ACT Research Seminar: Pete Dale
TFTV 109, School of Arts and Creative Technologies East, Campus East, University of York (Map)
Event details
For this week's ACT Research Seminar, please join Dr Pete Dale discussing TeachDJ!: A funding bid submitted to the AHRC Hub for Public Engagement with Music Research in early May 2025.
Can't join the event in person? See the event online instead.
About the speaker
Pete Dale is a Lecturer in Music Education at the University of York whose research focuses on the use of DJ decks to enhance student engagement, inclusion, and musical development in both school and extracurricular settings. His interest in DJ-based learning began during his time as Head of Music at an inner-city secondary school in the North East of England (2003–2012), where he found that DJing could re-engage disaffected learners and expand access to meaningful musical experiences beyond traditional instruments.
Since transitioning to academia in 2012, Pete has published widely on this topic, including the monograph Engaging Students with Music Education: DJ Decks, Urban Music and Child-Centred Learning (Routledge, 2017). The book drew attention from Mixmag and led to collaborations with leading DJ education initiatives such as PlayVirtuoso (formerly Future DJs) and DJ School UK. Pete has held academic positions at Oxford Brookes University and Manchester Metropolitan University, and now leads the AHRC-funded Contemporary Urban Music for Inclusion Network (CUMIN), which he co-directs with Professor Pamela Burnard (University of Cambridge).
Pete is also co-editor of the forthcoming Music for Inclusion and Healing in Schools and Beyond: Hip Hop, Techno, Grime, and More (Oxford University Press, 2023). He continues to work closely with schools in the Leeds and York regions—often in partnership with York Music Hub—helping to embed DJing into music curricula and championing DJ decks as legitimate instruments for GCSE-level performance assessments.
Venue details
Wheelchair accessible