©2021 Eyolf Thovsen Nysæther, Catharina Christophersen & Jon Helge Sætre. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/) Citation: Nysæther, E. T., Christophersen, C. & Sætre, J. H. (2021). Who are the music student teachers in Norwegian generalist teacher education? A cross-sectional survey. Nordic Research in Music Education, 2(2), 28–57. https://doi.org/10.23865/nrme. v2.2988 Original Article | Vol. 2, No. 2, 2021, pp. 28–57 | ISSN: 2703-8041 Who are the music student teachers in Norwegian generalist teacher education? A cross-sectional survey Eyolf Thovsen Nysæther, 1 Catharina Christophersen 1 and Jon Helge Sætre 2 Afliation: 1 Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway; 2 Norwegian Academy of Music, Norway Contact corresponding author: eyolf.thovsen.nysether@hvl.no Abstract This study is based on data from a national survey of generalist student teachers specialising in music in the new fve-year primary and lower secondary school teacher education programme in Norway. The study aims to map students’ backgrounds, experiences of the educational programme and visions for their future practice as generalist music teachers in schools. The theoretical perspective is cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT). The fndings suggest that generalist teacher education music programmes reproduce patterns of inequality. These patterns should be addressed in the future development of the programmes; however, the current lack of diversity may inhibit conditions for transformation and change. Keywords: CHAT, educational development, generalist music teacher education, student music teachers Introduction Since 2017, generalist teacher education in Norway has consisted of a fve-year inte- grated Master’s degree providing primary and lower secondary teacher education. A panel of international experts appointed to provide advice on the implementation of the new teacher education programme pinpointed the need for “collaboration across multiple stakeholders” as well as “the active agency of all participants in knowledge building and learning” (Advisory Panel for Teacher Education, 2020, pp. 26–27). Tis statement sug- gests that student teachers should take a more active role in shaping the new education