Timonen, Vilma
(2020)
This doctoral dissertation addresses the increasing diversity in globalising 21st-century
societies through an intercultural, inter-institutional critical participatory action
research (PAR) project that engaged music educators and teacher educators from
Finland and Nepal in collaborative learning. The inquiry is based on a social and educational vision according to which collaborative learning across national and institutional
borders is seen as a powerful way for music teacher education to respond to the
growing challenges of diversity. The PAR design highlights a more democratic, inclusive,
and balanced approach to research and, as such, aims to challenge the Western
hegemony in academic knowledge production. The inquiry is furthermore based on
the conviction that the need for decolonising music teacher education is both real and
imminent and can be effectively addressed through creating collaborative learning
opportunities for educators from diverse backgrounds. Following the works of Arjun
Appadurai, we should consider the right to research a universal right, and by inclusively
expanding its reach we can provide opportunities to navigate through different
knowledge paths and realize the potential to rejuvenate music teacher education
practices and research both locally and globally.
The inquiry was guided by the following research questions: 1) What kinds of potentials
and constraints does critical collaborative intercultural educational development
work hold for a) music educators’ professional development, b) music teacher
education practices and, c) music education scholarship? 2) What kinds of politics
were involved in the critical intercultural educational development work between the
Finnish and Nepali music educators and researchers? These research questions were
answered in three peer-reviewed, single and co-authored articles published in international
publications, each guided by their own sub-questions; the complete texts
can be found in the appendices of this summary. The empirical material of this inquiry
was generated from 2013- 2019 during the process of manifold collaborative activities
among Finnish and Nepali music educators working towards educational devel-
opment at individual, institutional, and global levels. The analysis utilises theoretical
lenses from the disciplines of music and music teacher education research, intercultural
(music) education research, professional learning, and organizational studies.
Article I illustrates how intercultural collaborative educational work is inevitably
shaped by the affective actions and organisational micropolitics that are inherent
to the process of the participating educators’ professional re-invention. The article
points out the necessity of incorporating the emotional dimensions of educators’ lives
as central elements in any educational development work. Article II scrutinizes the
Finnish-Nepali collaboration through the theoretical lenses of a professional learning
community (PLC), and, explores how the features of PLC acted as catalysts or constraints
in the process of intercultural educational development work. Further to that
point, article II illustrates the nature of learning that took place in the intercultural
PLC and argues that collaborative learning should be embedded in the institutional
structures of music teacher education. Article III explores the ambivalent duality in
the risk of manifesting colonial power during such work, and the potential for the
transformation of professional identity omnipresent in intercultural dialogues. The
findings of article III highlight the potential for epistemic reflexivity in such intercultural
interactions, but similarly illustrate how the colonial setting inevitably frames
the dialogue and leaves the politics of reflexivity open, with no final answers being
proffered.
The discussion then expands upon the potentials and constraints of the critical collaborative
intercultural educational development work for music educators’ professional
learning, professional education, and research. Leaning on the work of Gert
Biesta, it argues that ensuring music teaching that is educational requires supporting
music educators to take a stance as critical knowledge workers that are supported
in developing ethically engaged music teaching practices through research. The discussion
emphasises that the efforts of co-constructing globalizing music education
call for developing trust on multiple levels. Music educators need support to develop
trust in their own abilities in uncertain situations, and they need to be seen as trusted
active agents of change within their institutions. The institutional development
in music teacher education calls for developing systematic collaborative practices
that support the ability of music teacher institutions to act as innovative knowledge
communities, both locally and globally. Moreover, it is argued that music education
research would benefit from developing trust in multivoiced knowledge production,
which would be supported by critical, participatory, and interdisciplinary research
approaches. Finally, the discussion offers a vision for a 21st-century globalizing music
education, in which music education is elevated by providing music educators
opportunities for ongoing critical collaborative professional learning in institutions
that can be characterized as innovative knowledge communities. This vision highlights
the belief that engaging practitioners in critical, multivoiced, and collaborative
research can provide a compelling environment for rejuvenating research ideas,
and also contribute meaningfully to co-constructing the future of music education.
The research has been conducted as part of a larger research project, “Global visions
through mobilizing networks: Co-developing intercultural music teacher education
in Finland, Israel, and Nepal”.