Moderators: Mitsi Akoyunoglou & Dimitra Koniari

It is apparent that the pandemic has presented permanent changes in the conditions of education, something that is interpreted by some as a positive development for the future of education, yet for others is accompanied by fear. As the pandemic is still ongoing and the concern of the educational community manifests in various levels, this symposium attempts to provide a brief description of the ways that music educators are dealing with the current situation, an analysis of the changes that were required to transition from face to face to online teaching and learning in tertiary education, and a conversation which aims at looking into the changes that are needed to respond effectively to the training of future music educators in the new educational landscape. 

The pandemic forced unexpectedly and without preparation online distance learning and teaching. A collective study from 31 countries indicated that the pandemic revealed and reinforced social injustice, a non inclusive and without equal access to learning for all children, as well as technological inequalities. These are important issues that need to be dealt with and cared for by each country (Bozkurt, et al., 2020). Respectively, in our country, there were a number of changes that were demanded by the restrictions imposed during the pandemic in the operation of educational institutions, and specifically in the music lessons (Akoyunoglou & Koniari, 2021· Ververis & Apostolis, 2020· Chrysostomou & Triantafullaki, 2020). The return to the classrooms and face-to-face teaching in the midst of the pandemic demanded a different design and planning of the lessons and in a lot of cases compromises from the music educators. The restrictions and strict provisions for singing, for using musical instruments, for disinfecting props and materials, for limiting movement and keeping distances, imposed a redefinition of the ways, the procedures, the content and the teaching approaches of the music lessons.

The panelists in this symposium will focus on various aspects of the imprint of the pandemic on music pedagogy in tertiary education, will analyze ways and approaches of teaching music, and will put forth recommendations, so that the difficulties faced can be transformed to positive and fruitful experiences for the future music teacher. Central issues discussed will include the use of technology, the enhancement of flexibility in implementing various educational approaches, in order to provide a multifaceted preparation and training of future music educators. 

Maria-Nefeli Sgatzi & Dimitra Koniari - Online musicking during the pandemic: perspectives of students and teachers of the Department of Music Science and Art of the University of Macedonia

The study presents the impacts that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on music university education through the perspectives of students and teachers of the Department of Music Science and Art of the University of Macedonia. 48 students and 28 teachers completed an electronic questionnaire concerning their engagement on music lessons during  the compulsory online music learning condition, the first two months of the lockdown (March and April 2020). The study analyzes the various challenges they faced and highlights how creative music learning conditions can emerge even during a pandemic.

Smaragda Chrysostomou & Angeliki Triantafyllaki - Readjusting the practicum model at the Department of Music Studies, NKUA during the pandemic

Teaching practice (practicum) is one of the most important parts of initial teacher preparation and pedagogical training. During this transitional period future music teachers are expected to develop skills and attitudes that will help them be effective in music teaching. Lockdown and the obligatory online teaching that followed the pandemic during 2020 and 2021 created new needs for music teachers that had to quickly adjust and find new tools and means to teach music.

At the Music Studies department of the NKUA we proceeded with the adjustment of our practicum model in order to adapt to these unique circumstances and cover our students’ and pre-service music teachers’ needs. We aimed to evolve students’ practicum in ways so that our students develop new skills and knowledge that relate to the new conditions. Simultaneously, this model needed to be flexible so as to adjust to the continuous shifts during and after the pandemic. This presentation describes the processes of the five stages that we developed and examines critically the results from their application. 

Antonis Ververis & Aristeidis Apostolis - Distance teaching of instruments in Music Schools during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper presents the results of a study on the distance teaching of instruments in Music Schools in the period 11/3 to 11/5/2020, during which all educational institutions in Greece suspended their face-to-face operation. The survey was conducted in June 2020 with the participation of 87 teachers who answered a relevant questionnaire. The aim was to record the methodologies followed by these educators in their distance teaching –providing they had chosen to participate in the process despite its optional character– in addition to the problems that arose.

Mitsi Akoyunoglou - The psycho-emotional implications of distance learning through the experience of music teachers

This presentation attempts to examine the psycho-emotional impact of the mandatory music lessons via internet during the periods of lockdown. The analysis of the answers of music educators in elementary and secondary institutions and music conservatories, revealed themes in four areas:  competence/incompetence, reassurance/frustration, calmness/anxiety and collectivity/isolation.

• Εκπαίδευση εκπαιδευτικών

Mitsi Akoyunoglou is a senior lecturer (under appointment) in the Department of Music Studies at Ionian University. She represents the Hellenic Association of Professional Music Therapists to the European Music Therapy Confederation and EEME to the Music Teacher Associations in Europe. 

Aristeidis Apostolis was born Lesvos, Greece in 1994. In 2019, he completed his bachelor degree in the Department of Folk and Traditional Music of the Technological Institute of Epirus.  During 2015 - 2016, he lived in Istanbul as an Erasmus+ student in Yildiz Technical University of Istanbul and as a trainee in the Erol Ucer Music Library at the Istanbul Technical University. Today, he is a student in University of Aegean and University of Western Macedonia (Msc Applied Clinical Sociology and Art) and a music teacher in Music High School of Mytilene.

Smaragda Chrysostomou is a Professor of Music Pedagogy and Didactics at the Department of Music Studies of NKUA, Head of the Music Education Lab and the Postgraduate Masters Programme "Music Education in formal and informal settings".

Dimitra Koniari is a member of the Laboratory Teaching Personnel at the Department for Music Science and Art of University of Macedonia. 

Maria Nefeli Sgatzi graduated from the Department of Music Science and Art of the University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, direction of Greek traditional (folk) music specializing in specific Music Studies - Music Education and the art of traditional song. From 2018 she studies at the European percussion department of the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki.

Angeliki Triantafyllaki holds a PhD in Music Education from the University of Cambridge. Since 2010, she collaborates with the Music Education Lab of the Department of Music Studies, NKUA, on teaching and research projects. She is Associate Professor (pending appointment) of Music Education at the School of Social Sciences, University of Ioannina. 

Antonis Ververis was born in Athens and brought up on the island of Lesvos. He studied Musicology and Music Education at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Sociology at the University of the Aegean. He holds master’s degrees in Choral Education and Choral Conducting from Roehampton University and Lynchburg College respectively, and in June 2017 completed his doctoral dissertation at the AUTh. Apart from choral music, he has been involved in the performance and teaching of the santouri. In the period 2009-2018 he worked at the Music Schools of Chios and Mytilene. Since 2018, he has been teaching at the Department of Music Studies of the University of Ioannina.