The article communicates an investigation of how collaborative learning is constituted in a PhD-course, namely Collaborative learning in music educational settings. The course was organized and run in a way that aimed to investigate, develop and encourage collaborative learning among students and teachers in the third circle. Material produced and analysed included log-books, assignments, peer-response, after-thoughts, and a Facebook discussion-thread. The results are presented as descriptions of the constituent parts of collaborative learning occurring in the “rooms” of the course. The results show the importance of structure as well as awareness when it comes to roles and kinds of participation.

Utbildningsväsendet i Sverige har under senare år varit föremål för vad som kan beskrivas som en politisk reformiver. I takt med samhällsutvecklingen i övrigt har kraven på skolan att kunna påvisa en effektiv verksamhet ökat. Dessa krav handlar i utbildningsdebatter och media nästan uteslutande om sjunkande resultat i internationella så kallade kunskapsmätningar. Den universella lösningen har från de flesta håll beskrivits som att på ett tydligare sätt mäta elevers kunskaper. Detta har också framhållits som ett sätt att kontrollera kvaliteten på lärares arbetsinsatser. För att kunna möta de ökade kraven på redovisning och utveckla sin verksamhet utifrån pedagogiska behov behöver lärare inte bara få komma till tals, utan också få möjlighet att utbyta erfarenheter. Av den anledningen krävs ett väl utvecklat professionellt yrkesspråk – något som visat sig vara en brist inom det musikpedagogiska fältet. Som en del i ett långsiktigt kvalitetsarbete har sju musiklärare verksamma på gymnasiets estetiska program utvecklat sin bedömningskompetens genom att planera, delta i och genomföra ett forsknings- och utvecklingsprojekt där deltagande aktionsforskning använts som metod och förhållningssätt. Musiklärarnas begreppsliggöranden ligger också till grund för ett avhandlingsprojekt i musikpedagogik. I detta kapitel presenteras etiska och metodiska överväganden kring denna musiklärarnas bedömningsresa.

Due to an increased demand for evaluation and accountability, the focus on assessment in public education has become stronger. Already leading to teachers’ depro- fessionalization, another risk is assessment leading to criteria compliance and becoming a tool for measuring teaching quality. Those whose learning is affected are thereby not only students, but also teachers. One major factor to restore professionalism and focus assessment on learning is to change practitioners’ ways of thinking and not only their behaviour. Therefore, a group of seven music teachers and a researcher in music education have carried out a research and development project using participatory action research as approach as well as method. This article explores and presents these upper secondary school music teachers’ conceptualizations of musical knowledge, learning and educational communication working with peers. Using Deweyan pragmatism as a lens to interpret the qualitative data, the results show that while a professional language does exist, the music teachers’ conceptual- izations of musical knowledge and learning and educational approaches differ. A key aspect for the teachers to develop their professional language, concepts and assessment practices is the teachers’ opportunities to communicate—both factual as well as perceived.

Tonsättning och audioinspelning av Stig Dagermans lyriksvit "Birgitta svit" (Prisma, 1950). Tonsättning: Daniel Östersjö (förutom "En del av jordens värk", tonsatt av Johan Nyberg).Inspelat med stöd av Stiftelsen Längmanska kulturfonden

This thesis by publication explores students’ and teachers’ conceptualizations of musical knowledge and learning within the context of the national Arts programme in Swedish upper secondary school. The point of departure is pragmatic ontology and epistemology, emphasizing a holistic view of education as communication and a democratic necessity. Using narrative inquiry and participatory action research approaches, two qualitative, empirical studies have been performed, revolving around the idea of students and teachers as agents within an externally controlled practice, and concerns issues of assessment, accountability and professionalism. The empirical material emanates from a mixed set of methods, including focus group interviews with 30 students and a participatory action research project with a core group of seven music teachers – all recorded in audio and transcribed on micro-level. The analysis was performed as narrative analysis and analysis of narratives (students), and text-analysis (teachers). The results show that both students and teachers have a multifaceted understanding of musical knowledge and learning. While the students’ experience of conceptualizing is one of novelty, the teachers express time and communication, both with peers and students, as necessities to be able to act professionally – including equivalent and legally certain assessment. Given the strong emphasis within public education on accountability, there is a great risk of both learning and teaching compliance. The results of this research show that students and teachers are curious, and have the will as well as the ability to conceptualize musical knowledge and learning in the form of a professional language. Taking the chance, as well as being given the opportunity, to share their experiences, upper secondary music education may very well become an adventure of knowledge.

In this article, a participatory action research project focusing on assessment of music within Swedish Upper secondary school is presented. The points of de-parture are questions regarding assessment in music education in relation to Dewey’s holistic view on education and issues of professional responsibility in relation to accountability. The latter concerns assessment, and the risk of crite-ria compliance. The purpose of the research project is to develop knowledge about music teachers’ experience and conceptualizations regarding assessment practices within the frame of the National Arts Programme, and is enabled by asking the following research questions: In what ways do teachers conceptual-ize musical knowledge and learning and communication in relation to assess-ment? What musical qualities appear within the teachers’ conceptualizations regarding knowledge, learning and assessment of music? Aims from the field of praxis are integrated in the project, with focus on equivalent assessment and legal certainty. Results from the research project show the music teachers’ ability to shift between atomistic and holistic perspectives but at the same time keep their holistic view of assessment and learning. Equivalence is according to the teachers something different than uniformity, and is only possible through reflection and collaboration, internally as well as externally with other practi-tioners.

The point of departure for this article is a research study (Nyberg 2011), with the purpose to investigate how students in Swedish upper secondary school’s Arts programme conceptualize and communicate musical knowledge and learning. Based on pragmatist philosophy and narrative inquiry, a qualitative study was undertaken. The empirical data was analysed using narrative analysis (Kohler Riessman 2005; Bowman 2006; Clandinin et al. 2007, 2009), and categorised in relation to pragmatist key concepts. The results showed that regardless of school, form and type of programme, none of the informants stated that they had been asked to reflect upon these matters before. Musical knowledge is conceptualized by the participating students as a three-part combination of theory, practice and expression/emotion that cannot be fully separable; knowledge that is manifested through action and valued differently depending on surroundings—hence contextualized. In turn, musical learning in school is seen as dependent upon action, and is made possible through the will to practice and thereby develop innate abilities. In this, curricula and teacher experience are seen as key factors. In accordance with what Deweyean pragmatism asserts, for music students’ voices to be heard in music education it is crucial that the teacher is the one who takes responsibility for making a dialogue with the students possible. Through their professionalism, teachers will be able to learn, teach, guide and form the education in accordance and balance with students’ experiences, interests and the demands of musicianship as well as curricula. This way, education may become an adventure of knowledge for students as well as teachers

Uppsala Progressive Rock Festival is an annual festival organised by Svenska Art Rock Föreningen Crimson (2014 year's festival was the 8th), and is a celebration of live performances of the progressive rock genre.

Johan Nyberg spelar bas och sjunger i Somewhere som spelade på Uppsala Progressive Rock Festival.Uppsala Progressive Rock Festival is an annual festival organised by Svenska Art Rock Föreningen Crimson (2014 year's festival was the 8th), and is a celebration of live performances of the progressive rock genre.

Assessment as learning in music education - the risk of ‘criteria compliance’ replacing ’learning’ in the Scandinavian countriesRecent reforms in England and USA give evidence that teaching methods and content can change rapidly, given a strong external pressure, for example through economic incentives, inspections, school choice and public display of schools’ and pupils’ performances. Educational activities in the Scandinavian countries have increasingly become dominated by obligations regarding assessment and grading. A common thread is the demand for equal and just assessment and grading through clear criteria and transparent processes. Torrance (2007) states that clarity in assessment procedures, processes and criteria has underpinned widespread use of coaching, practice and provision of formative feedback to boost achievement, but that such transparency encourages instrumentalism. He concludes that the practice of assessment has moved from assessment of learning, through assessment for learning, to assessment as learning, with assessment procedures and practices coming completely to dominate the learning experience and ‘criteria compliance’ replacing ‘learning’. Thus, formative assessment, in spite of its proven educational potential, threatens to be deformative (Torrance, 2012). In the symposium we will explore to what extent and how this development is visible from four perspectives. Four examples of assessment investigation of dance and music education in primary, lower and upper secondary schools will function as entrances to the dilemma.The symposium will start with an introduction of assessments demands in general and in the Scandinavian countries specifically, ending up in the theories of Torrance, and the risk of assessment as learning or even. Thereafter the following perspectives and settings will be described.Professionalism in Action – Music Teachers on an Assessment JourneyIf assessment practices within education have led, as Torrance (2007) claims, to instrumentalism in the form of “assessment as learning [and] criteria compliance” (p. 281-282), how can teachers and researchers reclaim the exploratory notions of (music) education? In an ongoing collaborate Research and Development and Participatory Action Research project, a group of Swedish upper secondary school music teachers together with a researcher investigates issues regarding assessment, for instance why equality is not spelled “exactly the same thing” and how teachers balance professionalism with accountability. Demands on documentation of dance knowledge in upper secondary schools in Sweden – how does that processing assessment practice?In the syllabuses from Gy11, expressed dance performance can be seen as an embodied action. Though, students and teachers are asked to evaluate themselves and fill out a written rubric in the same way as all other subjects at studied upper secondary schools. The focus on criteria-referenced feedback can have coherence to assessment as learning instead of assessment for learning. Based on observations, conversations and written reflections teachers are expressing the insufficiency with the rubric in combination to dance. How is the demand on documentation processing the assessment practice? Through a study of grading conversation teachers´ conception of qualities are illuminated. What is the base for what is assessed and communicated and how is that effect the teaching professionalism? What is prepossessing teachers´ conceptions of qualities?An outline of an understanding of assessment as didactical self-defence strategiesThe findings of Vinge (2014) indicate a clear tendency towards a systematic criterion based assessment practice in the compulsory music of subject in lower secondary schools in Norway. This change in practice follows the implementation of the latest curriculum reform (LK06, the knowledge reform), a curriculum reform initiated to enhance student learning within the frames of international competency comparison. Music teachers make use of new assessment principles and techniques designed to enhance student learning, associated with the so-called assessment for learning concept. However, the analysis indicates that these principles and techniques are being used mainly for grading purposes and settings – assessment of learning. All though teachers seem to face lots of difficulties in the construction of various assessment schemes; once adopted they seem to become important tools in the teachers’ strive for effectiveness and control. This poses a central question, which will be elaborated in this presentation: Who is assessment actually for? Is it for the students or the teacher? Teaching for learning or teaching for documentation: on the effects of a curriculum reformThe Swedish 2011 curricular reform brought considerable change to the school system. Among other changes, grading was to take place from school year 6 and not from year 8 and a new grading regime was introduced with more grades and more detailed criteria than in the preceding curricula. In this presentation, preliminary results from a survey among music teachers in Swedish compulsory school will be discussed. The survey is based on the findings in a qualitative study of music teachers’ perceptions of this reform (Zandén & Ferm, forthcoming) and aims at giving a representative picture of the effects of the reform on music education and music teachers’ professional situation. Finally Lauri Väkevä will draw lines between the different contributions, comment critically, and conclude with with a Finnish perspective.

In 2013 the World Champion title in female barbershop singing was awarded the Swedish chorus Rönninge Show Chorus (RSC). This achievement was historical not only because the winning score was the highest ever in the history of the competition , but foremost because it was made by a non-American chorus in an American tradition. This achievement has triggered our interest in researching this event concerning the assessment protocol of the competition, and how such criteria has guided the pedagogical work of the chorus.The project presented is based on interviews, our own experiences and knowledge from the field as well as written material related to regional and international competitions such as assessment criteria and score sheets. The interview was performed in Swedish, therefor all the quotes in this presentation are our translations. In our presentation we will start by presenting the RSC as well as a brief presentation of the female barbershop community Sweet Adelines and its field of praxis. We will focus on the assessment of musical qualities of the competition environment and in addition to this, our presentation will describe the underlying choral work based on interviews with the two conductors of the RSC. Finally, we will discuss the barbershop learning practice in relation to an overall musical educational context.