Comparative study of the initial training of Music Teachers in the European Union

This paper is a comparative study about the initial training of Music Education teachers in the Primary Education stage in the European Union. The states on which the study has been carried out, as well as the comparison, are representative of the north, center and south of the European Union: Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Finland. The selection of these countries responds to the cultural and musical tradition of each of them, as well as the presence of the great pedagogues of Music Education of the last century. The aspects analyzed are, on the one hand, the duration of the teacher studies in each of these countries, the curricular framework that they propose, as well as more concise aspects in reference to the key competences, contents and the institutions in charge. The data reflect the diversity in all these aspects, not only in the initial training of teachers in music education for the Primary Education Stage, but also in the general planning of the teaching profession. As relevant data, the commitment to general training with a specialization section (with a greater or lesser credit load) for music education can be observed. We cannot affirm that there is a comprehensive training in Didactics of Musical expression for primary music teachers.