The professional development of music teachers. Understanding the music teacher as a professional and as a competency nomad

Abstract

The Danish educator John Kreisler (2007) introduced the concept "competency nomad" in order to grasp what it means to be a professional teacher today amidst changes in the dominant conditions of society. This paper discusses the professional development of music teachers and the music teacher as a professional in the perspective of being a competency nomad. We will question whether acting nomadically is the new form of professional music teacher identity. The variety of vocational arenas that music teachers work in today includes a wide range of knowledge and competencies, from being a musician in an educational setting to being a school teacher in an artistic setting. As educators of music teachers, we are interested in exploring how music teacher students in their pre-service education learn to develop as professionals across such different arenas. In order to manage such diversity, music teachers may need new ways to act professionally, and it might be advisable to challenge the idea of formal and specific qualifications to another concerning competency.