Teaching as improvisational experience 1 Running head: TEACHING AS IMPROVISATIONAL EXPERIENCE Westerlund, H., Partti, H. & Karlsen, S. (accepted for publication). Teaching as improvisational experience: Student music teachers’ reflections on learning during a bi-cultural exchange project. To be appear in the Research Studies in Music Education. Teaching as improvisational experience: Student music teachers’ reflections on learning during a bi-cultural exchange project Abstract This qualitative instrumental case study explores Finnish student music teachers’ experiences of teaching and learning as participants in a bi-cultural exchange project in Cambodia. The Multicultural Music University project aimed at increasing master’s level music education students’ intercultural competencies by providing experiences of teaching and being taught abroad in traditional music and dance programs run by Cambodian NGOs. The article suggests that beside the importance of learning new music and dance traditions, the student music teachers regarded the learning experiences gained through peer-teaching in an unfamiliar context important, as these experiences evoked them to step out from their pedagogical comfort zones and to engage in a deep reflection on the nature of teaching and the purpose of music education. Rather than perceiving their teaching as individual performances, the student teachers’ reflections proceeded towards an increasing emphasis put on the quality of interaction and the benefits gained from having to spontaneously create the structure of lessons in the fast- changing situations. Based on the analysis of individual and focus group interviews and other research data, we discuss the concept of teaching as improvisation and its implications for teacher education. Introduction Internationally, there is an increasing need for music teacher education to incorporate multicultural experiences for students, since interaction at the global level has become the norm rather than the exception (e.g., Banks & McGee Banks, 2010, p. v). As in many other countries,