Video-recorded music lessons (on multi angle DVDs) were used to inspire and improve understanding among experts from different cultures and discourses of music education. To make the process manageable and focused we developed the Analytical Short Film (2-3 minutes) to address particular areas of interest and starting points for debate. We asked selected music teachers from seven nation-states to allow a typical and (in their opinion) good lesson to be recorded. We also asked the students and their parents for permission. At a symposium, national experts and researchers presented views on their lessons through Analytical Short Films. Discussion included implicit and explicit comparisons. The presenters also used a lesson from one of the other countries to stimulate discussion about assumptions in and challenges to their own views. We documented all comparisons made and compared these to derive cross cultural categories (tertia comparationis). These categories should be relevant for understanding what makes a music lesson good. The different perspectives and discussions offered by the authors in this book together with 10 DVDs, interviews with the teachers and students and associated research provide rich and diverse material for researchers, teachers and teacher educators.

This is an open access book. The ecological concept views that human development is influenced by the environmental context. The relationship between the two is reciprocal and has an important influence on one another, as well as on the conditions of post-pandemic education. The COVID-19 pandemic has had an important impact on human life, particularly on education. Conventional learning patterns shift to online mechanisms which of course have advantages and disadvantages, especially in people in developing countries like Indonesia. Lack of interaction due to the pandemic impacts student behaviour, such as learning and coping difficulties (Pavin Ivanec, T., 2022). An important issue that needs serious attention in education, as well as mental health practices in schools after the pandemic, is human development efforts through education which minimizes inequality in education and the relevance of education which is no longer adequate. This can be achieved if Education is geared toward empowering students to engage with real social issues so as to promote a sustainable future. Schools and all existing stakeholders (guidance and counseling teachers/school counselors) can contribute to facilitating sustainable human development through an ethical dimension and presenting an educational model that is able to build students’ self-confidence (Curry-Stevens, 2007). In the end, it is hoped that the efforts of this educational institution can support the achievement of the SDGs, especially in the area of ​​education, which has been proclaimed since the 2000s through the millennium declaration by countries in the world.

This is an open access book.Innovation in the guidance and counseling profession is important so that counselors, teachers, or guidance and counseling practitioners can provide optimal services to their counselees. Along with the development of science, creativity and technology in the fields of psychology, education, and guidance and counseling, various innovations and intervention in the implementation of counseling have been carried out. Especially with the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still on going, various creative interventions in counseling have begun to be widely used. Starting from the use of images for therapy or art therapy, dance movement and the use of other creative media to support the counselee. The need for creative media and innovation in the implementation of counseling is very important at this time, considering that during the pandemic the intensity of face-to-face contact with counselees and counselors is quite limited and most of them use online media. Saturation in the use of online media is also possible to occur a lot, therefore with the existence of creative interventions that can be guided by a virtual counselor, it will be very interesting for the counselee as well as having a therapeutic impact. Therefore, an international seminar was held with the theme creative counseling intervention. This activity can be followed by guidance and counseling teachers, counselors or various other mental health practitioners to increase information and knowledge about creative interventions in counseling. In the end, participants can provide creative and effective counseling services to their counselees.