Conference Agenda

This Ignite Talk addresses the theoretical foundations of a doctoral research focused on curriculum construction in Classical Guitar education within public music conservatories. Rather than presenting empirical findings, the contribution foregrounds curriculum as a conceptual, cultural and political problem in specialised artistic education, drawing on contemporary curriculum theory and critical debates in arts education.

The central research question guiding this theoretical reflection is: How can curriculum in instrumental music education be conceptualised as a negotiated space between autonomy, equity and artistic legitimacy in the absence of national curricular reference frameworks? This question emerges from the observation that, in several national contexts, comparison between Portugal and Spain, instrumental curricula are weakly regulated, highly localised and often sustained by tacit professional norms rather than explicit curricular agreements.

The theoretical framework integrates four complementary strands. First, classical curriculum theory is revisited through the work of Tyler (1949) and Taba (1962), whose objective-oriented and developmental models have strongly influenced instrumental teaching traditions. While these approaches provide structural coherence and technical progression, they tend to marginalise the cultural, ethical and political dimensions of curricular decision-making in the arts.

Second, critical curriculum theory (Apple, 1979; Giroux, 1997; Torres, 2015) is mobilised to challenge the assumption of curricular neutrality. From this perspective, curriculum is understood as a selective cultural tradition that legitimises certain forms of knowledge, repertoires and pedagogies while excluding others. This lens is particularly relevant to Classical Guitar education, historically shaped by Eurocentric canons and master–apprentice pedagogical cultures, often naturalised as universal standards of artistic quality.

Third, post-critical and reconceptualist approaches (Pinar, 2004; Aoki, 2005; Slattery, 2006) frame curriculum as a lived, negotiated and unfinished process. Here, curriculum is not reduced to formal syllabi but conceptualised as the dynamic interplay between planned curriculum, enacted curriculum and experienced curriculum. This perspective enables the recognition of teacher–performer identities, student subjectivities and institutional cultures as constitutive elements of curricular meaning in artistic education.

Finally, the framework engages with contemporary debates on autonomy, equity and governance in arts education within a European context. Drawing on comparative curriculum scholarship (Young & Muller, 2016) and policy-oriented critiques of neoliberal educational governance (Torres, 2015), the talk highlights how curricular autonomy, when unsupported by shared reference points, may inadvertently reinforce territorial and institutional inequalities rather than promote pedagogical diversity.

In response, the Ignite Talk proposes the concept of a “curricular contract” as a theoretical construct capable of reconciling autonomy with responsibility. This notion refers to the establishment of shared curricular reference frameworks, focused on learning outcomes, artistic practices and educational values, while preserving pedagogical freedom and contextual adaptation. Rather than advocating standardisation, the contribution argues for curricular coherence as a condition for equity, transparency and student mobility across institutions.

By focusing explicitly on theory, this Ignite Talk aims to provoke critical dialogue on curriculum as a cultural, ethical and political endeavour in music education, resonating with broader European concerns regarding justice, diversity and the public role of the arts.

This study examines the unique practice of making and playing a string instrument and explicates the cosmopolitan educational implications of the practice of arts and crafts. Education through arts and crafts has been said to be one of the main purposes of STEAM education in this globalised world (Khine 2019). At the same time, education with arts and crafts can be regarded as well suited to postmodern society and offers the key to building a sociocultural community (Mason 2005). Moreover, such education may contribute to ecological and sustainable development during global crises (Hall 2023). We take up the last contemporary feature of the education through the arts and crafts and extend it from the perspective of cosmopolitan education. Cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitan education were first conceptualised by the ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes and have been also discussed by Kant, Dewey, Derrida, and Nussbaum (Vertovec and Cohen 2002; Held 2010). Cosmopolitanism suggests that we live in the same world regardless of various attributes. In the present era of exclusively nationalistic trends, cosmopolitan education must play a much more significant role (cf. Mignolo 2000; Werbner 2008; Braidotti et al. 2013; Vinokur 2018). However, cosmopolitan education has been strongly criticised because it seems to be based on abstract universalism. One reason cosmopolitan education is regarded as empty is that it does not comprise meaningful educational practices. To overcome such criticism, we consider art-based practice, that is, making and playing string instruments, as a robust practice of cosmopolitan education. The research question of this study is formulated as follows: what are the meanings and implications of making and playing a string instrument for cosmopolitan education, and how can we situate such educational practices in the education through the arts and crafts?

We adopted the theoretical frameworks of art education by Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf education) and cosmopolitan geography education by Immanuel Kant. Steiner criticises Kant’s dualistic understanding of the world (intelligible and sensual), but they share cosmopolitan and geographical education in the sense that children can understand the Other from a geographical perspective (Hirose 2020). Therefore, our study is based on their understanding of art and cosmopolitan education.

In this study, we discuss the practice of creating and playing a string instrument in a Japanese kindergarten in Hiroshima and a community program for children and parents in the city centre in Kyoto. This string instrument, called the Bandhula, was originally invented by a Japanese elementary school teacher, based on similar instruments in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. It has four strings with a body that children and parents can design using their own imagination. Therefore, each instrument has its own original sound because of its unique form of the body. The instrument is made from Japanese regional wood, such as Hiba arborvitae and Japanese cypress. It takes 30 hours to complete the instrument using a wild board.

By making a string instrument together with other families, children and parents can incorporate regional elements, so they can associate themselves with nature and their neighbours. Moreover, after its creation, they play the instrument together with others, enjoying a sound that transcends the need for language and is thus universal. This practice encourages them to simultaneously have local, regional, and universal access. In addition, a string has a profound influence on human beings (Steiner 1977) and carpentering plays a fundamental role in human formation (Kant 2007). We demonstrate the substance of practice for human formation (Bildung). Based on qualitative interviews with children and parents, we show the enormous potential of this practice of arts and crafts for a holistic cosmopolitan education.