The status of singing in European school curricula

also online
LET'S MEET
roundtable (60 min.)
teaching
Saturday 15.30hrs
Academiegebouw

Current situation and future perspectives.

Singing has traditionally held a central place in classroom music education in European countries. Is this really the case, or is it just a wish that has not been reflected on for a long time? In this round table we are going to present data from a multi-national study in which we examined the relative prominence of vocal music education in written curricula in different European national contexts. This is followed by a discussion in which we look at the different situations – respectively the curricula for music – in European countries.

Building on this, we will jointly look for best practices and ways in which we can harmonize European singing curricula and competency formulations. Above all, there is the guiding principle to secure and further develop school music lessons as the most suitable place for teaching children to sing.

Panel members

Helmut Schaumberger - moderator

Helmut Schaumberger - moderator

Helmut Schaumberger studied music education in Vienna and received his doctorate in music education in 2018 with a thesis on the professionalisation of children’s and youth choir conductors at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. Through his work as National Coordinator of Austria for the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS), Helmut Schaumberger is in close contact with researchers and teachers in Europe and beyond. He is the founder and leader of the Special Focus Group Singing in Music Education and publishes regularly in journals with his colleagues in the leadership team of this group.

More
Motje Wolf

Motje Wolf

Motje Wolf is an internationally published researcher in the field of technology enhanced music education. Motje’s research focuses on music education related to music technology, especially on teaching sound-based music within the music classroom. She has conducted studies regarding the pupil’s and the teacher’s experience of teaching and learning sound-based music. Being a professional singer herself, Motje has developed a strong interest in different teaching models of singing. She co-founded the special focus group ‘Singing in Music Education’ (SiME) of the European Association of Music in Schools (EAS) and sits on the steering committee. Within SiME Dr Wolf is involved in international research projects and helps to develop singing research throughout Europe.

More
Sanna Salminen

Sanna Salminen

PhD Sanna Salminen (Finland) is a choir conductor, university teacher and researcher in the Department of Teacher Education at Jyväskylä University in Finland.

More
Beat Schäfer

Beat Schäfer

Beat Schäfer (Switzerland) is a specialist in music education in schools and has decades of experience teaching and managing a wide range of musical institutes in and around Zurich.

More
Kaie Tanner

Kaie Tanner

Kaie Tanner is a children’s choir conductor from Estonia with decades of experience in this field. She is also the Estonian Choral Association’s Secretary General and a former board member of the European Music Council and the European Choral Association.