The Ål project is a longitudinal research study intertwined with a pedagogical development project, focused on in-placement training for music teacher students. Since the spring of 2022, the Norwegian Academy of Music has dispatched a group of first-year students for a week-long immersive experience in Ål – a small rural municipality located in Buskerud County, Norway. Here, they have engaged in a myriad of activities in and around the Ål Extracurricular School of Music and Performing Arts (ÅKS). Not limiting themselves to teaching music in various school environments, these students have also collaborated musically with newly arrived refugees, conducted singing sessions at the local senior centre, and actively participated in local choirs and bands, among other activities.
In the pedagogical development project, the aims have been to develop and evaluate new vocational practice in the music teacher education program at the Norwegian Academy of Music; to give students experience with the multifaceted responsibilities that a music teacher may encounter in a rural municipality, and to strengthen the connection between on-campus teaching activities and practical training. The research project’s aim has been to explore and document the students’ learning experiences, and to discern how the internship might shape the students’ perceptions regarding the significance and relevance of their education and their roles as music teachers.
Employing ethnographic research methods, a research group has followed the project through the planning, execution, and evaluation stages from the very start. The data consists of focus-group interviews from different classes, interviews with key actors in and around ÅKS, internship reports and field notes from participant observation.
Planned documentation and dissemination
- Publication in a peer-reviewed journal
- Presentation of the project at NNRME 2025