Engaging Practitioners as Inquirers : Co-constructing Visions for Music Teacher Education in Nepal

Abstract

This chapter explores how co-constructing visions might engage teachers as inquirers in a ‘majority world’ context by reflecting on a series of 16 Appreciative Inquiry workshops involving over 50 musician-teachers in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal in 2016. It extends the concept of teachers’ visions (Hammerness, Teach Educ Q 31(Fall):33–43, 2004) through socio-cultural anthropologist Arjun Appadurai’s notions of the imagination (Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 1996) and the social and cultural capacity to aspire (Culture and public action. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2004). The chapter reflects on the processes that took place when co-constructing visions, including the ways co-constructing visions may have been the fuel for action, and analyzes the implications of the resulting co-constructed visions. The findings highlight the importance of developing and supporting collaborative learning for the development of both preservice and inservice music teacher education.