Dr Gwen Moore, Director of Teaching and Learning and senior lecturer in music education at Mary Immaculate College (MIC) has been elected to the board of the International Society for Music Education (ISME), a global organisation for music education which is affiliated with the International Music Council and UNESCO. With members in over 80 countries worldwide, ISME is a global community of music educators dedicated to fostering intercultural understanding and cooperation among the world's music educators. In addition, ISME promotes music education for people of all ages throughout the world and works to ensure that every individual has a right to music education.
Having served two terms as chair of Ireland’s ISME national affiliate, the Society for Music Education in Ireland (SMEI), Dr Moore was elected to the board of ISME for a two-year term following a worldwide vote. Dr Moore will also serve as chair of ISME’s publication committee. This role will include coordinating and facilitating the efforts of the editors and editorial committees of ISME’s publications, including the ‘International Journal of Music Education’, ‘Revista International de Educacion Musical’, and ISME’s Routledge book series.
Commenting on her recent appointment, Dr Gwen Moore, said “It is an honour to have been elected to the board of the International Society for Music Education. I am delighted to join international experts in music education at this prestigious forum and to raise the profile of MIC on this global stage. I look forward to sharing knowledge and skills from my experience of music education advocacy within the Irish context, as well as bringing to the board issues of national and international concern and importance”.
She added, “I am also looking forward to working with the ISME executive to implement ISME’s Strategic Plan and to help promote the work of ISME among the music education community in Ireland. I hope that through my appointment to the board of ISME I can help to strengthen MIC’s network of strategic partnerships in music and arts education research and enhance the College’s global outlook”.
According to Dr Moore, “Every human culture has music just as each has language. Music education is important for many reasons – not just within schooling and formal educational contexts – but also across cultures and communities. It is vital that music learning and teaching includes opportunities to experiment with one’s own personal music tastes and music-making. Within my own teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at MIC, I have always asked students to critically examine why music exists in schools and society, what music is taught, who the learner and teacher might be, and how inclusive and effective music teaching and learning takes place.”
Dr Gwen Moore has over 25 years' experience teaching music at primary, secondary and third-level and has been lecturing in music education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at MIC since 2006. In addition to her role with ISME, she is also a member of several international journal editorial boards, including the ‘International Journal for Music Education’, ‘Music Education Research’ and the ‘British Journal of Music Education’. Dr Moore’s doctoral research is the first study of its kind to investigate music in the higher education curriculum and experiences of music lecturers and undergraduate students at a national level. She has published these findings and other research in book chapters and international peer reviewed journals.
Further information on Dr Gwen Moore is available here.
Further information on the International Society for Music Education is available here.
