EAS - European Association for Music in Schools

Background / Organisation

According to the Slovene legislation a music teacher in general or specialised music education must be a university graduate (Bachelor’s degree). Such degree can be obtained at the two Slovene universities:

Music teacher training courses at the both institutions last 4 years (8 semesters, 3000 taught hours, 240 ECTS). The fifth year is for preparing the thesis and students have status of absolvent.[1]

Music teacher training courses are complex and they prepare students for:

teaching music in the primary-school,
teaching music in the secondary-school,
conducting children choirs and youth choirs,
teaching in music schools: pre-school level (two years) and the subjects Music science (Music Theory), Solfeggio which are the part of the instrumental programmes in the music school (two- year programme, four- year programme and six- year programme).

The number of students in one generation of the Music teacher training course at the Academy of Music (University of Ljubljana) varies between 16 and 22.

The Music teacher training graduates have a wide spectrum of music abilities, skills, and knowledge as well as the appropriate music-didactics, pedagogical and psychological knowledge for their work. Their title of the qualification at the end of the study is professor of music.

Competence for teaching music in the lower classes of primary school belongs also to graduates of the class teaching programmes (general teachers, Bachelor’s degree). They are carried out at the three Slovenian universities:

Class teaching programmes last 4 years (8 semesters, 3045-3285 hours, 240 ECTS). In the 5th year students finalise their thesis. Every year 120 students enter to the class teaching programme (Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana). Their title of the qualification at the end of the study is professor of class teaching.