Res. Asst. PhD GÖZDE ÖZENÇ İRA

Dr. Gözde Özenç İra is a research assistant in the Department of Primary Education at the Faculty of Education, Hacettepe University. Her research focuses on culturally responsive and intercultural music education, the relationship between migration and music, and teacher competencies.

In 2025, she conducted postdoctoral research at the Institute for European Music Ethnology at the University of Cologne with the support of the TÜBİTAK 2219 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship
(https://www.hf.uni-koeln.de/41465).
In this research, she examined culturally responsive music education practices in primary schools in Cologne using a reconstructive research approach (Dokumentarische Methode).

Her research activities in Germany are supported by the University of Cologne’s Innovative Tandem Collaborations program through the international project entitled “Inclusive Pedagogy in Music Education: A Comparison of the Perspectives of Teachers Across Primary and Special Education Schools in Germany and Türkiye.”
Project page:
https://cif.uni-koeln.de/projects/innovative-tandem-collaboration-2025-inclusive-pedagogy-in-music-education-a-comparison-of-the-perspectives-of-teachers-across-primary-and-special-education-schools-in-germany-and-tuerkiye

This project was also featured in the official Hacettepe University newspaper:
https://gazete.hacettepe.edu.tr/tr/haber/ars_gor_dr_gozde_ozenc_iraya_koln_universitesinden_arastirma_destegi-714

In 2025, she delivered an invited lecture entitled “Kultur-sensibler Musikunterricht: Perspektiven und Praktiken in Deutschland und der Türkei” as part of the Ringvorlesung series “Musikpädagogische Diskurse im Wandel” at the University of Cologne.
Event link:
https://kunst.uni-koeln.de/event/rolle-oezenc-ira161025/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNht2ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHjW0CGoZRiDhJt6ETsAUeciGGrQX3SqBISxnA1s5E-Fp74SYEKrCnZzcbn5z_aem_du3FW3h79c_2bDUATqKOxA

She is also involved in the organization of the international workshop “Inclusive Music Pedagogy in Primary Schools: Comparative Perspectives from Germany and Türkiye,” to be held in January 2026 within the framework of the Cologne International Forum.

Her research has been published in international peer-reviewed journals and is shaped by an interdisciplinary perspective intersecting music pedagogy, intercultural interaction, and social justice. She actively collaborates with academic communities in Türkiye and Germany and conducts research on cultural diversity and inclusive pedagogy at both national and international levels.