concept referring to a sense of meaning, purpose, and direction in life. Rather than approaching ikigai as a framework for well-being, the paper conceives it as an ethical-pedagogical stance that informs how teachers and students relate to learning, to one another, and to their own aspirations within educational contexts.

Grounded in practitioner-based reflection and interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, the contribution brings together insights from educational neuroscience, play-based pedagogy, and music education research to explore singing as an embodied, relational, and ethically charged practice. Central to the argument is the idea that the voice functions as a reflective medium through which individuals can investigate how they inhabit the world and how they relate to others. Vocal expression is thus understood as a mirror of personal, emotional, and relational qualities that emerge in sound.

Within this perspective, vocal pedagogy becomes a space for ethical self-inquiry: working with the voice without judgment and with a spirit of exploration supports personal growth, self-awareness, and responsibility. Particular attention is given to teacher–student dynamics and to the ethical responsibility of music educators to create learning environments in music schools that foster curiosity, care, and trust, rather than performance-driven or normative ideals.

The paper discusses play, curiosity, and intrinsic motivation as ethically significant pedagogical tools, aligning neuroscientific knowledge about learning, memory, and neuroplasticity with principles of care and nonmaleficence. By situating vocal education within a broader ethical horizon that includes intergenerational responsibility, the contribution highlights music and art schools as spaces where artistic practice, meaning-making, and ethical growth intersect.

 

Judith McGregor
mdw – University of Music and Performing Art, Austria

Between educational mission and democratic opening: The ethical self-understanding of music schools

Publicly funded music schools are faced with a fundamental ethical question: Who do they belong to – and who should they belong to? What expectations are directed at them? In the Central European context, music schools largely orient themselves towards the canon of Western art music and partly towards performance-based training models. At the same time, as publicly financed institutions, they are expected to remain open to all. This tension is not merely structural, but also profoundly ethical.

Drawing on a qualitative study of the professional self-perception of instrumental teachers specialising in instrumental pedagogy and music mediation, as presented in the author's monograph Musikvermittlung in der Instrumentalpädagogik (McGregor, 2026), group discussions were analysed using the documentary method, in accordance with standard research ethics protocols. The analysis reconstructs collective orientations and identifies a typology ranging from artistic-aesthetic to social-participatory orientations. The study reveals a striking discrepancy: although both the interviewed teachers and music school associations, such as the Austrian Conference of Music Schools (KOMU) and the Association of German Music Schools (VdM), emphasise voluntariness, cultural diversity, and low-threshold access in the spirit of a 'music school for all', teachers experience an increasing degree of schoolification – growing performance pressure, formalisation, and restricted pedagogical scope. This raises a central question: What self-understanding should guide music schools – and how can it be realised in practice?

It is argued that the tension between performance pressure and democratic opening cannot simply be resolved administratively but may be productively embraced as an organisational dialectic, thereby recognising that, while the professionalisation of music schools has introduced necessary structures, it may also result in overformalisation. Music schools must consciously negotiate different tasks and expectations, treating them as complementary forces and balancing structural quality standards with the pedagogical freedom required for artistic teaching. Against this backdrop, concepts such as cultural democracy (Matarasso), artistic citizenship (Elliott et al.) and artizenship (Westvall & Carson) are discussed as possible frameworks for addressing questions of openness, participation, and societal responsibility. Organisational ambidexterity, whereby existing strengths are cultivated while new, more open forms are explored, could provide an institutional framework through which these normative approaches can be developed and tested.

 

Katarzyna Musial
Concordia University, Canada

Co-creation, sensorial innovation, and ethics of care in interdisciplinary music performance and education

Contemporary music and art schools increasingly confront ethical questions related to accessibility, inclusion, and the responsibility of artistic institutions to create supportive and responsive learning environments. This study examines how sensorial and embodied approaches to music performance can contribute to an ethics of care in interdisciplinary artistic practice and education.

Grounded in a research-creation framework, the inquiry examines an interdisciplinary practice integrating music, dance, and emerging technologies, with particular attention to the RISE project at Concordia University. This experimental platform brings together artist-researchers and electroacoustic technologists to create micro-operas and explore new performative formats and collaborative learning. The project was conducted over five years following institutional ethics procedures for minimal-risk research; participants in the reflective sessions that informed the project provided informed consent.

The methodology combines practice-based experimentation, collaborative artistic development, and reflective analysis of interdisciplinary performance. The creative process incorporates technological mediation, including sensors, AI-assisted co-composition, and a laptop orchestra environment. These forms raise questions about aesthetic perception, human and non-human sound, and the boundaries between human and machine-generated musical gestures.

The research also adopts ethical reflection strategies aimed at sustaining safe and inclusive collaborative spaces, including SafeCheck practices: frequent structured check-ins designed to support dialogue, trust, and responsibility among participants and create an environment in which educators and students engage as co-participants without reproducing fixed hierarchical roles.

The findings identify three pedagogical tools that were especially effective: embodied reflection discussions, distributed relational guidance, and SafeCheck practices. Together with technological mediation, these approaches supported students in experimenting with unfamiliar sonic material, taking creative risks, and reflecting on how touch, movement, resonance, space, and interpersonal response shaped musical decisions. SafeCheck provided a practical structure for naming comfort levels, boundaries, and needs, making creative experimentation more sustainable. The study suggests that interdisciplinary research-creation can enrich music education by integrating experimentation, care, and shared agency into the learning process.

 

Siw G. Nielsen, Anne Jordhus-Lier
Norwegian Academy of Music

Games of inclusion and exclusion in extracurricular schools of music and performing arts

The Norwegian municipal extracurricular schools of music and performing arts are legally obliged to provide a wide range of activities for all children and young people, offering opportunities to learn, create and perform music and other forms of artistic expression. This ambition is supported by the absence of entrance auditions and of relatively low admission fees. The schools’ vision of being accessible to all aligns with the principles of the Nordic model of democracy and the welfare state. However, research indicates that the schools nevertheless display exclusionary tendencies, having a higher proportion of middle-class students than working-class students. This can be linked to several factors, including economic, accessibility and visibility considerations, as well as more subtle exclusionary mechanisms that leave some individuals feeling alienated from the institution and its offerings.

To gain insight into how the concepts of inclusion and diversity have been historically understood and emphasised, how music as a discipline and its content have been presented, and what characterises the ‘democratic games’ in and surrounding the schools, we have theoretically analysed curricula, research reports and white papers on the schools of music and performing arts. Furthermore, we draw on empirical data from interviews with stakeholders – headteachers, music teachers, and parents of students – and three survey questionnaires (two targeting headteachers and one targeting music teachers) to highlight examples of practices that seem inclusive but are often misunderstood as exclusionary due to class dynamics. 

These practices include the incorporation of various popular music genres, the interpretation of diversity, the organisation of extracurricular activities for all students or only for selected groups, and the distinction between progression and enjoyment. We also discuss genring practices (the act of genre-based classification) in the schools of music and arts. Our analysis of these social games is informed by Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of capital, habitus, illusio and game. The empirical studies were approved by Sikt, the Norwegian agency for shared services in education and research. Participation by headteachers, teachers, and parents was voluntary, and all information provided by the participants was anonymised.

 

Hanne Närhinsalo
Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Transforming music school education together: Facing ethical tensions in an action research project with teachers of musicianship skills

In the rapidly changing social, cultural, and technological landscape, music school teachers face increasing pressure to re-examine their pedagogical practices in an effort to create an environment for the musical flourishing of diverse students. This pressure challenges music schools as expert organisations which rely heavily on teachers' individual knowledge, craft, and professional autonomy. While the established forms of education have their strengths, they may also sustain teaching silos and limit the possibility for shared knowledge production and co-learning.

Drawing from an action research project with nine music school teachers of musicianship skills from different parts of Finland, this presentation discusses the ethical tensions teachers encounter when navigating the shift from individual autonomy towards more collaborative forms of professional learning. In Finnish basic arts education, the subject 'musicianship skills' combines and expands the previous fields of music theory and aural training and is part of the advanced music syllabus alongside instrumental and ensemble skills. The contemporary teaching of musicianship skills aims to support students’ experiential and holistic musical growth, shifting away from fragmented exercises typical of traditional theory and aural training. In the study, ethical considerations were addressed through voluntary participation, informed consent, and attention to relational ethics, including confidentiality and participants' ongoing opportunity in reflecting on and shaping the research process. 

The findings underscore how vulnerability, uneven access to collaboration, and the emotional demands of exposing one's teaching practice to critique can challenge the development of trust and reciprocity. These insights show that addressing ethical tensions is a necessary condition for developing music schools as learning systems and organisational environments so that trust, shared inquiry, accepting vulnerability, and relational accountability can enable sustainable pedagogical renewal and 'social learning' (Ison, 2017). The study suggests that transformation towards collaborative professionalism in music schools thus requires conditions in which professionals can collectively reflect on their work by sharing challenges, co-creating better pedagogical practices and safely engaging in dialogue within a culture of mutual trust (Hargreaves & O’Connor, 2018; Westerlund et al., 2024). Creating a safe and appreciative atmosphere is therefore not only desirable but ethically essential for successful teacher collaboration in music schools.

 

Paolo Paradiso
Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy

Generative AI in music schools: Ethical risks, educational opportunities, and responsible governance

Generative AI (GenAI) is progressively entering music school practice across European contexts, offering personalised learning, real-time performance feedback, and compositional assistance that could democratise access and relieve teachers of routine tasks (Cheng, 2025; Merchán Sánchez-Jara et al., 2024). Yet this promise is emerging within dense ethical terrain that music and art schools must examine before AI becomes a normative classroom tool (Cheng, 2025; UNESCO, 2023; Väkevä, 2025). At stake are questions of what is right, fair, and educationally good in artistic formation.

This theoretical paper adopts a conceptual and normative approach, drawing on recent interdisciplinary scholarship, to analyse the ethical implications of GenAI in music education. On the one hand, AI seems capable of allowing learning to continue beyond the spatial and temporal limits of school, supporting students with continuous adaptive, personalised and inclusive learning at home (Cheng, 2025; Wan & Ma, 2025). On the other hand, AI-augmented musical learning includes critical aspects such as: erosion of cultural diversity due to dataset bias; excessive simplification of musical learning processes that may weaken creative development; technological limitations and inaccuracies; lack of transparency; insufficient teacher preparation; issues of equity and inclusion; amplification of social inequalities; and risks of misuse such as plagiarism or deepfake (Cheng, 2025; Merchán Sánchez-Jara et al., 2024; UNESCO, 2024). These concerns resonate with broader reflections on the need for a human-centred, pedagogically guided approach to AI (Väkevä, 2025) and will be examined in this paper.

However, GenAI should not be considered an intrinsic threat. Rather, it offers opportunities to expand access to composition, support differentiated learning, and renew music schools’ societal role, provided its integration is mediated by ethically grounded policies (European Commission, 2020; Parliament of the European Union & Council of the European Union, 2024).

This paper argues for a transparent and regulated adoption of AI aligned with principles of nonmaleficence, professional responsibility, educational quality, and cultural plurality (Cosgrove & Cachia, 2025), particularly within publicly accountable European music and art schools. The ethical task is not resistance, but responsible governance: shaping AI in ways that protect human creativity, relational pedagogy, and public trust in artistic education.

 

Evgenia Psaroudaki¹, Αnthoula Koliadi-Tiliakou^2
1Music school of Heraklion; ²Music School of Rhodes

Teaching tradition: cross-thematic multicultural approaches and the cultivation of cultural ethics in music schools

Music education in specialised music schools goes far beyond the development of technical and performance skills and plays a crucial role in shaping students' cultural awareness and moral dispositions. In the context of contemporary multicultural societies, music education increasingly aims to foster respect for cultural diversity while emphasising the importance of collective memory and cultural identity (Banks, 2015). Within this institutional framework, public secondary music schools in Greece operate with curricula that combine general and specialised music education, offering fertile ground for integrating multicultural and ethical dimensions in teaching practices. 

The primary objective of this paper is to explore the pedagogical potential of teaching traditional musical repertoire from diverse cultural contexts as a means of cultivating culturally sensitive ethical perspectives among students. By positioning traditional music as a vehicle for collective experience, the study allows students to approach music not simply as an aesthetic object but as a profound sociocultural practice (Campbell, 2004).

The proposed methodological framework includes cross-thematic, experiential, and collaborative teaching approaches, using as a starting point piano pieces inspired by traditional Greek melodic and rhythmic patterns, within the context of piano teaching in a public secondary Music School in Greece. Through the connection of music with history, literature, dance, social anthropology and cultural studies students gain a deeper understanding of the cultural context of the musical work (Beane, 1997), which enhances intercultural understanding and cultural pluralism (Schippers, 2010). Preliminary findings suggest that the combined use of traditional musical works and cross-thematic teaching approaches contributes significantly to the culturally ethical development of students. Consequently, music schools are redefined as transformative educational cells, where musical experience is inextricably linked to the cultivation of culturally aware future citizens within multicultural societies. 

 

Peter Röbke
mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria

Generation Z career starters and the realities of music school structures and management: A clash of values?

The results of sociological empirical research on Generation Z on issues such as their ability to participate in work processes and take on responsibility (Maas, 2024) vary between the view that, like every younger generation before it, Gen Z is in "natural" opposition to the older generation, and the view that their familiarity with digital spaces, their experience of multiple crises and their expectation of a future rendered uncertain by the global climate crisis form a unique shared experiential space.

What can we expect when these young professionals at music schools, born between 1996 and 2011, encounter the ethical orientations that can be derived from the structures and actions of teachers and administrators? If, as suggested by Fischer and Hummel (2024), Gen Z expects a good work-life balance, flexible working arrangements and alternative working models, will these aspirations match the actual scope of flexibility in terms of teaching methods, timetables and subject structure (e.g. the consistent linking of teaching and ensemble work)? Further, the desire for open and transparent communication, regular feedback and a fluid communication style using digital media raise questions about the quality of music school management, which are not easy to answer given the real training opportunities available for this function. Ultimately, we must ask whether music school management encourages young employees to create space for creativity, generate knowledge flows, and live their artistic and educational identities, orientations which are to be seen as right, good, and not negotiable.

References (selected):
Fischer, N., & Hummel, A. (2024). Die Arbeitsmoral der Gen Z: Welchen neuen Ansprüchen die Arbeitswelt gerecht werden muss. In A. Bergk (Ed.), Zukunftsführung (pp. 67–182). Springer Gabler. 
Gerland, V., Röbke, P., & Stekel, H. (2026). Zu Fragen der Attraktivität des Arbeitsplatzes Musikschule. üben & musizieren 2/2026. 

 

Rut Jorunn Rønning, Øivind Varkøy
Norwegian Academy of Music

The role of music and art schools in society viewed in light of teachers' and leaders' silent and latent justifications of the importance of art

This paper discusses various tensions between public authorities’ justifications for the municipal Norwegian music and art schools (MAS) and the field of practice's own justifications for the MAS. French pragmatic sociology and Bildung theory constitute the theoretical framework and illuminate insights from three qualitative studies.

The empirical material consists of an analysis of two key governance documents, focus group interviews with teachers, and individual interviews with leaders. The study was conducted in accordance with ethical guidelines approved by Sikt on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of all participants. An inductive approach was used to analyse all the empirical material.

Public authorities provide normative guidelines for MAS. These are based on values such as artistic development, human growth, and accessibility, but do not specify clear requirements for meeting the guidelines. This leaves much of the shaping of MAS' mission to the schools' leaders and teachers. Teachers' and leaders' reflections on the value of art are closely linked to their own experiences and the existential significance of art. This justifies both their artistic activities and their choice of profession. Teachers emphasise human growth, while leaders, more strongly, emphasise the power of art through its intrinsic value.

The ways in which teachers and leaders communicate their justifications can be understood as tacit knowledge – based on an implicit communication of common values that are only shared with others who have similar experiences. If this remains within an internal context, it is unquestioned and does not require further justification. Although the experiences are deeply personal, they are also rooted in MAS' culture. This can be interpreted as a latent justification that can only be actualised if someone challenges these values. Until then, it remains something dealt with in silence.

However, leaders and teachers feel compelled to justify their practices through compromises in external contexts, i.e. outside the MAS. These compromises deviate from both their own value base and the values emphasised by public authorities. This highlights challenges in cultural and educational policy, regarding both the place of art and culture in society and the legitimacy of the MAS.

 

Antti Snellman
Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

A reflexive compass to support autonomous motivation in Finnish music schools: Introducing a circumplex model for music education

Although the Finnish music education system is internationally recognised for its quality and democratic values, emerging research suggests that discrepancies may exist between the autonomy-supportive principles articulated in the national core curriculum for Basic Education in the Arts issued by the Finnish National Agency for Education on the one hand and everyday pedagogical practices in music schools on the other. While the curriculum promotes student agency, holistic development, and participatory learning, their enactment in practice appears uneven. I understand this policy–practice gap not as a matter of individual teacher failure, but as a systemic challenge in translating autonomy-supportive values into pedagogical practice where both students' and teachers' goals, values and needs are respected and supported.

This presentation is part of an ongoing doctoral dissertation aiming to provide theoretical knowledge and reflexive tools to support both students' and teachers' autonomous motivation in music schools. The main theoretical framework is self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan 2000) which aims to support a person's three basic psychological needs (relatedness, competence, autonomy) resulting in a more student-centred music school culture and increased well-being of all stakeholders (see e.g. Evans, 2015; Bonneville-Roussy & Evans 2024). The presentation focuses on introducing a recent tool in education called the circumplex model (Aelterman & Vansteenkiste, 2023) which is designed to explain the interplay between (de)motivational teaching styles and their impact on either supporting or thwarting the basic psychological needs.

The data was gathered in two phases. The first phase consisted of eight three-hour joint sessions and individual interviews of six teachers, and recorded lessons of eleven of their students. In the second phase, one-on-one interviews of five teachers and five students included original comics as a reflective interview tool depicting different classroom scenarios and teaching styles. Data was analysed using critical realist thematic analysis with the circumplex model applied as an analytical framework aligned with the principles of self-determination theory. Preliminary findings indicate a need in Finnish music schools for practical tools to promote teachers’ reflexivity to uncover the—often hidden—assumptions behind their thinking and practice. The final goal of the research is to help music schools create a culture where the teacher-student interactions and relations are more aligned with humanistic and ethical values of the Finnish National Core Curriculum.

 

Christos Theologos, Panagiotis Loukas Bellos, Anthoula Koliadi-Tiliakou
Music School of Rhodes, Greece

From "archival silence" to "communal voice": Ethical responsibility and the revival of intangible heritage in Rhodes

In the context of social and political ethics, music schools, going beyond their role as providers of technical musical knowledge and skills, can become vital agents of cultural sustainability. This paper examines the music school of Rhodes as an institutional agent that fulfils this ethical commitment to the local community through actions aimed at reviving local customs, traditional songs, and folk rituals. The core of the paper focuses on how music schools, in collaboration with the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens, address this commitment by breathing new life into rituals that are in danger of disappearing, such as the Kalanta tou Marti (March Carols), or traditional songs that have been recorded in the distant past.

Moving from an archival form of historical ethnomusicological recordings and oral traditions to a contemporary, lively, and active dimension, the music school acts as a mediator in a profound intergenerational dialogue. In the light of intergenerational ethics, contemporary students do not simply come into contact with a repertoire, but take on the responsibility of cultural preservation. The pedagogical dimension and integration of historical recordings into teaching, representations and performances from a more contemporary perspective, as well as the dissemination of good practices to the wider educational community, function as practices of the ethics of care, ensuring that local cultural specificity is treated with respect within the framework of a broader social responsibility and ethics of relationships that strengthen social cohesion and collective memory.

We argue that the revival of these folk rituals and traditional songs is an ethical response and duty in the face of the contemporary threat of cultural erosion, and that ethical action in arts education is inextricably linked to the preservation of a common good, ensuring that the island's intangible cultural heritage remains a functional, living force for the community.

 

İlkay Ebru Tuncer Gülseli
Dokuz Eylül University, Türkiye

Between reproduction and disruption: Negotiating normativity across music teacher education and music school contexts

This study examines how prospective music teachers in Türkiye (Turkey) make sense of learning, fairness, and musical value during the early stages of their professional formation. Drawing on written reflections from 40 first- and second-year undergraduate students, the study is grounded in Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, field, and symbolic power. The data are analysed through an iterative qualitative analytical process drawing on Saldaña’s coding approach and Bourdieu’s relational sociology.

Music teacher education is conceptualised as part of a broader institutional ecosystem that includes extracurricular music and art schools. In the Turkish context, many prospective teachers enter higher education after intensive engagement in private or municipally supported music courses and later return to similar settings as teachers. This circular trajectory situates them as both recipients and future producers of musical norms. Music education is approached as a normative field in which particular repertoires, practices, and forms of knowledge are constructed as legitimate. These norms become ethically charged when teachers encounter diverse student populations with differing musical backgrounds and learning needs.

The findings show that students do not simply internalise dominant norms but navigate tensions between legitimacy and fairness. While many advocate inclusive, need-based approaches, others equate fairness with uniformity. Similarly, although students recognise diverse musical experiences, they often reproduce dominant and layered hierarchies of musical legitimacy through internalised dispositions and taken-for-granted practices. These tensions constitute ethical dilemmas through which students struggle to position themselves in relation to competing understandings of legitimacy, fairness, and responsibility within the field. At times aligning with established norms, at other moments articulating more heterodox perspectives, they reveal normativity as contingent and negotiable. These dynamics foreground relationality and encounter as key lenses for understanding how norms are negotiated within music education.

By foregrounding these negotiations, the study argues that prospective teachers engage in ethical sense-making during their formation, with implications for both school and extracurricular music and art education contexts.

 

Tuulia Tuovinen
University of the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy, Finland

Ethical dimensions of children's inclusion in Finnish music schools: Findings from a practitioner-research study

Despite the paradigmatic shift towards participatory governance in a variety of socio-political contexts, children and young people remain frequently excluded from meaningful participation in education policy processes. This contradiction between democratic aspirations and practice is also evident in music education, where institutional structures often limit student voice to consultation rather than genuine collaboration. As Barrett (2017, p. 177) observes, music education policy tends to be something "done to" and "received by" children rather than "constructed with" them. 

This paper reports findings from a doctoral study examining children's democratic participation and co-construction of practices in Finnish music schools. Drawing on a 12-month practitioner-research process involving 25 students aged 9–15 from two music schools, the study investigated how music school policy could be co-constructed with children and young people and what institutional dynamics and tensions emerge in such processes. Drawing on Karen Barad's notion of ethico-onto-epistemology – the inseparability of ethics, being, and knowing in relational encounters – the study approached ethical responsibility not as a set of procedural principles but as something that emerges within and through the sociomaterial intra-actions between students, teachers, institutional structures, curricula, and the material-discursive conditions of music school life. 

The findings portray how ethical commitments to what is right, fair, and obligatory in relation to children are not abstract principles but are actively produced and contested in everyday educational encounters, from the interpersonal dynamics of the instrumental lessons to the organisational policies that shape musical learning and educational relations in music schools. The presentation argues that relational music education carries a fundamental ethical response-ability: the ongoing commitment to addressing who and what is included or excluded in the ongoing enactment of education practices. Policies that exclude children are not merely undemocratic: they dismantle the very condition that makes education possible.

 

Edmar Tuul^1,2
1Non-Profit Organisation Kõrvale Pai, Estonia; ²Viimsi Music School, Estonia

Concert of inclusion: A systemic model for ethical accessibility in music schools

The Concert of Inclusion (Estonia) is a practice-based initiative that approaches accessibility as a systemic and ethical responsibility of music institutions. Rather than treating inclusion as an additional service or isolated accommodation, the project integrates accessibility into the artistic, organisational, and communicative structure of the concert format itself.

Developed in connection with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the initiative combines artistic quality with comprehensive accessibility measures including sign language interpretation, speech-to-text transcription, audio description, Braille materials, easy-to-read programme texts, and wheelchair access. These elements do not serve as parallel adjustment but are integral components of the artistic design.

A significant structural outcome of the project has been the founding of the EPIK Choir, Estonia's first choir performing in Estonian Sign Language. This development expands prevailing conceptions of musical participation and demonstrates how music education institutions can rethink normative assumptions about sound, performance, and audience engagement.

The model also engages with intergenerational ethics by addressing the responsibility of current institutions to shape cultural practices that future generations inherit as inclusive, rather than exclusive, norms.

This practitioner contribution proposes the Concert of Inclusion as a transferable model for European music and art schools. It reflects on three interconnected ethical dimensions:
(1) institutional ethics – the responsibilities of publicly funded music schools to ensure equitable cultural participation;
(2) professional ethics – the obligation to avoid exclusionary practices and to foster respectful collaboration across diverse sensory and social experiences;
(3) societal and intergenerational ethics – the role of music schools in strengthening social cohesion while shaping the cultural values transmitted across generations.

By outlining the conceptual framework, organisational processes, challenges, and lessons learned, the presentation offers practical insights for institutions seeking to embed accessibility within their ethical self-understanding. The model demonstrates that accessibility, when approached systemically, enhances artistic practice while reinforcing the civic mission of music education.

 

Kaisa Johanna Vähi
Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki, Finland

Ethical perspectives on policy changes in Estonian music schools

Estonia's restoration of independence in 1991 brought policy changes that affected all areas of life, including the country's music school system. With these reforms, the formerly state-owned system was decentralised, transferring responsibility for music education to local municipalities and requiring individual schools to design their own curricula.

This presentation explains the ethical implications of policy changes for the role of music schools and the responsibilities of music educators to enact such policies. It draws on a study examining how Estonian music schools' violin curricula have responded to the new national policy guidelines emphasising students' holistic development. The study involved analysis of 126 violin curricula across 76 music schools, using self-determination theory to assess how these curricula contribute to fostering students' intrinsic motivation and overall well-being, essential for their meaningful and lifelong engagement in music. Several measures were taken during the research process to ensure ethical conduct. These included using reflexive thematic analysis to enhance transparency in the analytical process and pseudonymising all curriculum statements, even though the analysed documents are publicly available.

The findings indicate that most violin curricula consider students' well-being as a side effect of meeting the curricula’s technical requirements, not as an integral part of instrumental education. This gap between national policies and music schools’ curricula raises ethical concerns, as top-down policy reforms have created new expectations for music school leaders and teachers that extend beyond music-specific learning outcomes, without sufficiently equipping them with the necessary resources or guidance for their implementation. Consequently, the support for fostering students' intrinsic motivation and well-being varies across schools, as the task of interpreting and implementing policy, as well as engaging in professional development required to prepare for that, is at the discretion of individual educators.

Using a systems thinking framework to examine Estonian music schools as a social system, the study further argues that music education stakeholders would benefit from enhanced policy know-how and collaborative systems leadership to enact meaningful, ethically grounded change in instrumental education.

 

Loreta Venslavičienė, Renata Bilbokaitė
Vilnius University Šiauliai Academy, Lithuania

Self-evaluation of music and art schools as a premise for integral ethical management

Self-evaluation is a modern education management tool designed to improve the quality of teaching and learning processes. Self-evaluation methodologies reflect conceptions of what is considered a "good school" and usually target student progress and educational quality. In Lithuania, as part of educational policy and accountability to school communities, self-evaluation of music and art schools has been conducted since 2019 with the overall aim of achieving better student outcomes (Ehren & Bachmann, 2020). However, in this paper, we argue that self-evaluation processes also have ethical dimensions. When evaluations are an integral part of school operations and involve the entire school community, they can promote self-reflection, facilitate dialogue among community members, and enable the school to systematically analyse its activities and plan for further improvement (Bourelou & Fragkos, 2023; Brinia et al., 2023; Gardezi, 2024). Contextual self-evaluation findings can generate new aspirations, creating shared responsibility and a commitment to driving change (Bezem, 2023; Brinia et al., 2023; Brown et al., 2021; McNamara et al., 2021).

Drawing on the concept of integral ethics management, we present results from a quantitative study on attitudes of Lithuanian music and art school administrators (N = 82) and teachers (N = 543) towards performance evaluation and the conditions necessary for the effectiveness of this process, the first study of this scope in Lithuania. Ethical considerations were addressed by adhering to the principles of voluntariness, anonymity, confidentiality, informed consent, and academic integrity. Our analyses suggest that self-evaluation can support ethical behaviour and ethical leadership, professional and personal moral integrity, and evidence-based change management within the music and art school organisation. Performance evaluation becomes a change-generating process when diagnostic goals evolve into goals for decision-making and collegial action. In addition, we argue that, understood as an integral process, self-evaluation may also impact ethical dimensions of learning as it may contribute to shaping children's values as well as their relationship with musical and artistic works and with performance.
 

Cassio (Yiqing) Zhou
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, USA

Enhancing music education: Integrating classical Confucianism with feminist perspectives

While music education often emphasises discipline, moral cultivation, and harmonious relationships, these ideals can obscure gendered experiences and emotional labour. Similar patterns appear in European publicly funded music schools, where discipline and emotional expression shape music learning.

Drawing on classical Confucian philosophy as a case study, this paper examines how Confucian ethics have informed music learning in East Asian contexts, particularly regarding women’s emotional investment and experiences. Classical Confucian ideals have defined female virtue and social roles (Elvin, 1984; Li, 2000). Drawing on Victor Fung's (2018) A Way of Music Education, Leonard Tan (2016), feminist theorists such as Li-Hsiang Lisa Rosenlee (2021) and Dai Jinhua (2002), this study reconsiders key Confucian concepts not only as principles of moral cultivation but also as potential extensions of patriarchal structures, from the perspectives of being junzi (君子; the exemplary person), ren (仁; benevolence), cheng (诚; sincerity), and the balance of yin and yang (阴阳).

Through the analysis, I highlight three themes: (1) moral cultivation (xiushen) and obedience in mother-daughter relationships in music education, (2) maternal transfer of self-perfection, and (3) normalised repression of emotional expression within the mother-daughter relationship across music learning and parenting contexts. The paradox of "harmony" functions as a moral ideal and a gendered mechanism of control (Ames & Rosemont, 1999; Elvin, 1984).

This paper advocates feminist re-interpretations of classical Confucian ethics, redefining ren (仁) as a dialectical interaction rather than one rooted in obedience, and cheng (诚) as a form of emotional sincerity rather than paternalistic suppression. I aim for this re-articulation to encourage a shift in music education from the pursuit of disciplined excellence to a more humane, dialogic, and gender-conscious pedagogy. Under this framework, women's voices can emerge and be heard in a more humane and gender-equal music education.