“...although I think we can all agree that this will never replace playing an instrument”

Teachers’ action-guiding knowledge with regard to digitalisation processes in music lessons

Abstract

This article examines both explicit and implicit knowledge structures held by music teachers regarding digitalization and analyzes their significance for professional practice in music education. The empirical basis consists of documentary interpretations of group discussions conducted within the COMeARTS project. Three cross-school-type orientation patterns were reconstructed: (1) the iPad as a non-instrument, (2) participation through digitalization, and (3) lack of experience with digital music technologies. Their interrelation is illustrated through a triangular model that enables nuanced insights into the modus operandi by which knowledge and practices related to digitalized music education are generated. The reconstructions show how communicative and conjunctive knowledge structure the discourse about classroom practice. Inconsistencies between norms and actual practice, as well as tensions between different normative orders, allow for inferences about the practice itself. The study thus provides an empirically grounded basis for the reflective development of professionalization in music education amid the digital transformation.