This study examines music teachers’ conceptions of interculturality in compulsory school music education. The study is situated in a culturally diverse educational context in which music education provides opportunities for encounters between different musical experiences and cultural perspectives. At the same time, previous research has shown that Swedish school music education is strongly influenced by Western popular music traditions, raising questions about which musical expressions and experiences are given space and legitimacy in the classroom. The aim of the study is to investigate how music teachers conceive and describe interculturality in music education and how intercultural perspectives are reflected in their descriptions of teaching practice. The study employs a qualitative and phenomenographic research approach. Empirical data were collected through semi-structured interviews with four music teachers working in Swedish compulsory schools and analysed using a phenomenographic analysis model. A critical intercultural perspective was used to further interpret the findings, with particular attention to norms, power and cultural belonging.

The findings reveal qualitatively different ways of conceiving interculturality in music education. Interculturality is understood in terms of broadening students’ musical frames of reference, creating encounters between different musical experiences, and promoting recognition and belonging. The findings also reveal tensions between these ambitions and established teaching practices. Western popular music occupies a prominent position in the teachers’ descriptions of repertoire and classroom practices, while student influence may both promote participation and reinforce already established musical preferences. Furthermore, drawing attention to students’ cultural and musical experiences may contribute to recognition and inclusion, but may also risk positioning students as representatives of particular cultures. The study concludes that interculturality in music education cannot be reduced to the inclusion of music from different cultural traditions. Rather, it involves continuous pedagogical considerations concerning repertoire, participation, representation and the ways in which different musical experiences are given legitimacy in the classroom. The findings highlight the music teacher’s role in balancing recognition of students’ existing musical experiences with opportunities to encounter and engage with unfamiliar musical perspectives.