The Strengthening Music in Society (SMS) project was a European project led by AEC in which EMU was actively involved through two strands: Early Childhood Music Education and Digitisation.
For EMU members, the most important and most directly useful outcome was the work on Early Childhood Music Education. This strand resulted in the publication “Music Right from the Start: Theory and Practice of Early Childhood Music Education”, which offers practical ideas, lesson approaches, and examples for working with young children and families.
The publication remains highly relevant for music and arts schools today. It provides inspiration for schools that want to strengthen their work in Early Childhood Music Education and has also become an important foundation for EMU’s current work in this area, including the new CC-ECME project.
The ECME strand also led to further exchange activities within EMU. In 2021, EMU organised a webinar on Early Childhood Music Education, followed by in-person seminars in Hungary and Luxembourg in the following years. These activities created opportunities for members to learn from different national approaches and examples of good practice. This shows that ECME has become an important and growing field within EMU, with publications, webinars, seminars, and new projects all building on this work.
The EMU also led the strand on Digitisation and Teacher Education in the Digital Age. While much of this work was more closely connected to higher music education, it was still important that the perspective of music and arts schools was represented. The strand explored how digital tools can support music education, improve access, and create new possibilities for teaching and learning.
For EMU members, this work helped start an important discussion about how digitalisation can be used in music and arts schools in practical and meaningful ways. It also showed that digital tools should not replace artistic and personal exchange, but can complement and strengthen it. EMU also organised a webinar on digitisation in music education, which offered practical ideas and examples for online and hybrid teaching.Overall, the SMS project helped EMU build long-term expertise in two areas that are still highly relevant today: Early Childhood Music Education and digitisation. Many of the ideas and resources developed during the project continue to influence EMU’s work and provide useful inspiration for members across Europe.
Links
Music Right From the Start: Theory and Practice of Early Childhood Music Education (M. Dartsch, N. Economidou Stavrou, U. Piispanen; AEC, EMU 2022; ISBN 978-3-925574-99-3)
Webinar ECME
Webinar Digitisation
