Artistic expression in upper secondary school music program – perceptions, pedagogies, and assessment.

This presentation gives an overview of the results from the first part of an ongoing postdoc project in music education. This project aims to explore the role of artistic expression in the teachings at upper secondary school music program from the perspective of music teachers. The study focuses on two courses in which the concept artistic expression appears in the syllabus: Instrument and song 1-3 (Instrument och sång) and Ensemble and choir 1-2 (Ensemble och körsång) (Skolverket, 2011). Initial conversations with teachers point towards a lack of consensus regarding the meaning of the concept, how a teaching situation may foster relevant skills, or how such quality can be assessed. A series of student papers, which in different ways approaches the theme is a further indication that music teacher students view this as an aspect of their future profession which causes concerns and prompts reflection (see for example Boogh, 2019; Dahl & Eksmo, 2014; Dotzek, 2017; Fransson, 2013; Johansson & Svenningsson, 2007; Jonsson & Öhman, 2020; Schultz, 2014; Sjödin, 2016).
The first study of the project consists of a series of qualitative interviews with teachers in the upper secondary school. The empirical data has been analyzed with inspiration from Grunded Theory (Charmaz, 2006) with the intent to capture the complexity of the phenomenon of artistic expression within the context, and to identify needs among music teachers. In extension, such findings may also be relevant for music teacher educations. Preliminary results point towards concerns regarding equivalence in terms of assessment, a desire for collegial cooperation, and a desire for further reflection upon the theme.
The statement that the education within upper secondary school should build upon scientific principles and reliable experience (Skolverket, 2020) prompts further questions as to how such experience can be proven to reliable and what kind of scientific principles are relevant.