Emily Wilson

Emily respectfully acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which she works and lives, the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung peoples of the Kulin Nations and she pays her respects to elders past, present and future. She acknowledges that First Nations peoples have continually been musicians and music educators on these un-ceded lands for tens of thousands of years.

Emily has been a music educator in schools and tertiary settings for over 20 years. A longstanding focus of her teaching practice is on engagement and inclusion for all students. Over the last several years, she has focussed on decolonising her music teaching practice to rebalance pedagogies and musical traditions. In particular, to foreground Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, knowledges and cultures through music as a non-Indigenous music educator in a respectful and appropriate manner.

As a senior lecturer and head of music education at the Faculty of Education (formerly MGSE) at the University of Melbourne, Emily co-ordinates the classroom music learning area for secondary school pre-service music teachers. She currently leads a project for the Department of Education to develop online professional learning modules for primary school music. Two modules focus on foregrounding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures through music including workshops for primary children delivered by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musician.

Emily has a PhD from the University of Melbourne, her thesis investigated teaching for engagement in classroom music. As a school music teacher, she taught classroom and instrumental music at primary and secondary schools in Australia and the UK, including Head of Department posts at secondary schools in the UK. She has published in national and international journals and presents at national and international conferences.