introduction
The International Society for Music Education was formed at a conference convened by UNESCO in 1953 ˇ§to stimulate music education as an integral part of general educationˇ¨. This has been ISME's main concern over the past decades and continues to be our most important source of motivation. In the years that followed its formation, ISME gradually evolved to what it is today: a worldwide service platform for music educators who want their profession to be taken seriously by educators in other disciplines, by politicians and policy makers, by international organizations that promote culture, education, conservation and durable development of cultural heritage.
overview
ISME, as a multinational and multicultural institution, with members over more than 80 countries, believes that lived experiences of music, in all their many aspects, are a vital part of the life of all people. It has been advocating the respect towards the plurality and the promotion of international and intercultural understandings and cooperation. Its work is to bring together different educational traditions into dialogue and to share their values and experiences through new research findings, through the establishment of partnerships with the private and public sectors and through sharing pedagogical experiences among people from different music education traditions.
An important part of ISME has been the seven Commissions who gather, collate and disseminate information on developments in their specialized fields. Through the Commissions, ISME members share mutual interests in special areas of music education. Each Commission hosts a biennial Seminar, usually held just prior to the biennial ISME World Conference, as well as hosting sessions at this Conference. Each Commission issues its own Call for Papers to present either at a Commission Seminar, or at a Commission Session during the ISME Conference. The seven commissions are:
- Research Commission
- Community Music Activity Commission
- Early Childhood Music Education Commission
- Education of the Professional Musician Commission
- Music Policy: Cultural, Educational and Mass Media
- Music in Schools and Teacher Education Commission
- Music in Special Education, Music Therapy and Music Medicine Commission
In terms of publications, ISMEˇ¦s highlight is the International Journal of Music Education (IJME), with four issues per year, published by Sage. It is the official journal of the International Society for Music Education, and therefore the prime vehicle for dialogue and exchange between music educators in over 80 countries represented in every continent within the ISME organization and more generally within the discipline of music education.
ISMEˇ¦s medium and long term goals are to broaden its scope of action in terms of political, educational and social outreach. To accomplish this task, ISME is establishing a set of integrated actions, the two major ones being: a) the setting up of partnerships with the public and private sectors, and b) the improvement of ISMEˇ¦s public communication system.
ISME with its worldwide mission is aware that the establishment of partnerships is paramount for its future in terms of political, educational and social outreach. At present it is working on four main fronts, involving different partnership configurations.
- Regional Conferences;
- World Conference;
- Music Education Awards;
- Public and Private Institutions.
ISME is investing heavily on improving its public communication and services to members and partners. Besides the two successfully established means of communication, the ISME Newsletter and, the ISME Postcards, our work has been concentrated on the development of a new website which will host different possibilities of exchanges in a global level, such as world contact links, online publications, and other services.
I would like to invite all of you to visit our website at www.isme.org and find out windows of possibilities of sharing your work with us.
Liane Hentschke
ISME President 2006-2008
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