International music education conference comes home to Reading
Release Date 25 February 2011
A society promoting research in music education is returning to its roots at the University of Reading for its international spring conference.
The Society for Education, Music and Psychology Research (SEMPRE) was founded in 1972, growing out of the Reading Conferences on Research in Music Education that were started in 1966 by Dr Arnold Bentley, who became its first chairman and, later, president.
SEMPRE is the only society that embraces research in both music education and music psychology, providing an international forum to encourage the exchange of ideas and to disseminate research findings.
The two-day conference at the Institute of Education takes place on 4 and 5 March. The first day concentrates on postgraduate study and the Saturday will focus on ‘Developing the Musician'. The keynote speaker will be Dr Helena Gaunt, from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, who will examine musicians' identities, territories and resilience in the contemporary world. She holds that musical practice and musical learning are under threat in the contemporary context.
She will address the importance of reflecting on the core values and skills of musicians and how these can be more clearly understood and articulated. Allied to this, she will consider how developing musicians may engage with and become aware of these core musical skills and values, and become more adept at using them in diverse collaborative contexts. This raises questions about our approaches to training and educating musicians.
Dr Mary Stakelum, of the Institute of Education, said: "Now, more than ever, within the fields of music psychology and music education, there are competing and complementary perspectives on the notion of 'the musician' and what constitutes 'development'. This conference seeks to explore these perspectives and brings together researchers from a range of settings to consider the possibilities for shared understanding."
ENDS
For more information please contact Rona Cheeseman, press officer, on 0118 378 7388 or email r.cheeseman@reading.ac.uk
Notes to editors
The Institute of Education is a major provider of teachers nationally and regionally, offering PGCE Secondary and Primary, BA (Ed) and the Graduate Teacher Programmes (GTP). The secondary programme and the primary programme have both received the top Ofsted grades in 2006/7 and we are now a category 'A' provider for all our courses. The employment rates of our graduates are the best in the country of any ITT provider.
Research activity is themed in four broad areas; creative arts; language and literacy in education; equity, inclusion and improvement and; teaching and learning. Postgraduate degrees are offered on a full-time and part-time basis and our PhD and EdD programmes attract students both from UK/EU and internationally.