The discourse supporting cultural diversity in music education has seen continuous development over several decades since the establishment of International Society for Music Education (ISME) in 1953. The imperative for culturally inclusive music curriculum has now become a global phenomenon, shifting the focus onto teacher preparation as the critical nexus for change (Fung, 1995; Campbell, 2004; 2018; Schippers, 2009; Mellizo, 2023). This movement gained official footing since the 1994 ISME conference, where policies were established and a framework for the study of world music in schools was provided in Musics of the World’s Cultures: A Sourcebook for Music Educators (Lundquist et al., 1998).This panel aims to provide an overview of the current status of development and implementation of cultural diversity in music education internationally. Based on a collaborative research project by Chandransu, Campbell and Chen-Hafteck (2026), the nature and extent to which diverse musical cultures are internationally represented in the music education policies and practices of primary and secondary school music and university music teacher education programs were examined through survey responses of 25 music education experts across 20 countries worldwide, specifically: Brazil, Chile, China, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, the UK, and the USA.Findings confirm that while Western European Art Music (WEAM) continues to dominate global music curricula and is the historical foundation of the current mainstream music education system, in some countries, parallel cultural music policies prioritize national identity music and local music, which appear alongside WEAM as core content. This context is clearly demonstrated in Israel, where the curriculum remains focused on WEAM and Jewish cultural identity music. Similarly, in Thailand while the policy supports both WEAM and national identity music in pre-service teacher training programs, there is also a national school policy that stipulates students at each grade level to achieve basic proficiency in at least one designated Thai instrument and basic repertoire. The pervasive inconsistency in the practical implementationof the diverse music curriculum across many countries is driven by a lack of strong support in universities, such as the reliance on elective courses (e.g., ethnomusicology and world music) in teacher preparation curricula in many countries (e.g., Greece and Taiwan). This limits universal access to such a curriculum and significantly restricts the depth of engagement in global music. Teacher capacity remains insufficient, as many lack the skills to teach non-Western genres effectively, leading to critical pedagogical challenges such as the tendency to apply inappropriate models or the fear of inadvertently perpetuating stereotypes (e.g., The Netherlands). Systemic hurdles further compound this: Mexico faces a significant disconnect between traditional training and the diverse skills required, while The Netherlands illustrates how the absence of a national curriculum contributes to significant content variability. Additionally, workload constraints (teachers being overwhelmed with administrative duties) limit time for professional development.The findings reveal that the meaning and dynamics of local, national, and global music vary by context and are dictated by differing identity philosophies and policies, often resulting in the varied combinations of local, national, and global musics in practice. This limits the authentic inclusion of world cultures in the curriculum. The challenges in the practice of diverse music curriculum are rooted in the lack of teacher competency, insufficient practical training, and the presence of systemic barriers (such as workload constraints and resource deficits) that undermine teacher capacity. Recommendations include prioritizing the study of diverse musical cultures through professional development such as World Music Pedagogy (WMP) (Campbell, 2018) which offers a model that weaves musical experience with culturally sensitive pedagogical strategies; directing teachers to vetted resources such as those of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.This panel presentation will feature research participants, including music educators from Greece, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Thailand, and the USA. The session will open with a presentation of the research and summary of the key findings, followed by discussion of the following questions by each presenter: (1) Are there additional insights to add to the research report relative to the current state of cultural diversity in the music education within your nation? Please highlight distinct and common features within your national policy and practices pertinent to cultural and musical diversity. (2) Please give a brief overview of the intersection among local music, national music and global music in your country, and how this may affect the implementation of cultural diversity in music education? (3) Can you comment on the relationship between policy and practice in cultural diversity in the music education of your country? (4) Are there any reforms in teacher education that have been implemented or will be implemented in future to support cultural diversity in music education?Keywords1. World Music Pedagogy2. Cultural Diversity3. WEAM Dominance4. Teacher Capacity