”Konstnären”, ”fostraren”, ”tjänstemannen” och ”rebellen”: Musiklärares dramaturgiska framträdanden kring musikundervisning, social rättvisa och demokrati

This article intends to explore how some Swedish music teachers present their teaching in relation to democracy and social justice. Present-day social issues such as socio-economic vulnerability and ever more segregated schools have accentuated the need for critical reflection on social and democratic aspects in all teaching. This also has consequences for music educational practices. During two focus group interviews with Swedish music teachers from both the community school of music and arts and elementary school, the organisation of the teaching practice, as well as the teachers’ respective opportunities and challenges in relation to their specific contextual social and democratic issues are discussed. With the aid of dramaturgical theory and interview analysis it is shown how the teachers’ joint discussions make space for four social roles in relation to those themes: the artist, the fosterer, the civil servant and the rebel. In spite of some similarities in the staging opportunities of the two different music educational contexts, some differences appear in terms of the dramaturgical significance of the respective roles, as well as the force of the connections between them. In both contexts, still a common ambivalence is displayed in the perception of democracy and social justice in relation to the very practical task of teaching music. Following the article’s results in relation to social justice, the music teachers’ opportunities for internal professional control and joint negotiation of their teaching task are discussed. The article thus advocates further reflection on the institutional structures and basic philosophical assumptions that appear to govern perceptions of music teaching, democracy and social justice in music educational practices at large.