Music & Practice: Volume 3

This article presents results from a case study exploring forms of professional work placement in specialist higher music education. The aim is to understand what and how students learn in and from two different placement settings, and to discuss work placement in the light of value, relevance and learning. Empirical data is collected through focus group interviews with students taking part in a multi-activity project week and in a professional orchestra placement programme, both parts of a Master’s programme at the Norwegian Academy of Music. The findings indicate that both of these contexts of practice are perceived valuable and relevant by the students. The contexts are different in the sense that they stimulate different sets of questions, and offer different ways of learning. The multi-activity week seems to open and expand perspectives on future musicianship, while the orchestra placement programme is a more focussed entry into understanding orchestra cultures. A common finding is however important interconnections between learning and social relations.

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