Outstanding Emerging Educator

The purpose of the OAKE Outstanding Emerging Educator Award is to acknowledge an individual’s successful application of Kodály-inspired teaching practices and to develop and promote leadership at the local, divisional, and national levels. The Outstanding Emerging Educator Award is given to an OAKE member with 3-10 years of teaching experience who exemplifies the mission and vision of OAKE to support music education of the highest quality, promote universal music literacy, and lifelong music making by: (1) demonstrating active participation in their local OAKE chapter; (2) achieving high standards as a musician/educator; and (3) completing an OAKE-Endorsed teacher education program, or, completing diploma study at the Kodály Institute of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Hungary.

Two Letters of Recommendation required

Outstanding Educator 

The OAKE Outstanding Educator Award is given to an OAKE member who, after having received formal training in Kodály education, has demonstrated years of superior music teaching in which the Kodály philosophy has been used extensively and has produced students who exhibit outstanding skills that were developed through the use of Kodály techniques.

Two Letters of Recommendation required

Outstanding Administrator 

The OAKE Outstanding Administrator Award is given to a school principal, superintendent, or music supervisor who has demonstrated an appreciation for the value of the Kodály philosophy by creating an environment in which Kodály music education can thrive and has provided tangible support for the Kodály music program and the Kodály teachers in his or her school(s). The recipient of this award does not have to be a member of OAKE. 

Two Letters of Recommendation required

Lifetime Achievement 

The OAKE Lifetime Achievement Award is given to the rare person whose impact upon Kodály music education transcends that of what might be considered an outstanding educator, administrator, or researcher. This person has made such an extensive, far-reaching impact that, over time, his or her influence has left and indelible mark upon the state of American Kodály music education.

Two Letters of Recommendation required

Outstanding Research Award

The purpose of the OAKE Outstanding Research Award is to encourage research concerning the Kodály philosophy of music education through the recognition of the best of such research conducted at all levels.  

Award Levels:

• The Erzsébet Szőnyi Academic: Outstanding research by a college/university professor or research team (where collaborators are involved).
• The Alexander Ringer Award for Outstanding Doctoral Research.
• The László Eősze Professional and Non-Doctoral: Outstanding research by a practitioner, graduate student, or research team (where collaborators are involved).

Eligibility:

• The author of the research must be a member of OAKE.  If the research has multiple authors, at least one must be a member of OAKE.
• The research must make a contribution to the understanding and/or practice of Kodály music education.
• Research nominated at the Academic level must have been published in the academic year prior to the nomination deadline.  Doctoral dissertations should have been completed during the academic year prior to the nomination deadline.  Professional and Non-Doctoral research must have been completed in the academic year prior to the nomination deadline.

Nomination Process:

• Research will be nominated by submission to the committee.    
• Nominations must be submitted electronically in .pdf or Microsoft Word .doc format.  
• The preference of the committee is that nominations adhere to the submission policies of the Envoy found on the Kodály Envoy page on the OAKE website.  Nominations that have been previously published in other sources may follow the publication guidelines of their respective publishers.

Selection Process:

All nominations will be double-blind reviewed by a committee of three people with doctoral degrees, each with extensive background in the Kodály philosophy of music education.

Criteria:

The nominated research will be judged and the winner(s) selected using a set of criteria, to include:

• Content (philosophy, scholarship, accuracy, relevance, currency, need for topic).
• Style (sentence construction, grammar, interest, clarity, freedom from verbosity).
• Significance (the research highlights issues of importance from theoretical, policy, or practical terms).

Please make sure to double-check spelling and/or use of accents in the nominee's name

*Two Letters of Recommendation by two separate individuals must be submitted for each award nominee to be eligible.