Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Statement
My first music teaching position was at a Title I school in the Phoenix metropolitan area. When I began teaching K–8 general music and chorus, I had no idea how my perspectives on music education would shift during this time. Being immersed in a richly diverse community made me aware of how music education programs vary greatly throughout the country. Additionally, it opened my eyes to innovative music programs and their capabilities to enact change. Music education has the capacity to elevate diverse student voices and combat systemic inequities embedded in educational structures. I then spent the next 12 years working in P–12 schools with diverse student populations, striving to enact progressive music education practices and positively influence students’ lives through music education. This journey led me to teaching where I was able to foster musical learning for students with diverse backgrounds, including BBIA communities, English-Language Learners, and families who recently immigrated to the United States.
Currently, I work with preservice teachers from the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. Interactions with these two diverse student populations provides insight on college students’ educational needs. A college student’s cultural background, level of support outside of school, and first-generation status can influence their collegiate education. I aimed to support all students by cultivating meaningful relationships with them. Through dialogue with students and self-reflection, I use that knowledge to influence my modalities of instruction, curricular choices, and classroom culture. For all students, I work to create a collaborative environment where their voices were heard in a student-centered classroom. Many of the university students with whom I work need comprehensive personal, financial, or academic support. I connect these students to university and community resources that would target their specific needs. Collegiate student needs are ever-changing, and I strive to continually grow as an educator to best serve all students of all backgrounds.
When examining who I am as an educator, I frequently return to famous words of John Dewey, “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” I believe that world of education is ever-changing. It is an educator’s role to examine students’ surrounding environment and make learning relevant to them. As a P–12 and collegiate music educator, I embrace a constructivist approach to learning. Students must have meaningful, hands-on experiences to fully understand and make meaning of the world around them. As a music educator, I draw upon the Orff Schulwerk approach to integrate exploration, play, and creativity and enact student-centered learning. I believe that music making should be inclusive of genres outside of the Western-European canon and embody multiple ways of musicking. I aim to create an inclusive music-making space for all students through purposeful inclusion of diverse musical genres, such as pop, rap, hip-hop, and rock, in musical assignments and performances. Whether it is performing, creating, or teaching, music education must be reflective of students’ cultures and the ever-changing world that surrounds them.
My graduate studies in music education aided in my discovery of theoretical frameworks and reflective lenses that shape how I approach music education. During my Master of Music studies, I enrolled in courses focused on innovative pedagogies in music education and their capability to foster a more inclusive music classroom. In my doctoral studies, I completed a graduate course dedicated to critical reflection on multicultural education. This course explored important frameworks including culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995), culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012), and critical race theory (Bell, 1976). The course also addressed intersectionality and LGBTQIA+ and feminist perspectives. As I develop my identity as a researcher, I aim to infuse critical pedagogies to enact change in systems which oppress and silence historically marginalized populations. I aspire to foster research, especially through a qualitative methodology, which highlights the intersectionality between equity-centered and trauma-informed education. Furthermore, I strive to continually self-reflect to gain awareness of potential biases and privileges which may influence my actions and words.
Within my music education curriculum and pedagogies, I embrace Banks’ (2004) Dimensions of Multicultural Education. This model includes five dimensions of integration and reform: content integration, the knowledge construction process, prejudice reduction, an equity pedagogy, and empowering school culture and social structure. Through musical experiences and curricular materials, I aim to move students from an integrative approach to one focused on social justice and combating inequity. When working with preservice teachers, I incorporate assignments and class discussions that require individuals to consider inclusivity and equity in their future classrooms.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a terminal process. Cultivating inclusive and equitable environments is a continuous and evolving process, whether the educator is working in the P–12 or collegiate level. I believe that true DEI work must be both individual and collaborative. It must the goal of the individual and educational organizations to embrace diversity, cultivate inclusivity, and breakdown system which promote inequality. In my future educational positions, I will be an essential contributor to these communities with the goal of creating equitable and inclusive schools.
Currently, I work with preservice teachers from the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville. Interactions with these two diverse student populations provides insight on college students’ educational needs. A college student’s cultural background, level of support outside of school, and first-generation status can influence their collegiate education. I aimed to support all students by cultivating meaningful relationships with them. Through dialogue with students and self-reflection, I use that knowledge to influence my modalities of instruction, curricular choices, and classroom culture. For all students, I work to create a collaborative environment where their voices were heard in a student-centered classroom. Many of the university students with whom I work need comprehensive personal, financial, or academic support. I connect these students to university and community resources that would target their specific needs. Collegiate student needs are ever-changing, and I strive to continually grow as an educator to best serve all students of all backgrounds.
When examining who I am as an educator, I frequently return to famous words of John Dewey, “If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.” I believe that world of education is ever-changing. It is an educator’s role to examine students’ surrounding environment and make learning relevant to them. As a P–12 and collegiate music educator, I embrace a constructivist approach to learning. Students must have meaningful, hands-on experiences to fully understand and make meaning of the world around them. As a music educator, I draw upon the Orff Schulwerk approach to integrate exploration, play, and creativity and enact student-centered learning. I believe that music making should be inclusive of genres outside of the Western-European canon and embody multiple ways of musicking. I aim to create an inclusive music-making space for all students through purposeful inclusion of diverse musical genres, such as pop, rap, hip-hop, and rock, in musical assignments and performances. Whether it is performing, creating, or teaching, music education must be reflective of students’ cultures and the ever-changing world that surrounds them.
My graduate studies in music education aided in my discovery of theoretical frameworks and reflective lenses that shape how I approach music education. During my Master of Music studies, I enrolled in courses focused on innovative pedagogies in music education and their capability to foster a more inclusive music classroom. In my doctoral studies, I completed a graduate course dedicated to critical reflection on multicultural education. This course explored important frameworks including culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995), culturally sustaining pedagogy (Paris, 2012), and critical race theory (Bell, 1976). The course also addressed intersectionality and LGBTQIA+ and feminist perspectives. As I develop my identity as a researcher, I aim to infuse critical pedagogies to enact change in systems which oppress and silence historically marginalized populations. I aspire to foster research, especially through a qualitative methodology, which highlights the intersectionality between equity-centered and trauma-informed education. Furthermore, I strive to continually self-reflect to gain awareness of potential biases and privileges which may influence my actions and words.
Within my music education curriculum and pedagogies, I embrace Banks’ (2004) Dimensions of Multicultural Education. This model includes five dimensions of integration and reform: content integration, the knowledge construction process, prejudice reduction, an equity pedagogy, and empowering school culture and social structure. Through musical experiences and curricular materials, I aim to move students from an integrative approach to one focused on social justice and combating inequity. When working with preservice teachers, I incorporate assignments and class discussions that require individuals to consider inclusivity and equity in their future classrooms.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a terminal process. Cultivating inclusive and equitable environments is a continuous and evolving process, whether the educator is working in the P–12 or collegiate level. I believe that true DEI work must be both individual and collaborative. It must the goal of the individual and educational organizations to embrace diversity, cultivate inclusivity, and breakdown system which promote inequality. In my future educational positions, I will be an essential contributor to these communities with the goal of creating equitable and inclusive schools.