Call for Proposals: 2025 Symposium for Music Teacher Education

2025 Symposium for Music Teacher Education

Advancing an Inclusive Community: Renew, Reinvigorate, Recharge

October 23–25, 2025

Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana

The NAfME Society for Music Teacher Education invites proposals for the 2025 Symposium on Music Teacher Education (SMTE) under the theme Advancing an Inclusive Community: Renew, Reinvigorate, Recharge. This is a time of rapid educational change, and pathways to and through the profession are constantly evolving. SMTE provides a space to refresh our approaches, reinvigorate our practices, and recharge our shared commitment to excellence in music teacher education. As political shifts and uncertainties challenge traditional assumptions, we gather to critically examine our field’s foundations while imagining new possibilities. To promote an ethos of inclusivity, SMTE remains committed to fostering dialogue across the full spectrum of music teacher education research and practice. The Society for Music Teacher Education welcomes voices representing the rich diversity of our profession: music teacher educators from all institutional types, music faculty from a variety of disciplines (e.g., performance, conducting, theory, musicology), state and local arts supervisors, P–12 educators, policy officials, people involved in non-traditional or alternative certification, deans and directors of the arts, and students in music education at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

We welcome submissions of scholarship at all stages, from emerging studies (to be completed by October 2025) to completed work, recognizing that meaningful contributions to our field take many forms. Proposals may address any aspect of music teacher education, including but not limited to empirical research, philosophical inquiry, promising practices, professional development initiatives, and policy considerations. We encourage submissions that bridge research and practice, foster school-university partnerships, contribute to an ongoing discussion around ideas in the Blueprint for the Music Teacher Profession, and/or examine issues connected to SMTE Areas for Strategic Planning and Action.

GENERAL SUBMISSION INFORMATION:

Read all information about the 2025 Symposium. The proposal submission system opens January 15, 2025. Submissions should be submitted on or before April 15, 2025, by 11:59 PM PDT. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

Proposal submissions are divided into two large strands:

1. Research
2. Programs, Practices, and Issues (PPIs)

Research proposals: Original research connecting to music teacher education, conference theme, and/or ASPAs. Works in progress are welcome but should be completed by the symposium date in October 2025.

Programs, Practices, and Issues proposals: Describe specific programs, practices, or current issues in music teacher education. Include justification, rationale, context, and supporting literature.

Proposals for the Research or PPI strands should be designed for one or more of the following formats:

1. Primary Sessions (25 minutes: 20 minutes presentation, 5 minutes discussion)
2. Posters
3. Graduate Research Forum: Poster presentations for current graduate/undergraduate students, with mentoring from JMTE Editorial Review Committee members.
4. Virtual Session: One presentation per large conference time block will be presented in a virtual format, allowing for virtual presentation and virtual attendance at SMTE. While these presentations will be reviewed using the same rubric as other presentations, the top-scored sessions in this format category will be presented in a hybrid fashion, meaning there can be both live and virtual attendees. Presentations selected for this category can be delivered in-person or remotely, according to the authors’ preference.
5. Lightning Panels: New for 2025. Proposals for a Lightning Panel should specify a “discussion starter” which can be oriented around either Research or PPIs. A strong Lightning Panel submission will present one core question, concept, or idea for discussion, limited in scope, and offer an accompanying brief grounding in existing scholarship. The intent of a Lightning Panel proposal should be to advance focused discussion of one essential concept or idea across the various voices of our profession including P–12 educators, students of all levels, music teacher educators, and policy makers. Proposals selected for the Lightning Panels will be grouped by the selection committee into panels of 3 presentations of 5 minutes each. The Lightning Panels will be followed by an open discussion period of 15 minutes, to allow for connection making, theory building, and potential collaboration.
6. Curricular Roundtables: New for 2025—These sessions are designed as moderated discussions between a roundtable of educators and session attendees. These will be centered around a central topic or theme and should include a variety of professionals that could include music teacher educators, other collegiate educators, K–12 educators, administrators, and other stakeholders. The proposals are 100 words and should detail a common theme that will be at the center of the roundtable; each should include 2–3 guiding questions.

Proposal Limitations:

• No limit on submissions (except one graduate research poster per author)
• Maximum two program appearances as author/co-author for presentation sessions
• No limit on poster presentations

SUBMISSION PROCEDURES:

Required information:

1. Primary author’s smte.us username
2. Author information
3. Category: Research or PPIs
4. Format in order of preference
5. Abstract (<100 words)
6. For Formats 1-4 above (Primary Sessions, Posters, Graduate Research Forum, Virtual Session) a full description (≤500 words, excluding references)
7. For Format 5 above (Lightning Panel), a full description (≤200 words, excluding references) responding to this prompt: What one core, essential question, idea, or concept about music teacher education are you offering for discussion in this Lightning Panel? Briefly, what existing scholarship or practices underpin or background your question or concept?
8. For Format 6 above (Curricular Roundtables), a full description (≤200 words, excluding references) of roundtable theme, plus full names, affiliations, and emails of Roundtable participants
9. 3-5 References
10.  Relationship to conference theme, ASPA mission, or NAfME Blueprint
11. If this is a work in progress, indicate your specific timeline and plans for completion.

Review criteria:

1. Relevance to music teacher education
2. Connection to Theme/ASPAs/Blueprint
3. Appropriateness for selected format(s)
4. Innovation
5. Timeliness
6. Proposal quality and clarity