Educating music teachers in the new millennium: Current models and new developments

The main aim of every teacher education programme is to educate competent teachers and to develop necessary professional qualities to ensure lifelong teaching careers for teachers. In various countries different traditions of educating teachers of music have been established following the traditions and needs of each country. The aim of this study is to present and generalise an overview of the most common models of music teacher education in Lithuania (with a focus on Lithuanian University of Educational Sciences) and other countries, so as to highlight the main features that might initiate discussion of critical issues in the context of music teacher education nationally and internationally. The article focuses on pedagogical study programmes of Music Education as well as on similarities and differences in their curricular. The research on models for teacher education in the best foreign higher education institutions creates conditions for adoption of the most successful international teacher education practices. Keywords: Initial music teacher education, teacher education curriculum, teacher education models, study programmes;