At the end of July, the 36th International Society for Music Education (ISME) World Conference took place in Helsinki, preceded by the pre-seminar of the Commission for the Education of the Professional Musician (CEPROM) at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EAMT) in Tallinn. I participated in both events as a speaker and an attendee, and I’d like to share some reflections and links to related free articles.
Why are such events important?
The significance of these events in our context cannot be overstated. While information about Estonian music education and schools mostly comes from media that often focuses on conflicts1, music education is a well-recognised academic field in other parts of the Western world. This is reflected in the abundance and high quality of research and journals, as well as in discussions at events like the two mentioned conferences. Public debate on important topics—something that should be a hallmark of every democratic society—is essential for the development of the field. Besides valuing the contributions of great figures from the past, it is crucial to also address the pressing issues of today. However, such discussions are often out of reach for us in Estonia, both nationally and internationally. Our state media mainly highlights scandalous stories, and we are rarely represented in international academic literature (although I am hoping to change that soon). Furthermore, these books and journals concerning music education are often too expensive for our libraries to purchase, so even if the information is out there, we do not always have access to it.
What happened?
Over the course of nine days, there were countless presentations, roundtables, symposiums, workshops, speeches, discussions, and poster presentations with over a thousand participants from around the world.
Key topics that stood out for me in both Tallinn and Helsinki included:
- Collaboration between individuals and organisations
- “How collaboration can enhance professionalism and transform music education” – Michaela Hahn (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Austria)
- “Collaboration as a driving force for change: A case example from North Rhine-Westphalia” – Natalia Ardila-Mantilla (Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, Germany)
- The role of musicians and music in society
- “Creative practices in music and social engagement” – Heloisa Feichas (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Music School, Brazil) and Sean Gregory (Guildhall School of Music and Drama, UK)
- “Playing the Changes: Creative responses by music educators, professional musicians, and communities to life’s catastrophes” – Annie Mitchell2 (Southern Cross University, Australia)
- Assessment, feedback, and musicians’ well-being
- “Focus of attention during video feedback of a music performance” – Mathieu Boucher3 (Monash University, Australia)
- “Assessment of musical performance in higher music education: Investigation of the 360-degree assessment model” – Susanna Mesiä (Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Finland)
- “Wellness lessons learned and shared: Taking care of yourself, your students, and the music” – Matthew Tomatz and James Brody (University of Colorado, USA)
Additionally, an interesting study on how performance traditions influence young musicians: “Qualitatively different faith? Controlled or autonomous internalisation of Werktreue in classical musicians: Cause and effects” – Marie Fujimoto4 (The University of Tokyo, Japan).
And a remarkable project advocating for the rights and needs of gifted children: “Caring for musically gifted children5” presented by Guadalupe López-Íñiguez and Heidi Westerlund (Sibelius Academy, Finland) and Gary E. McPherson (University of Melbourne, Australia) during the symposium “Providing caring professional education for children gifted for music: A sustainable ecosystem worth advocating”.
In my presentations, I introduced the unique characteristics of the Estonian music school system and explored the background of its current challenges. I focused on the pedagogical preparation of music school teachers, their unmotivating salaries and heavy workloads, the position of music schools as somewhat separate from the rest of the education system, and the contrasting expectations of students and music schools in light of the changing values in Estonian society. My first publications on these topics will hopefully be out during the year 2025.The organisers of the CEPROM seminar in Tallinn gifted the EAMT library with a selection of recent academic literature published by Sibelius Academy researchers, offering an accessible way for anyone interested to explore the latest topics in music education. In Helsinki, participants received a special issue of the Finnish Journal of Music Education focusing on sustainable music education in Europe, which, unfortunately, will only be available online a year from now. In the meantime, I recommend checking out the previous issues of the journal6, which contain many interesting articles in English, Finnish, and Swedish.
- Some examples in Estonian: Muusikakooliõpetaja saab kätte alla 900 euro kuus. “Kõik, mis kehtib õpetajate kohta, ei kehti meie kohta” – Eesti Päevaleht, 12.10.2022; Õpilased süüdistavad tunnustatud viiuliõpetajat vägivaldsuses. Muusikakoolide direktorid seda ei usu. – Eesti Ekspress, 20.12.2023; Anu-Cristine Tokko: noortevaldkonna alaväärtustamine edasi ei vii. – ERR, 02.03.2023. ↩︎
- Link to the article: https://pmp.du.lv/index.php/16-2/resilience-reconnection-recovery-the-healing-power-of-music/ ↩︎
- The author’s earlier article on a similar topic: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347056317_Video_feedback_and_the_choice_of_strategies_of_college-level_guitarists_during_individual_practice ↩︎
- The author’s article on a similar topic: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1401278/full
↩︎ - Read more: https://blogit.uniarts.fi/en/post/caring-for-children-gifted-for-music-who-is-responsible-is-it-really-done/ ↩︎
- https://sites.uniarts.fi/web/fjme/archive ↩︎
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