«Studenten i front»: Strategisk forhandling av rasjonaliserte myter i høyere musikkutdanning?

The Norwegian Academy of Music is rooted in the European conservatoire tradition where apprenticeship has served as a foundation for the education of the music performer. In recent decades, however, the institutionalised master-apprentice relationship between music performance student and instrumental teacher has been debated in the literature on higher music education (HME). Scholars argue that music graduates need to develop creatively during their studies in ways that sometimes challenge the inherent power imbalance between teacher and student within this teaching model. In this article, I posit that the traditional master-apprentice model serves as a ‘rationalised myth’ within HME. By turning to organisational institutionalism (in which apprenticeship may be conceived of as a formal structure), the article investigates how the notion of student-centredness has affected the ‘myth’ of apprenticeship. Specifically, a document analysis of the Academy’s strategic plans from 1998 to 2025 is presented, and through a selection of citations the article illustrates how the roles of the music student, the instrumental teacher and the Academy itself have transformed over the past 25 years. Consequently, the article questions whether this transformation is the result of strategic work for institutional change or, rather, of institutional pressures put on HME organisations to change. The discussion centres on this organisational landscape, and it is argued that the need for legitimacy is intertwined with strategic work for change in HME. Finally, the article offers some concluding remarks on how strategic plans shape the future of HME, even if members are not aware of this strategic negotiation.