Musikdidaktisk intentionalitet som social konstruktion

Abstract

This article discusses contemporary music education aiming at a new understanding of teaching and learning contemporary music. Today in Sweden, the interest for contemporary music within formalised music education is growing rapidly. This raises questions about what content is taught and how this affects pupils’ learning of music. The theoretical framework is inspired by a social-constructionist perspective (Burr, 2003). Thus, this text argues against an essentialist perspective on subject matter, teaching methods or content. Teaching practices are seen as cultural practices formed through and by discourses in different contexts, which have implications for the concept of learning. Earlier research has investigated discourses mainly by focusing on language, while this article discusses the possibility of understanding “intentionality” as a place where discourse on learning takes place. Therefore didactic intentionality is suggested to be understood as not only the relationship between pupil and content but also as a way to understand how discourses work in music education contexts. This may prove to be a useable concept when analyzing music education practices.