Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
I am committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within my performance practice, repertoire choices, and pedagogy. I believe DEI is not a tokenistic action, but a daily commitment and practice.
Through my studies during my undergrad, I have been able to explore how DEI can be implemented in the classroom and performance practice. I have also been able to obtain specialized knowledge in Disability Studies as well as Critical Youth Studies that help inform my understanding of DEI and student issues.
Experience with Title 1 Schools and Minority Student Populations
Through my experiences student teaching at Winton Woods City Schools in Cincinnati, Ohio, I have gained experience working with minority and disadvantaged student populations. I have come to learn the most important parts of teaching in these environments is building trusting relationships with your students and finding ways to connect their culture and background to your classroom instruction.
I am dedicated to connecting to my students and building relationships that allow my students to feel comfortable and safe. I want to be a trusted adult in their life and for them to know that I care deeply about them and want them to succeed. When students know they can trust you, they are much more successful in their learning.
Connecting student's culture to classroom instruction is an important initiative in my teaching. I have experienced first hand how engaging in culturally responsive teaching has improved the educational experience for my students. Students who feel seen and heard are more willing to interact with the material.
Disability Studies
Disability Studies and Music Education are fields that are rarely thought of as intersecting disciplines. However, Disability Studies helps inform me of ways to best serve my disabled students and ways to help promote accessibility in my classroom and the school as a whole. I am committed to ensuring that music education is accessible to all students, regardless of ability.
DEI Music History Project
Early elementary Lesson Plan with ideas for multiple activities featuring disabled composers and musicians. Materials and lesson are framed through the social model of disability and focus on learning about the different disability communities.
Assessment in Music Education
Term paper for a special education class focused on assessment in the field of music and how it may be applied to disabled students in the classroom. Also touches on assessment biases.
Critical Youth Studies
Critical Youth Studies examines the social, political, and cultural impacts on youth and children. Through this discipline, I am to understand the ways youth interact with the world and how that impacts their life, and more specifically education. Topics examined through this course of study are social media, body image, interpersonal violence, race issues, generational trauma, and war.
This discipline helps me understand my students through examining how their generation is impacted by social, cultural, and political issues. This allows for my pedagogy be more culturally relevant to the students that I am serving. I am committed to making sure my teaching practice is culturally relevant and serves the student population that I am working with.