Music Education Seminar - International Summer Music Academy 2016

It is our great pleasure to announce the hosting of the four-day seminar in Music Education that is part of the International Summer Music Academy 2016 of the Ionian University. This years’ seminar is entitled: “The communicative nature of musical experience in early years”. The seminar will take place between the 11th and 14th July 2016 in Corfu, Greece.

Seminar's Press Release

Seminar's Application

Music in preschool age has been proven to constitute one of the most important modes of communication between infants/toddlers and adults contributing to the development of their musicality, language, and enculturation. The four-day seminar will focus on findings from current research and contemporary trends and practices in preschool music education. Participants will explore the following issues in lectures and workshops:

• Promoting education for life through a holistic approach to the student
• Exploring how every musical encounter we share is intricately interwoven with messages
• Celebrating joy and playfulness in music
• Developing student's sense of identity
• Providing a safe environment
• Recognizing individuality in learning
• Engaging young children in self-reflection and metacognition
• Approaching music as a social activity
• Developing creative musicians
• Seeking out and listening to the voice of children through their creative music making
• Allowing children to lead us in their education
• Going beyond teacher-directed activities
• Unravelling the kaleidoscopic nature of young children’s musical experience
• Directing children's attention to different facets of music
• Fostering music learning environments for flow
• Sharing with children the companionship of music, the connecting of music with their own human spirit, and connecting their spirit with others through music

The seminar is addressed to preschool music educators, parents, general preschool and primary school teachers, educators, graduates and university students of music or education departments, and anyone interested in preschool education and young children (0-6 years old).

Dr. Sheila Woodward, early childhood specialist, will lead participants through key philosophical foundations applicable for early childhood music education programs. She will provide a practical exploration of theoretical perspectives, ensuring that participants leave with a wealth of musical activities for use in the classroom. Dr. Woodward brings her own experience as an early childhood music teacher in both private studios as well as formal preschool settings, providing critical administrative principles that assist in the success of these programs.

Dr. Zoe Dionyssiou will offer her insight in children’s development of musicality and enculturation, through a wide selection of children’s playlore culture. She will present outcomes of the music education programme offered by Ionian University for seven years in Corfu and housed in the Medical Surgeon Association of Corfu. She will also present her research on children’s traditional music games as a vehicle for the development of children’s musicality and enculturation.

The seminar will take place at the Ionian Academy between the 11th and 14th July 2016. The program includes 6 hours of daily lectures and workshops (3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon, 10.00-13.00 and 18.00-21.00). Coffee, tea and snacks will be provided during breaks. The seminar will close with an open concert for children performed by the participants. The seminar will be taught in English. There will be partial translation to Greek language and/or explanation of the relevant terminology in Greek. Participants will receive a Certificate of Attendance from the Summer Academy of the Ionian University. Places are limited, so please make your reservation as soon as possible.

For reservations please fill in the application form and mail it to: ionianmused@gmail.com Your place is ensured only with the transfer of the suggested amount of money to the bank. Please send an electronic copy of the receipt or the Number of transfer to the above e-mail.

Our aim is that the Summer Music Academy of the Ionian University will be a meeting place for creative dialogue and life-long learning of participants around issues that refer to the teaching and learning of music in today’s society.

Academic Coordinators of the Ionian Summer Music Academy - Music Education Seminar
Zoe Dionyssiou Assistant Professor in Music Education, Ionian University &
Ioanna Etmektsoglou Assistant Professor in Psychology of Music, Music Therapist, Ionian University

CVs

Dr. Sheila Woodward is Chair of Music and Associate Professor of Music at Eastern Washington University, USA. She is President of the International Society for Music Education and serves on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Music Education. She is a native of South Africa and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Cape Town and a Performer's Licentiate in Organ from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. She previously taught at the University of Southern California, the University of South Florida, and the University of the Western Cape. She has previously served on numerous professional boards; among them being two terms on the ISME Board of Directors (2004- 2008), three terms on the ISME Early Childhood Music Education Commission (1992-1998, two as Chair), two terms on the NAfME Council for IN-ovations (2012-2014, one as Chair), and two terms on the NAfME Executive Board of the Society for General Music (2002-2006). Dr. Woodward's research focus is Music and Wellbeing. She explores this from before birth to adulthood, with studies on the fetus, neonate, premature infant, young child, at-risk youth, juvenile offender and adult musician. She has published numerous articles, in addition to chapters in Elliott’s Praxial Music Education: Reflections and Dialogues (Oxford, 2005) and in Malloch and Trevarthen’s Communicative musicality: Narratives of expressive gesture and being human (Oxford, 2009). She has been awarded generous grants to promote international exchange programs, bringing South African musicians to perform in the USA alongside students and professors, and she has directed numerous outreach programs in both countries.

Dr. Zoe Dionyssiou is Assistant Professor in Music Education at the Department of Music Studies, Ionian University. Apart from her academic responsibilities, she also coordinates a series of community music educational activities organised by Ionian University (music education courses for babies and toddlers, interdisciplinary music-based educational programmes in museums, art galleries and libraries, etc.). Her main research interests include early childhood music education, children's traditional and modern singing games, teaching of Greek folk music, interdisciplinary music and arts projects, etc. She is co-ordinator for the Project “Euterpi - Digital Music Repository,” a project designed upon the receipt of ISME - Gibson award 2012 to both the Greek Society for Music Education and Lilian Voudouri Music Library, supported by the National Documentation Centre of Greece. She is partner to the programme “MusiChild - Mediterranean Early Childhood Music Education: raising children's musicality, evaluating music learning and enabling teachers' preparation” (Erasmus+, 2014-16), co-editor of the scientific journal “Musical Pedagogics”, the first scientific journal for Music Education in Greece (published by the Greek Society for Music Education).