Call for papers: Kulturskole in collaboration—Cutting edge or cutting corners

Guest editors: Bjørn-Terje Bandlien, Ronald Kibirige, Trine Unander

Background

The Nordic Kulturskole collaborates in countless ways with various partners in its surroundings. Research shows that the Kulturskole collaborates, among other entities, with other educational institutions, with the voluntary and professional cultural life, as well as cultural institutions such as churches, museums, and libraries, with public agencies such as NAV, the health and care sector, and refugee services, with national arrangements such as The cultural schoolbag and  the Norwegian youth festival of arts, and with local businesses. In the National Curriculum of the Norwegian Kulturskole, it is stated that the Kulturskole should be "a local resource center and a collaborative actor in basic education and cultural life in any municipality". There are also different forms of collaboration within the cultural school. The Kulturskole’s multidisciplinary nature provides opportunities for development, interdisciplinarity, and added value through collaboration, but it also brings challenges.

With the Norwegian government's strategy "Skaperglede, engasjement og utforskertrang" [Creational joy, engagement, and exploratory desire] of 2019, the Report to the Storting no. 18 of 2020-2021 on "art and culture for, with, and by children and young people", and increased research interest,  renewed focus has been put on how the Kulturskole can contribute to a student’s entire educational journey from kindergarten to university pivoting widespread local expertise in arts and arts-based learning and teaching. Research and development projects such as Universitetskulturskolen (UniKuP) and  Outmus contribute to increasing knowledge about such collaborations, revealing both development and reinforcement of arts-based educational practices, as well as challenges and unfulfilled developmental potentials. The research also provides theoretical and methodological contributions through investigating what happens when different parties come together for collaboration.

While collaboration provides opportunities for innovation, it can also lead to challenges for existing values and standards. Where development and collaboration address challenges, there is also a risk that something cherished may be lost or that new conflict lines may emerge. This special issue, "Cutting edge or cutting corners," points towards the groundbreaking nature of the Kulturskole’s collaborative engagements. It also engages in a critical discourse acknowledging the challenge that collaborative ideas, solutions, and strategies may become too simplistic when faced with reality.

Acknowledging the dimensions of the music pedagogical research field and recognizing that the Kulturskole has a history as a music school it is understandable that much of the existing research on the Kulturskole is linked to music education. Nevertheless, there is still a need for more music pedagogical research related to the Kulturskole. As much as we realize this, the need is even greater for conducting research on other Kulturskole subjects such as visual arts, creative writing, theater, dance, and circus, etc. There is also a need for more research into the interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and cross-disciplinary conditions of the Kulturskole context.

In this call for papers, we invite research projects that explore Kulturskole-related collaborations within the Kulturskole, and with external partners, regardless of disciplinary or national affiliation. The research projects are relevant for formal or informal education in line with the diverse fields of interest related to the concept of Kulturskole.

Relevant questions include but are not limited to:

• How do Kulturskole collaborations impact on the upbringing, development, and learning of children and young people?
• Which disciplinary, pedagogical, and didactic questions raise within and around Kulturskole collaborations?
• How are collaborations initiated and organized for, with, and within Kulturskole?
• How does the Kulturskole collaborate with external partners?
• How do collaborative processes within the Kulturskole work?
• Which challenges and opportunities arise from Kulturskole collaborations?
• How are challenges regarding Kulturskole-related collaborations solved?
• How are theory and research methods used in research about Kulturskole collaborations?

Target Group

The topic of this special issue is directly linked to the Cutting Edge Kulturskole Conference held at NTNU October 21-22, 2024. The conference shares the same theme as this special issue, and this special issue is thus intended as a possible way to follow-up projects presented at the conference, also providing a knowledge dissemination strategy. This is done through editorial assessment, peer review, and the subsequent publication in JASEd,

Cutting Edge Kulturskole has also previously been the base for a special issue in JASEd. See Volume 1, No. 2, 2017. The 2017 special issue was based on the Cutting Edge Kulturskole conference held in Trondheim in 2015.

Practical Information

• Articles can be written in English, Swedish, Norwegian, or Danish.
• Click here for guidelines.
• Full articles should be submitted to the journal’s digital platform here
• For information on Article Processing Charge and waivers, see here

Schedule

• October 21-22, 2024: Cutting Edge Kulturskole Conference held at NTNU, Department of Teacher Education
• January 20, 2025: Deadline, submission of the full first draft of the article via JASEd's digital portal.
• The articles are published consecutively as they are completed. The special issue is expected to be completed in January 2026.

Editors’ information:

 Bjørn-Terje Bandlien (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Music at NTNU, Department of Teacher Education. He teaches and supervises at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels in music-related, music didactic, and methodological subjects. With a background as a teacher in primary school and folk high school, as well as a practicing pianist and organist, Bandlien conducts research in music didactics, the Kulturskole field, and digital technological didactics.

Ronald Kibirige (PhD) is an educator, researcher, practitioner, and craftsman in music and dance. He serves as an Associate Professor in Arts Education at NTNU – Department of Teacher Education. His research interests include collaborative and interdisciplinary pedagogical approaches for music, dance, and dance-music arts education, as well as the exploration of dance and music as social-artistic knowledge-bodies, and the study of situated and culturally specific processes of learning and knowing.

Trine E. Unander (PhD) is Associate Professor of Arts and Crafts Education at NTNU, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Her current research addresses arts and crafts pedagogy, traditional craft techniques, bodily learning, knowledge transfer, interdisciplinary learning and sustainability knowledge. She teaches and supervises teacher students in arts and crafts pedagogy and has background as artist and teacher in secondary schools.