National Coordinators’ Symposium at EAS conference, Dublin

Together with other NCs from different European countries I am part of the Symposium of EAS National Coordinators (NCs). In the symposium we reflect on the formation of the European Day for Music in Schools (EuDaMuS) and its impact on music education.

The abstract for tis symposium:

The European Day for Music in Schools (EuDaMuS), is an initiative of the European Association for Music in Schools and the European Music Teacher Associations which was initiated three years ago, with an attempt to highlight music education in each country as a way to celebrate collaborative musicking in schools from different countries all over Europe. While there are other celebratory days about music, EuDaMuS focuses holistically (vocal, instrumental, and composition) on music across all levels of music education. As there has been no research or official presentation yet on EuDaMuS, the purpose of this symposium is trifold: 1) To discuss the history, mission, and vision of EuDaMuS (and how it has developed over the last three years; 2) To have a sample of National Coordinators share their experiences with EuDaMuS and the impact it has had on their schools and external communities (the NCs will also discuss certain challenges they faced and how they overcame them); and 3) To have an open roundtable for all attendees to participate where we will discuss ideas on how we can make EuDaMuS even more of an enriching experience in the years to come, with a focus on music advocacy, and the role EuDaMuS can play in fostering the development of music education in each country. As such, this symposium will address the conference theme “Traditions in Transformation” and the question “How can music education meet the challenges of the contemporary classroom?”. Attendees will be asked to consider EuDaMuS’ role in curricula and pedagogy in transformation; agency, equality, diversity, and inclusion in the music classroom; music traditions, genres, and the curriculum, and technology in the music curriculum. We will close the symposium by sharing our ideas discussed in the different roundtables, which can then help shape the future of EuDaMuS.