Future Prospects for Music Education: Corroborating Informal Learning Pedagogy

Abstract

Book Reviewed: Karlsen, S. & Väkevä, L. (Eds.). (2012). Future Prospects for Music Education: Corroborating Informal Learning Pedagogy. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press. ISBN 9781443836586. While issues of informal learning, mainly connected to popular music teaching and learning, have been part of Nordic classrooms for several decades; there have been few attempts of systematic academic exploration of such matters. The book, Future Prospects for Music Education: Corroborating Informal Learning Pedagogy, edited by Sidsel Karlsen and Lauri Väkevä, is an important contribution to a theoretical and philosophical discussion of informal learning in music education. The editors recognize Lucy Green's works on popular musicians' learning strategies (2001), and the implementation of such learning strategies in the classroom (2008) as major influences for this book. Green's work is frequently discussed throughout the book, and Green has in fact also written one of the chapters. The main theme of the book, however, is informal learning, and how such learning strategies may inspire change in music education.