The 2021 Symposium on Music Teacher Education will be held one week later than originally announced. The new dates are Thursday September 23rd to Saturday September 25th, 2021. All events will be held online, and will begin with a welcome and keynote address on Thursday evening. Presentations, poster sessions, and plenary sessions will be scheduled throughout the day on Friday and Saturday, with a tentative plan to hold events between 11:00am and 8:00pm Eastern on those days to allow for participation across North American time zones. The SMTE Board and ASPA facilitators will have a pre-conference meeting on the afternoon of September 23rd, and the SMTE Board will hold a wrap-up meeting on the morning of Sunday the 26th after the Symposium concludes.
Thanks to those teacher educator community members who reached out with concerns about the original dates (September 16-18) creating a potential conflict with the Yom Kippur observance. While it was our original intention to begin the Symposium on Thursday evening after the holiday would have concluded, the shift to online planning and multiple time zones created additional issues and conflicts with our Procedures and Values for Symposium Site Selection. We believe the shift in dates is the best inclusive solution to be sure we are welcoming all scholars and practitioners. We appreciate the flexibility and understanding of SMTE members as we continue to navigate new territory in event planning for 2020 and 2021.
The 2021 Call for Proposals is available now, and the timeline for proposal submission remains unchanged. The due date for submissions is April 15th, 2021. We look forward to receiving your proposals!