The Cross-Strait, Hong Kong and Macao Forum on Music Education in Schools opened on 8 May at the South China Normal University (SCNU). Over a hundred scholars and teachers specialising in music education gathered in Guangzhou to participate in various activities including exchanges, workshops and roundtable discussions to explore the linkage between tertiary music education in training music teachers and its relevance to basic education.
Dr Dai Baisheng, Associate Professor of the School of Arts of Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI), is one of the founders of this forum. Dr Dai is the Coordinator of the Institute’s Bachelor of Arts in Music programme and an experienced scholar in the field of music education. As an invited keynote speaker of this forum, Dr Dai delivered a speech on the social existence of music teachers. He began by pointing out the challenges faced by music teachers in primary and secondary schools, and went on to mention several possible solutions to alleviate the stress of music teachers who are generally considered as a minority in these schools. He further elaborated the progress made by MPI’s Bachelor of Arts in Music programme including the use of internationally renowned external examiners to ensure academic quality, as well as an external consultancy committee to keep the Institute abreast of the demand for skilled music professionals in the labour market so as to maintain the relevance of teaching and programme design. MPI also maintains a graduate database to understand the graduates' employment situation and to keep them informed of the latest happenings at MPI. Dr Dai concluded his speech with a call for more attention to the inequality faced by music teachers with regards to their social status and pedagogic authority, highlighting the factors impacting the effectiveness of music education. Dr Dai’s speech received an enthusiastic response from those in attendance.
Inaugurated at the South China Normal University in 2011, the Cross-Strait, Hong Kong and Macao Forum on Music Education in Schools was initially known as the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Music Education Forum. SCNU, the Education University of Hong Kong (formerly known as the Hong Kong Institute of Education) and MPI take turns to host this forum. MPI’s music programme was the host of this forum in 2013. The forum, which concluded on 11 May, was renamed to its current name in 2017 and was once again hosted at SCNU where the first forum of its kind was originally held.