Pioneering pop and jazz education in Finland: Past, present and future for student-centred musical expertise

This article explores popular music and jazz education in Finland. First, it briefly presents the history of the Pop & Jazz Conservatory in Helsinki which was a pioneering institution for popular music learning in the Nordic countries in 1972. Second, it takes an insider’s view at the current education at the Pop & Jazz Conservatory as seen by the author who is a full-time lecturer at, and former student of, the affiliation. Third, it discusses a pedagogical study conducted by the author at this institution. That research involved designing, testing and refining a fresh approach to actualizing student-centred popular music education, the Student-Centred Musical Expertise (SCME) pedagogical design.