Are we so bad? Music Education in Spain compared to Germany and Austria

Abstract

This article compares the Music Education offered within the compulsory education in Spain, Germany (Nordrhein-Westfalen, NRW), and Austria. To do this, the hours devoted to Music Education in each country, the content taught, and the initial training of their teachers are compared. The results show how Spanish Music Education, even though its teaching is optional, has an acceptable schedule if we compare it with those of Germany (NRW) and Austria. Similarly, if we focus on curricula learnings, we also find that they are similar to those in Austria for both primary and secondary education. Another aspect worth noting is with regard to initial training; while Spanish and German (NRW) primary school teachers are semi-specialists in music, in Austria they are generalists. As for secondary education, while in Germany (NRW) and Austria teachers are specialists in two subjects, in Spain they are exclusively specialists in music. Consequently, as a result of this article, it seems that the musical differences with respect to these two countries could be due to other aspects such as the shorter duration of the initial training of Spanish teachers, the socioeconomic level of the families, or the cultural context.