Nurturing our activist agency as music teachers: a holistic evaluation of a workshop for student teachers

Abstract

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, through the Framework for Global Competence, establishes that educational systems should foster critical and responsible activism, hence the need for university programs oriented towards the initial training of music teachers to be committed to fostering an activist spirit in their students. The current study aims to evaluate the acquisition and development of activist agency in university students trained as music teachers. The method is linked to hermeneutic pedagogy, since a workshop has been designed and implemented in order to promote the acquisition and development of the activist agency of university students. Results display activist commitments assumed by student teachers on their own, that the collective work through the workshop has allowed the configuration of a professional community that provides support and containment; and, finally, that the activist agency has been internalized through rational and experiential ways. In conclusion, the generation of trusting relationships represents a primary support for the community spirit to prevail.