Zsuzsanna Polyák

Zsuzsanna Polyák joined the Kodály Institute in 2004 as a librarian and archivist for the Music Pedagogical Archives. Since November 2023, she has worked as a research fellow.

She teaches the „Zoltán Kodály’s Music Educational Philosophy” and „Research” subjects at the Kodály Institute and „Kodály Concept” at the Liszt Academy of Music.

She graduated from Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest with a degree in Library and Information Science, Hungarian Linguistics & Literature, and Pedagogy. She also holds an MA in Community Development, and has participated in the planning and evaluation of various non-formal educational, cultural and community building projects.

She earned her doctorate in education 2024 in the Theoretical and Historical Pedagogy Doctoral Program at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Pedagogy and Psychology. The title of her dissertation is „The History of the International Kodály Society from 1975 until Today”. [Available here in pdf in Hungarian.]

Her main research areas are history and philosophy of music education, with a special focus on the international dissemination of the Kodály Concept.

She is a member of the International Society for Music Education (ISME) Student Chapter Leadership Team and Vice-President of the International Kodály Society.

List of publications

Papers in English:

Polyák, Zs., & Bodnár, G. (2021). International dissemination of Zoltán Kodály’s concept of musical education. Educació i Història: Revista d’Història de l’Educació, 37, 165–194. https://doi.org/10.2436/20.3009.01.259 

Polyák, Zs., Szabó, Z. A., & Németh, A. (2021). The Political Religion of Communism in Hungarian Children’s Choir Compositions between 1958–1989. Historia Scholastica, 7(1), 85–109. https://doi.org/10.15240/tul/006/2021-1-005 

Polyák, Zs. (2020). Music Teacher Competences in the Policies of the European Union – A Hungarian Perspective. In C. Aguilar, C. P. Lagos, A. Prest, & L. K. Richerme (Eds.), Proceedings of the 20th International Seminar of the ISME Commission on Policy: Culture, Media and Education (pp. 141–149). International Society for Music Education. https://www.isme.org/sites/default/files/documents/proceedings/Carla%20Aguilar%20-%202020%20Policy%20Proceedings_0.pdf 

Polyák, Zs., & Pethő, V. (2020). Hidden Stories in Choral Singing: The Contribution of Adrienne Sztojanovits and the Choir of the Szilágyi Erzsébet Girls’ Lyceum to the Singing Youth Movement. In B. Vincze, K. Kempf, & A. Németh (Eds.), Hidden Stories—The Life Reform Movements and Art (pp. 185–199). Peter Lang. https://doi.org/10.3726/b16794 

Conference presentations in English:

Polyák, Zs. (2023). Hand-signs to listen to for: An innovative technique in music education [Conference presentation]. ISCHE 44 - Histories of Education and Reform: Traditions, Tensions and Transitions, Budapest.

Polyák, Zs. (2023). Zoltán Kodály’s Notes in ‘Handbook of Suggestions for Teachers’ (1937) [Conference presentation]. 26th International Kodály Symposium - Golden Anniversary: Connecting Humanity Through Music, Los Angeles, CA.

Polyák, Zs. (2022). The Role Of Musical Instruments In Elementary Classrooms – A Historical Overview Of Hungarian Curricula Between 1869-2020 [Conference presentation]. International Standing Conference for the History of Education (ISCHE) 43 - Histories of Educational Technologies: Cultural and Social Dimensions of Pedagogical Objects, Milano.

Somogyvári, L., & Polyák, Zs. (2022). „Scientific-Technological Revolution” as a Discourse: Interactions between Education and Technologies [Conference presentation]. International Standing Conference for the History of Education (ISCHE) 43 - Histories of Educational Technologies: Cultural and Social Dimensions of Pedagogical Objects, Milano.

Polyák, Zs. (2021). The Scholarly Aspect of the International Kodály Society as Reflected in the Bulletin of the International Kodály Society [Conference presentation]. 25th IKS Symposium - Village voices in global harmony, Katowice, Poland.

Polyák, Zs. (2020). Music Teacher Competences in the Policies of the European Union – A Hungarian Perspective [Conference presentation]. 20th International Seminar of the ISME Commission on Policy: Culture, Media and Education, [Online].

Polyák, Zs. (2019). The Teacher Concept of Zoltán Kodály [Conference presentation]. 24th IKS Symposium - Embracing a new era: Nurturing the Kodály Philosophy around the world, Kuching, Sarawak.

Polyák, Zs. (2018). Non-professional musical ensembles and competence development: Can community music-making help develop employability skills? [Conference presentation]. Inspiring Curiosity Celebrating Diverse Voices of Community Music:  33rd ISME 2018 Seminar of the Commission for Community Music Activity, Tbilisi, Georgia, Tbilisi.