Symposium about digitalization at EAS Conference, Dublin

Together with colleagues from Germany, I will be part of the symposium “Navigating at the interface of digitalization, sustainability, and music education: Four perspectives for a sustainable post-digital music education” at the EAS Conference in Dublin. The symposium starts off with 5-minutes pitches. Then all participants have the opportunity to discuss the topics presented in a world café setting (open space) after we will conclude with a presentation of a summary of the discussions in an exhibition setting.

The abstract of the Symposium:

Our world today is confronted with multiple crises simultaneously. In addition to various approaches to solving these crises, there are high hopes for extensive digitalization efforts in the education sector and educational technology is often uncritically hailed as an “inherently forward-looking and optimistic endeavour” (Selwyn, 2021, p. 497). In contrast Buchborn et al. highlight music education’s dilemma, caught between environmental and social instability and technocratic determinism (2022, p. 265). It is precisely this interface between digitalization, the goals of sustainable education and music education that we would like to examine closely at our symposium. In music education research, examining digitalization processes has been delicate, often adopting a critical perspective in the past, not necessarily based on informed critique, but rather to uphold naturalistic polarizations against perceived ‘unmusical’ technologies and practices (Sachsse, 2021, p. 74). Despite this starting position, we see it as an important task for music education research to address the “substantial challenges” (Selwyn et al., 2021) associated with the increased use of educational technology in music education, especially against the background of increasing influence of commercial interests and the rapid pace of technological transformation.

The symposium will delve into this debate from various perspectives including the analysis of policy implications within European frameworks (Buchborn, Malmberg, Stade), the application of the maker education idea for music education (Treß & Droll), an inclusion-oriented approach to digitalization (Gerland), and professional development for sustainable futures in technology-enriched music education (Spieker).

Structured as a “World Cafe,” the symposium emphasizes interactivity, active engagement, and collaboration. Speakers will deliver concise 5-8 minute pitches, followed by participants freely moving between themed tables. As a joint result, there will be a visual representation of the shared ideas, needs, insights and discussions that were triggered by them and the four different pitches.

The topics that will be pitched and discussed:

• Digitalisation from an inclusive perspective – 3 theses as a starting point for discussion. By Juliane Gerland (University of Münster)

• Digitalization and sustainability in music education. Mapping European framework documents and policy papers. By Thade Buchborn (University of Music Freiburg), Isolde Malmberg (University of Potsdam), and Philip Stade (University of Music Freiburg)

• Sustainably bridging the technology integration gap by transforming music teacher training. By Benno Spieker (University of the Arts Enschede)

• Maker Education + Music Education = Maker Music Education?! Towards a sustainable and empowering use of music technology in the classroom. By Johannes Treß and Matthias Droll (University of Education Freiburg)