Seyram Yawo Afealete
Music Education
Office: TC 124
Email: safealet@uwo.ca
Seyram Yawo Afealete is a Ghanaian-born music educator and PhD candidate in Music Education at Western University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Education, Winneba (Ghana), and later completed a Master’s degree in Music Education at the University of Toronto, Canada.
Seyram served as Co-Chair of the 2025 Canada-Africa Collaborations Conference (CAACC) and is a member of the African Institute at Western University. She also serves as an Editorial Board Member for the International Journal of Education & the Arts. Beyond academia, she works with WeBridge Community Services as a Cultural Facilitator, supporting black and immigrant families through culturally responsive programming and community engagement.
She has presented her research at national and international conferences, including the Narrative Inquiry in Music Education (NIME), the International Society for Music Education (ISME), and the Ontario Music Teachers’ Association (OMEA). Her scholarly work centers on the intersections of culture, pedagogy, identity, and experiential learning, with particular emphasis on early childhood music education and arts-based research. She is especially committed to supporting Ghanaian-Canadian Third Culture Kids (TCKs) as they navigate their identities through music and creative expression.
As a passionate advocate for inclusive and culturally grounded music learning, Seyram works with students of all ages in both private and group settings. As a recipient of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Gold and Bronze Awards, she mentors children and youth to develop their skills and discover new dimensions of themselves through music and the arts.
She teaches and performs on violin, piano, and traditional Ghanaian instruments, and sings in choral ensembles. Seyram thrives in creative and collaborative environments and is continually innovating her teaching and research practices. Her long-term goal is to contribute to a more compassionate and culturally grounded world through music, education, and the arts.
Publication:
Afealete, S. Y. (2026). Review: Hendricks, K. S. (2025). Daring to care with music education. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 27(r1). http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea27r1
Linked In: www.linkedin.com/in/safealete
Website:https://seyramafealete1.wixsite.com/seyram-yawo-afealete
