In increasingly pluralistic societies, the development of music schools toward diversity‑sensitive and inclusive practices represents a crucial step for greater equity and participation (Bernard & Talbot, 2023). Music educators face evolving expectations such as the demand to provide equitable learning for students with special educational needs (SEN). This may destabilize professional identity and underscores the need to renew pedagogical knowledge (Draper, 2022; Economidou Stavrou, 2024; Gerland, 2016), because diversity‑shaped situations challenge subjective theories of teaching and learning. Consequently, it has to be examined how music educators address these challenges and how teacher education can be professionalized for inclusion‑oriented practice (Allan, 2024; Karlsen et al., 2024).Drawing on Schütze’s structural‑theoretical perspective on professions, our study conceptualizes professional acting in music education as navigating paradoxical constellations (Schütze, 2000). Diversity is framed as an interactional accomplishment, following theories of (Un‑)Doing Difference (Hirschauer, 2014; West & Fenstermaker, 1995). This theoretical background regards diversity‑related challenges as central to the professionalization of music educators and underscores the need to expand professional knowledge for inclusion‑oriented practice.We analyze how music school teachers’ subjective theories regarding diversity and inclusion shape their pedagogical thinking and practice, and how a contribution can be made to diversity‑related professionalization. Based on episodic interviews (Mueller, 2019) from the research project ProDiMuk (Professionalization of diversity‑sensitive practices in music and cultural education; n = 12), the paper analyzes the interaction of educators’ beliefs with inclusive pedagogical demands in instrumental and vocal teaching for learners with and without SEN. Data was analyzed drawing on the Reflexive Grounded Theory Methodology (Breuer et al., 2019).The findings highlight eight categories, with two central phenomena: the Phenomenon of Music and the Topography of Inclusive Teaching. Educators conceptualize diversity through categories of difference, institutional characteristics of music schools, societal developments, and their own professional self‑concepts. The Phenomenon of Music emphasizes how qualities of music shape inclusion‑oriented practice. The Topography of Inclusive Teaching describes competencies, resources, and critical biographical experiences that guide inclusive practice. Our core category—Music as a Specific Feature for a Topography of Inclusive Teaching—illustrates a reciprocal relationship between teachers’ conceptions of music and their inclusive pedagogy.The study concludes that addressing diversity in music schools requires reflective negotiation of paradoxes. It demonstrates that inclusion‑oriented competencies are primarily derived from personal experience rather than formal training. The study confirms the urgent need for professionalization in music teacher education and identifies key missing elements and ways to integrate them into teacher training.