2024-11-05

6 Million SEK Granted to Research Project

The Swedish Research Council has granted nearly 6 million SEK to an educational research project aimed at exploring and developing proven experience within higher education in dance and music. Ninnie Andersson is leading the dance part of the project.

The project, titled “Proven Experience in Higher Education in Dance and Music – Conditions and Challenges,” (Original title: ”Beprövad erfarenhet i högre dans- och musikutbildning – förutsättningar och utmaningar”) is led by Carina Borgström Källén at the University of Gothenburg and will run from 2025 to 2028. Ninnie Andersson, Head of and Assistant Professor of Dance Pedagogy at SKH, joins a team of co-researchers, including Birgitta Sandström and Olle Zandén.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to contribute to the development of teaching practices within our disciplines. We also see an opportunity to raise awareness and knowledge of embodied practices and non-verbal skills in other fields of education, as we are using dance and music in higher education as case studies. We hope to further contribute to enhancing pedagogical development at SKH, where there may be specific conditions and needs for subjects that largely consist of embodied knowledge and non-verbal expressions,” says Ninnie Andersson.

The aim of the research is to increase understanding of the conditions for developing and applying proven experience in Swedish higher education where embodied knowledge and non-verbal expression play a central role. To achieve this, higher education in dance and music will be used as a case study. Within the dance field, Ninnie Andersson will be responsible for collecting empirical data through focus groups and taped dance class material, analyzing material from a total of eight Swedish institutions.

The project will examine which artistic and didactic experiences professional university and college teachers in dance and music consider to have influenced their teaching. It also focuses on identifying the conditions these teachers feel are necessary to share, review, and test their artistic and didactic experiences in a collegial setting. Furthermore, the project identifies opportunities and obstacles for developing subject-specific proven experience and explores how this knowledge can help promote proven experience in other fields where non-verbal learning is central.

In music and dance education, various modes of communication are used, such as verbal and embodied communication. Therefore, knowledge development on proven experience within music and dance is also relevant for other fields where embodied knowledge is important, such as sports, visual arts, handicrafts, and theatre. The study is also expected to contribute to the development of a professional language and terminology, enabling critical reflection on both one’s own and others' teaching practices. Additionally, it aims to facilitate discussions about subject-specific didactic qualities with stakeholders outside the profession.

“I am grateful to have been included in this application, which was initially proposed by Birgitta Sandström. I am passionate about contributing to highlighting and developing the dance pedagogical context. External funding also means that our fields and scientific research in an artistic subject at SKH are strengthened. As a leader, this project will hopefully also provide me with more insight into how I can create conditions for the faculty to work with proven experience,” adds Ninnie.

In total, the Swedish Research Council allocated just over 169 million SEK for the years 2025–2028 for grants within educational sciences in 2024.