For all of its fifty years, the International Society for Music Education (ISME) has argued that music is an essential part of the education of all people, in every corner of the world. Music educators and supporters continually find themselves needing to justify why music is important in our schools and community.

To provide ISME members worldwide with resources to promote the importance of music in education, ISME is launching an advocacy campaign. Our goal is to provide members with an abundance and variety of resources to enable each and every person to become an even stronger advocate for our discipline.

These resources will be updated and expanded on a regular basis so check this website frequently for the most-up-to-the date advocacy support.

Feel free to duplicate and distribute the Quotes from Children and the Advocacy Statements and Stories that follow in any way you feel appropriate to teachers, parents, and education decision makers. Our only request is that you acknowledge their source, by including the following statement when using any of ISME's advocacy resources: "Reprinted from the website of the International Society for Music Education (www.isme.org) with permission of the author and the International Society for Music Education."

Let the ideas expressed in these quotes, statements and stories serve to stimulate all of us to think more deeply about the many ways that music can affect children's education, and the quality of life in communities throughout the world. Let us not rest with our advocacy efforts until every child has the opportunity to come in touch with the exciting world of music!

Some of these articles have been translated into languages other than English. Click here to see these.