Within and across boundaries: Music therapists teaching across disciplines in higher education

Abstract

This interview follows a chance meeting between two music therapists: UK music therapist Beth Pickard, and Finnish music therapist Mikko Romppanen. Both Beth and Mikko are registered music therapists, but were engaging in an International Wellbeing Week at Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK) in Finland in their capacities as lecturers in higher education. Their diverse roles and responsibilities as well as contrasting pedagogical stances provided a wealth of rich discussion during their time together, and created the stimulus for this extended dialogue. During this interview, they will explore their own orientation and training as music therapists, before considering how their professional background informs how they approach their own learning and teaching practices. Mikko and Beth teach students from a range of disciplines to use music and the arts therapeutically within the boundaries and scope of their practices. In reflecting upon the potential and challenges of this model, they consider whether such an approach could be further developed. In addition, Mikko insightfully reflects on the potential of music as a form of self-expression for undergraduate students across disciplines, and the prospect of the evolution of arts-based research and evaluation to provide further opportunities for music therapists across contexts in higher education.