Department of Education
Head of the Department:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Giedrė Gabnytė Bizevičienė
E-mail: giedre.gabnyte@lmta.lt
Coordinator:
Asta Vaitkevičiūtė-Skliutė
E-mail: asta.vaitkeviciute@lmta.lt
Phone: +370 5 262 8537
LMTA Building 2, Vilniaus 6-2, 01110 Vilnius, Lithuania
Room 220
Address:
Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Building 1
Gedimino Ave. 42, 01110 Vilnius, Lithuania
Phone: +370 5 261 0553
Rooms: 126
The LMTA is a higher education institution that nurtures talented artists and performers. Over the years, we have noticed that many of our graduates combine their artistic careers with a passion for teaching. This insight inspired the establishment of the Department of Education in 1974. The Department’s first head, Prof. Dr. Eugenijus Ignatonis, who led it from 1974 to 1986, laid strong foundations for the Department to grow and function as an independent academic unit. Later, the Department was headed by Veronika Vitaitė (1986–1987), Algis Gricius (1987–1991), Liucija Drąsutienė (1991–2006), Ramunė Kryžauskienė (2006–2021), and since 2021, has been led by Giedrė Gabnytė Bizevičienė. In 2025, following the merger of the Departments of Education, Philosophy and Culture Studies, and Languages, the new Department of Educational Studies was established.
Our main goal is to prepare a new generation of accomplished music educators for Lithuania’s music and art schools, general education schools and arts gymnasiums –institutions that shape the country’s future artists. To achieve this, the Department offers parallel studies in Music Education designed to attract creative students to the teaching profession. These studies provide essential professional knowledge and reveal the unique and rewarding aspects of a music teacher’s career in an engaging and modern way.
In collaboration with Vilnius University, the Department of Educational Studies also offers postgraduate studies in Arts Therapy leading to a Master’s degree in Health Sciences. Graduates become qualified art therapy professionals equipped to work in the fields of personal health and well-being. The programme helps future therapists deepen their understanding of health promotion, develop professional competence in their chosen art form, and master art therapy techniques within their specific artistic discipline.
Our Department offers courses in philosophy and aesthetics – compulsory for bachelor students – as well as a constantly updated range of optional subjects in the humanities and social sciences. These courses encourage students to think critically and analytically, introducing them to the key terminology, core concepts and essential questions in these fields.
To support the development of intercultural competences and international mobility within the European Higher Education Area, the Department also provides opportunities to enhance foreign language skills and learn new languages.
Our teaching staff base their work on interdisciplinary research that connects music education, philosophy, and cultural sciences. Among our teachers, there are distinguished Lithuanian and international scholars who regularly present their findings at international conferences, publish in prestigious academic journals and author scientific monographs. Our teachers are active participants in exchange programmes and international internships, and they also teach at foreign universities. Since 2016, the Department has been part of a partnership network with Nordic and Baltic higher education institutions for music educators and is also a proud member of Nordic Network for Music Education (NNME). Since 2021, on the Department’s initiative, the LMTA has been organising national scientific conferences for art educators in Lithuania.