Guro Gravem Johansen
Research
My research interests center around learning and teaching in jazz and improvised music. Instrumental practice is also a crucial aspect of my research. Previously, I have investigated the connection between ear training, aural skills, and improvisational abilities. My doctoral thesis, titled 'Practising Improvisation' (2013), was a qualitative study of Scandinavian jazz students' practice habits, with a specific focus on the development of improvisational skills. In the field of practice, I have co-authored several published research articles and led various development projects across musical genres at the conservatory level.
Furthermore, I conducted an extensive ethnographic study of 'Improbasen,' an instrumental teaching practice in Oslo catering to beginners on their instruments, exclusively offering instruction in jazz improvisation. In this study, I applied sociocultural theory on how children learn in collaboration with adults through 'guided participation.' The study resulted in the monograph 'Children's guided participation in jazz improvisation: A study of the 'Improbasen' learning centre,' published by Routledge (2021).
I have served as a co-editor for a special issue of Frontiers in Education addressing gender aspects in jazz education. Additionally, I contributed an article to this issue examining the relationship between gender, children's identification, and the development of belief in their own future mastery (self efficacy) within the jazz tradition, based on sociocognitive theory of vicarious learning.
I have also investigated teaching in free improvisation at European conservatories in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. Additionally, I have conducted trailing research on a larger European collaborative project within higher jazz education, with a focus on the development of repertoire and methods within large jazz ensembles.
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Teaching
At Musikh枚gskolan Ingesund I teach Alm盲n musikdidaktik (General music didactics). Previously, I have taught at the Norwegian Academy of Music, the Music Conservatory in Troms酶, and the Department of Musicology at the University of Oslo. I have taught jazz vocals as main instrument, jazz vocal didactics, general didactics for rhythmic music, jazz ear training, music pedagogy, general music didactics, voice technique, improvisation, and practising workshops.
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Collaboration
During the period 2016-2018, I served as Norway's representative in the INA Council within the global association ISME (International Society for Music Education). I have been the editor-in-chief for the anthology "Expanding the space for improvisation pedagogy in music: A transdisciplinary approach" (Routledge, 2019)听 along with an international editorial group consisting of Kari Holdhus (Stord, Norway), Christina Larsson (果冻传媒, Sweden), and Una MacGlone (Glasgow/Edinburgh, Scotland). I am also a member of the Advisory Board for the British association Jazz in Education Initiative and the editor-in-chief for Nordic Research in Music Education, where I lead an international editorial team comprising Marie Helene Zimmerman-Nilsson (Sweden), Sanna Kivij盲rvi, and Danielle Treacy (Finland).
Bio
I earned a Bachelor's degree in music education with jazz vocals as my main instrument at the Norwegian Academy of Music in 1998, a Master's degree in 2003, and a Ph.D. in the same field and institution in 2013. Since 1999, I have been teaching various jazz, singing, and didactics-related subjects at the Norwegian Academy of Music and other higher education institutions in Norway. I also have extensive experience as a conductor for children's choirs, women's choirs, and mixed choirs, and I have taught music in primary school, at the upper secondary level, and at a folk high school. I led the revision work for Fagfornyelsen for the Music, Dance, Drama program in Norwegian upper secondary school (2019-2021).
As a performing singer, I have sung in jazz bands and various improvisational ensembles. I have also contributed on several record releases, including collaborations with S枚yr and 脰sterdalsmusikk. I was the band leader for the jazz quartet Crazy Moon, which released an album in 2017 based on songs from the musical West Side Story. I would also like to highlight my collaboration with the cellist and composer Sergio Castrillion (Helsinki) and the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra.
Selected publications
MacGlone, Una & Guro Gravem Johansen. In Press. "Teaching free improvisation in European higher music education." International Journal of Music Education.听
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 2023. 鈥淧laying jazz is what she does鈥: The impact of peer identification and mastery experiences on female jazz pupils鈥 self-efficacy at Improbasen. Frontiers in Education 7:1066341. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.1066341
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 听2021. Children麓s Guided Participation in Jazz Improvisation: A Study of the 鈥業mprobasen鈥 Learning Centre. London: Routledge.听
Nielsen, Siw Graabr忙k, and Guro Gravem Johansen. 2021. 鈥淭he role of peers in supporting learning in music.鈥 In Routledge international handbook of music psychology in education and the community (chapter 26), edited by Andrea Creech, Donald Hodges and Susan Hallam. 听Routledge.
Mwamba, Corey and Guro Gravem Johansen. 2021. 鈥淓veryone鈥檚 music? Explorations of the democratic ideal in jazz and improvised music.鈥 In The World into Higher Music Education, edited by Sidsel Karlsen and Siw Graabr忙k Nielsen. Utdanningsforskning i musikk 鈥 skriftserie fra CERM (Centre for Educational Research in Music) [Educational research in music]. Vol. 2. 听NMH-publikasjoner
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 2019. 鈥漇even steps to heaven? An epistemological exploration of learning in jazz improvisation, from the perspective of expansive learning and horizontal development.鈥 In Expanding the space for improvisation pedagogy in music: A transdisciplinary approach, edited by Guro Gravem Johansen, Kari Holdhus, Christina Larsson, and Una MacGlone, 245-260. London: Routledge.
Johansen, Guro Gravem and Siw Graabr忙k Nielsen. 2019. 鈥淭he Practicing Workshop: A Development Project.鈥 Frontiers in Psychology; 10:2696, 1-9. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02695
Nielsen, Siw Graabr忙k, Guro Gravem Johansen and Harald J酶rgensen. 2018. 鈥淧eer learning in Instrumental Practicing.鈥 Frontiers in Psychology. 15 March 2018. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00339
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 2018. 鈥淓xplorational instrumental practice: An expansive approach to the development of improvisational competence among jazz students.鈥 Psychology of Music; 46(1), 49-65
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 2017. 鈥滸enres, values, and music pedagogy students鈥 identity formation as music teachers in spe.鈥 In Utdanningsforskning i musikk 鈥 didaktiske, sosiologiske of filosofiske perspektiver 鈥 Festskrift til Geir Johansen [Educational research in music 鈥 didactic, sociological and philosophical perspectives. Festschrift for Geir Johansen], edited by Siw Graabr忙k Nielsen and 脴ivind Vark酶y, 127-139. Utdanningsforskning i musikk 鈥 skriftserie fra CERM (Centre for Educational Research in Music); Vol. 1. NMH-publikasjoner;2017:10.
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 2014. 鈥漁n my own. Autonomy in Learning practices among jazz students in higher education.鈥 Finnish Journal of Music Education 2014 ; 17(2), 35-54
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 2013. 鈥溾橪earning from musicians better than me鈥: The practice of copying from recordings in jazz students麓instrumental practise.鈥 In Aural Perspectives. On musical learning and practice in higher music education, edited by Inger Lise Reitan, Anne Katrine Bergby, Victoria Cecilie Jakhelln, Gro Shetelig, and Ingunn Fanavoll 脴ye, 75-96. Oslo: NMH-publications. The Norwegian Academy of Music.
Johansen, Guro Gravem. 2013. 脜 酶ve p氓 improvisasjon. Ein kvalitativ studie av 酶vepraksisar hos jazzstudentar, med fokus p氓 utvikling av improvisasjonskompetanse [To practise improvisation. A qualitativ study of practising practices among jazz students, with a particular focus on the development of improvisation skills.] Norges Musikkh枚gskole, PhD-avhandling.
Publications
- Una MacGlone, Guro Gravem Johansen, 2024
- Guro Gravem Johansen, 2023
- Siw Graabr忙k Nielsen, Guro Gravem Johansen, 2021
- Guro Gravem Johansen, 2020
- Editor, 2019
- Guro Gravem Johansen, Kari Holdhus, Christina Larsson, Una MacGlone, 2019
- Guro Gravem Johansen, 2019
- Guro Gravem Johansen, Siw Graabraek Nielsen, 2019
- Guro Gravem Johansen, Kari Holdhus, Christina Larsson, Una MacGlone, 2019
- Guro Gravem Johansen, 2018
- Siw G. Nielsen, Guro G. Johansen, Harald Jorgensen, 2018
- Christina Larsson, Eva Georgii-Hemming, Eeva Siljam盲ki, Una MacGlone, Guro Gravem Johansen, 2016