Silke Schmid

Prof. Silke Schmid serves as Professor for Music and its Didactics and Head of the Institute of Music at Freiburg University of Education. She has held this professorship since 2017 and has led the Institute since Summer Semester 2019. Previously, she was a Substitute Professor at the University of Koblenz-Landau (2015/2016) and a Research Assistant at the University of Music Basel (2011-2017), where she was responsible for the music education research focus. She completed her PhD at Goethe-University Frankfurt in 2013 with research on children's music experiences.

Prof. Schmid's research centers on educational transformation through music, with particular emphasis on music education for social change and education for sustainable development (ESD). She explores children's music experiences and wellbeing, creativity and playfulness in post-digital music practices, and professionalization in music teacher education. Her work increasingly integrates ecological perspectives, most notably through her leadership of the Soil Music project, which creates aesthetic-ecological learning spaces through regenerative practices and artistic research. Her research demonstrates how music education can serve as a catalyst for social and ecological transformation.

Prof. Schmid leads multiple externally funded projects including Soil Music (2024-present), Nährboden der Zukunft (2025-2026), MusicBeing? (2023-2027), and Maker Music Education (2023-2026). Her publication record reveals a strong trajectory toward sustainable music education, children's wellbeing through music, and innovative approaches to music teacher training. She serves on editorial boards including Sustain: Journal of Sustainability and Futures in Music Education and has reviewed for numerous international journals in music education and psychology.

• Music-related wellbeing as teaching objective: A critical interpretive synthesis (2024)
• Zeit für Zukunftsmusik! Musik und Unterricht im Spiegel der UN-Nachhaltigkeitsziele (2024)
• Equitable musical-aesthetic practice in elementary school (2024)
• Grundschul(musik)unterricht for Future? Grundzüge einer Eco-Literate Music Pedagogy (2023)
• "Like a room without a roof": Children's wellbeing as a teaching objective (2022)

As Head of Institute, Prof. Schmid oversees music teacher education programs and fosters collaborations between schools, music institutions, and community organizations. She is active in professional organizations including the International Society for Music Education (ISME) and the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS), and serves on research councils and cultural education juries. Her Soil Music project represents a significant interdisciplinary effort connecting music, ecology, and community engagement through the SoilKulturLab and related initiatives, reflecting her commitment to using music education as a catalyst for sustainable futures.