Re-thinking Conservatory Education as an Open System

This paper is formatted as a letter from a piano student in a European conservatory educational program to Aleksandra Marjanović , an educational philosopher from former Yugoslavia. The student was one of 24 interviewed in a larger study concerning conservatory cultures in Eastern and Central Europe. A narrative analysis approach was taken, and the student’s expressed experiences were intertwined with Marjanović's philosophical thoughts in the form of a letter. In the article the student turns to the philosopher, as she feels disoriented and had imaginatively read the philosopher’s thoughts regarding creating one’s own life plan through creativity and play (as in playful approach), as well as about education as an open system, where students’ actual social circumstances are taken into account, and transform institutional education to societal education. She feels that she has neither been encouraged nor able to create or follow any life plans through her education. Instead, she finds herself questioning the directions she was led in, if they existed at all. Her insights make her see higher music education, not least in the Western classical specialization, as a closed system, which makes her even more frustrated. Now, in her doctoral studies, she wants to discuss her experiences with Marjanović, whose writings recently became available in English. The philosophical exploration aims to shed light on and reflect upon how conservatory education could take Marjanović’s thoughts into account aiming to contribute to meaningful interrelations between conservatories and society from a democracy point of view. The specific aim of this paper is to present a view of higher music education as an open system, where students of classical music are invited to play and to create their “life plans” as becoming musicians. Throughout the paper the ambition has been to stay as close as possible to the original student interview transcription as possible.