Permanent Seminar of the Research Group on Education, Music and Theater in the Community
3 December 2025, 18.00-19.30
Escola Superior de Educação, Politécnico do Porto | Auditório de Música
Free entrance, both online and in presence
Room Teams Join the meeting now Meeting ID: 376 527 048 932 90; Passcode: yF7i6WM3
Developing a Culture of Belonging: The Role of Grassroots Policy Activism in Teacher Education
Patrick Schmidt – Universidade de Columbia, Nova York
Abstract The growing complexity experienced by those working in schools and community-oriented arts environments today necessitates considerable re-direction on the formational priorities established within music teacher education programs, as well as upon the professional disposition and capacities of music educators in the field (Schmidt, 2022). Indeed, Henderson and Forbat’s (2002) characterization of “compromised citizenship” may best describe the challenges faced by many music educators today. Thus, the question driving this presentation is: Should music teacher education program priorities be reconfigured, given the unprecedented way teachers must navigate school politics, curricular restrictions, program advocacy, and a growing set of policy demands, often without adequate understanding, training, or guidance?
Patrick Schmidt is professor of music and music education at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. He has over 60 chapters and articles published in journals focused on education, music and policy. Schmidt led consulting and evaluative projects for the National YoungArts Foundation and the New World Symphony. He co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Music Education and Social Justice (2015), the two-volume Leadership in Higher Music Education (2020) and the Routledge Handbook for the Sociology of Music Education (2021). His books Policy and the Political Life of Music Education and Policy as Practice: A guide for Music Educators were released by Oxford in 2017 and 2020.