We have discussed in these editorials before the broad range of interests that music education encompasses (Fautley and Murphy, 2015a). The range that we described therein is a strength of our discipline. We are, however, now living in troubling times, and the global downturn in the economy is having effects in all sorts of ways on many aspects of our lives, both personal and professional. Music education is not immune from these changes. We are living through a time of austerity, and in many jurisdictions, the refrain has been ‘we're all in this together’ as a way of explaining away government decisions or unpopular economic strategies. But are we? It is in times of austerity that we often feel that we need to make the case for music education even louder than we have done before. Yet herein lies one of our problems. Many music educators feel in these times of austerity that music education is under threat, and that the proper course of action under such circumstances to take is to increase activities related to advocacy. This is problematic in a number of ways, as we shall now discuss.

This study examines how interactions between policy, institutions and individuals that reinforce inclusive music education can be framed from an activist standpoint. Resonaari, one among many music schools in Finland, provides an illustrative case of rather uncommonly inclusive practices among students with special educational needs. By exploring this case, contextualised within the Finnish music school system, we identify the challenges and opportunities for activism on micro, meso and macro levels. On the basis of our analysis, we argue that Resonaari's teachers are proactive because, within an inclusive teaching and learning structure, they act in anticipation of future needs and policy changes, engaging in what we call teacher activism. We claim that this type of activism is key for inclusive practices and policy disposition in music education.

The publisher regrets to announce that the institutional affiliation listed for Patrick Schmidt in the above article (Laes & Schmidt 2016) was incorrect. The proper address is given below.

The publisher apologises for this error.

The University of Western Ontario, Talbot College, 1151 Richmond St., Office 119, London, ON N6A 3K7 Canada. Patrick.schmidt@uwo.ca

This article examines the sociocultural learning of popular and jazz music in communities of practice as part of secondary vocational music education in a Finnish conservatory. The research is based on performance workshops which were implemented as a joint effort between professional musicians and music students. These workshops are suggested as a method of utilising communities of practice. Research outcomes show that the workshops include opportunities for learning and developing musicianship on many levels. The potential of sociocultural learning should be recognised in music schools and teachers should develop learning environments which utilise it. Learning from playing experiences and from the evaluation of learning outcomes are largely the students' responsibility who require autonomy, initiative, the ability to solve problems and collaborate, and a readiness to reflect on experiences.

The catalyst for this paper is the ongoing debate concerning formal and informal approaches to pedagogy within the music education literature. I utilise a chapter by Philpott (2010) as a means to continue discussion about the apparent dialectic between formal and informal approaches to music learning and the case Philpott raises for radical change in ‘three moments’ of music education history. In engaging with the concerns in Philpott's chapter I also seek to bring to a wider audience the ideas developed by a group of sociologists of education who draw on the work of Basil Bernstein (2000) and critical realism (Moore, 2013) to argue for a realist theory of knowledge. I utilise these social realist ideas as a means to engage with the theme of access to what Michael F.D. Young has recently termed ‘powerful knowledge’ (Young, 2012). As Bernstein (2000) suggests we must have an understanding of the recontextualising principles that come into play whenever the classification of knowledge undergoes change, as ideologies shift and change. I argue for a balance between powerful forms of pedagogy and powerful forms of knowledge based on an awareness of the essentially differentiated nature of knowledge.

Recent literature suggests that traditional approaches in folk music education are not necessarily compatible with the pedagogical conventions of formal music education. Whilst several recent studies have tended to define these non-classical-music learning contexts as ‘informal’, the practice of folk music that was recently introduced into Chinese Higher Music Education appears to be much more complex and fluid, at least in its real world setting. This case study presents a detailed example of the teaching and learning of folk singing in contemporary society in Western China. In this particular context, both ‘informal learning’ and ‘formal’ music practices were observed and compared, based on research data collected from four music lessons and subsequent interviews with the participants. Drawing upon the analytical evidence, the research discusses a possible pedagogical model where two apparently contrasting approaches to learning (i.e. a conservatory model vs. traditional folk learning) could coalesce to ensure more effective learning outcomes of traditional folk music in higher education contexts.

Existing studies show the value of using visual expression as a means of teaching children to understand and create music. This study aspires to point out an additional valuable aspect, namely, the influence composing via visual expression – whereby children transform their own drawings – may have on children's subsequent compositional processes. This is an area which is, as yet, largely unexplored. The article will examine this within a context in which children compose individually at the keyboard. With the aid of some examples taken from actual teaching practice, the author shows how children – consciously or intuitively and in a more complex and sophisticated manner – transpose their playing strategies from ‘visual composing’ to a primarily musical context or a context incorporating new, non-musical references.

This is an analysis of how specialist music teachers sing and teach how to sing, based on data collected from six case studies carried out in Spanish primary schools. The study aimed at understanding classroom singing practices, and in particular the provision or absence of vocal instruction in relation with teachers’ singing models. The findings support claims for thorough vocal training in the preparation of music teachers to enable them to face the challenges of the profession. Also suggested is the need to provide them with a coherent theoretical framework about the teaching and learning of singing.