This autumn, researchers from both OsloMet and Western Norway University of Applied Sciences have met regularly on Fridays to immerse themselves in texts and theories concerning central topics related to the three FUTURED work packages. A major contribution to our discussion on music education and policy has been a recently published book written by Professor Patrick Schmidt: Policy as Practice: A Guide for Music Educators (2019). Our project leader Catharina Christophersen invited Schmidt to join us in a meeting, which resulted in an interesting and thought-provoking Zoom-discussion going deeper into the contents of the book.
In Policy as Practice, Schmidt places the concept of policy at the core of our everyday lives and practices as teachers. This means that policy is not something that exists ‘out there’, but should be understood as permeating our way of talking, understanding and acting in the music classroom. This is important when we consider the context for the FUTURED project. Policy is not imposed on us from the outside, but a part of a triangle making up the foundation of our professional work of musical knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and policy know-how.
Of course, access and participation are vital to the policy process. Voice, however, is central to becoming indispensable in how we enact our knowhow and, in doing so, establish agency. I believe that finding our voice around the table, developing a critical sense of our agency, starts with imagining ourselves capable of theorizing.
(Schmidt, 2019, p. 30)
Our discussion also turned in the direction of how we can understand change, and how this relates to a conceptualisation of education as political and in connection to societal issues. Schmidt reflected on how values, power, and engagement, can be central in finding spaces to develop agency and entrepreneurship among students in music education. Policy could be seen as an ability to act when things are at stake.
After a two-hour long talk, we closed the meeting with fully-loaded engines of thoughts and ideas for the proceedings of this meeting. Thank you, Professor Patrick Schmidt, for taking your time to share your important work with us!
Reference: Schmidt, P. (2019). Policy as practice: A guide for music educators. Oxford University Press. DOI:10.1093/oso/9780190227029.001.0001