Integration of Popular Music in Educational Projects in Higher Education

In order to adequately prepare music education students for their future careers, it is important to include content related to popular music in the curricula, in addition to courses that focus on developing knowledge and skills in classical music. Despite the widespread recognition of its importance, educational knowledge of popular music is a relatively new or even unknown source in teaching music at conservatoires. In Croatia, for example, music teachers who start their careers in schools do not acquire sufficient academic knowledge or professional practice related to popular music during their studies. The music education system has marginalized this genre and there are no separate courses on this topic in the curricula of music education programs. Consequently, content related to popular music is usually integrated into the curriculum through teaching projects. This article presents the implementation, aims and outcomes of three such projects carried out at the Department of Music Pedagogy at the Academy of Music in Pula. The projects are: Film Music Adventure, which considers well-known soundtracks from films, Superstar, which is dedicated to exploring the intersection of rock and opera, and a locally oriented project reviewing musical life in the largest city in the Istrian region, entitled The Seventies Measured by the Metronome: Everyday Musical Life in Pula 1970–1980. Working on these projects engaged students in a dynamic and interactive learning process and increased their engagement, motivation and interest, as well as their knowledge of popular music.