The Minorities in the Minority: A study of the role of music in the development of multicultural competence in Swedish-speaking schools in Finland

As a bilingual country Finland provides an internationally interesting context for examining cultural diversity and multicultural music education. Finland is increasingly concerned with multicultural issues in schools, including music education and immigrants’ rights. These more recent needs are met in a historically rooted cultural diversity which constitutes an interesting perspective on multiculturalism, as the Finnish-Swedish minority has a considerably long historical presence in the country.

This project investigates whether teachers in the Swedish-speaking schools in Finland believe that music education provides funds for cultural diversity and the development of multicultural skills. The study seeks to explore and identify the relationship between the role of music in schools and the development of students’ multicultural knowledge and intercultural competence seen from the perspective of their teachers. Empirical data are collected through focus group interviews with teachers and through policy documents.