NAMM Promotes Music Education Globally

NAMM Staff | July 18, 2008

By supporting international society for music education conferences around the world.

NAMM builds partnerships and works to improve access to music making for all students.

"As part of its long-standing partnership with the International Society for Music Education, NAMM was able to support three regional conferences ISME affiliates held on three different continents in the last year," says Betty Heywood, NAMM's director of international affairs. It is with that focus that the association worked to open discussion about local music education issues in areas around the world: • The Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education (PASMAE) held its fifth African Symposium on Music Education Research in Malawi, with 34 participants from nine countries. The outcome included a call to develop ways that ISME and PASMAE can collaborate in the future as they commit to a strong institution of music education on the African continent. • The 16th annual meeting of the Brazilian Association of Music Education (ABEM) and ISME Latin America Regional Conference were held in Campo Grande, Brazil. Adopting the theme "Music Education in Latin America: Conceptions, Functions and Actions," the conference included discussions and musical performances for the 500 international attendees. Future plans include increasing the number of people associated with ISME in the Latin American countries and supporting local music educators. • At the sixth Asia-Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research in Bangkok, 140 attendees from 13 countries discussed the state of education and established a plan to facilitate exchange among music educators and researchers from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as between the Asia Pacific and global music education communities. "The regional conferences are effective ways of discussing music education issues related to local government policies, advocacy strategies and the relationship between the music education and industry sectors," says ISME President Liane Hentshcke. "ISME and NAMM can work effectively to establish a global partnership for the advocacy of music education and therefore work as a catalyst to promote social and cultural inclusion of regions experiencing economic difficulties."

ISME Mission

The International Society for Music Education (ISME) believes that live experiences of music, in all of their many aspects, are a vital part of the life of all people.ISME's mission is to enhance those experiences by:

* building and maintaining a worldwide community of music educators characterized by mutual respect and support

* fostering global intercultural understanding and cooperation among the world's music educators

* promoting music education for people of all ages in all relevant situations throughout the world