‘It all depends on the pupils’: A survey study of classical instrumental music teachers’ perceptions of group teaching in Sweden

This study considers perceptions of group teaching among classical instrumental music teachers in Swedish art and music schools. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected using a survey of music teachers in a region of Sweden and analysed using a mixed methods approach. Communities of practice and communities of musical practice served as the theoretical framework for both the deductive and the inductive parts of the study. The literature indicates a tension between the demand for more group teaching and signs of reluctance on the teachers’ part. It is found that the respondents in this study value individual teaching over group teaching, but the difference is not as significant as indicated in previous reports: their general attitude to group teaching is in fact slightly positive. The results also show that although teachers generally have extensive training from their higher music education, 61.4% of respondents hoped for continued education in group teaching.