Teaching Day 2024: Promoting independent learning

5. November ’24

»Everything changed abruptly when I started my studies.« With this quote from the perspective of a female student at a German music academy, Prof. Dr. Gabriele Puffer opened her lecture on Teaching Day, which took place for the second time at HMTM on 18 October 2024. The quote reflects the feelings of many young people who start studying music. In her lecture, our professor of music education at the Institute for Music Education talked about independent practice and the challenges it presents to students. In her view, teaching students how to practice independently is an essential part of successfully completing their studies. It is not only important how long they practice, but also how efficiently their practice can be developed and adapted to their individual needs through a structured plan.

This year’s Teaching Day offered teachers at the HMTM the opportunity to exchange ideas on the topic of »Promoting independent, sustainable learning« and to discuss different approaches. After the lecture by Prof. Dr. Gabriele Puffer, Prof. Dr. Michael Dartsch from the University of Music Saar and Prof. Christian Wissel, who was nominated by the students of the HMTM and an internal jury for the »Good Teaching Award« of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Art in the academic year 2023/2024, gave lectures.

After these keynote speeches, participants had the opportunity to experience good practice examples from teachers at the HMTM in workshops, who were also nominated for the Good Teaching Award last academic year. Christine Schornsheim, Professor of Harpsichord at the Institute for Historical Performance, demonstrated a harpsichord lesson in which the topic of »musical freedom« was the focus. Prof. Dr. Andrea Sangiorgio, Professor of Elemental Music Education, brought to life the basic principles of EMP teaching, such as the direct and lively connection between music, voice and movement, in small groups.

This year’s Teaching Day concluded with a World Café, where participants were able to inform themselves about and exchange ideas on quality criteria for good teaching at music colleges. This led to a Gallery Walk with a final discussion.

The continuous individual development of teachers and the reflection on their own teaching concepts are part of the pedagogical self-understanding of our university. The Teaching Day takes this up and invites all teachers at the HMTM to present and discuss various questions and innovative concepts of teaching at music colleges – with the aim of promoting an interdisciplinary discourse among teachers across subjects. The Teaching Day has been taking place annually at the HMTM since the 2023/2024 academic year and is organised and designed by the Teaching Working Group.