Teaching Philosophy, Lessons, and Resources

Rooted in over 15 years of experience and training (MA in dance education from NYU and a BFA in dance and music minor from the University of KS), my teaching philosophy centers around the core belief that holistic, historically contextualized, intercultural, creative play, can allow the arts to more deeply inspire students of all ages to connect to themselves and the community around them. By encouraging them to discover daily, engage their imagination and curiosity, and find strength in their own voice and perspective, my teaching methodologies seek empowering, collaborative, and inclusive designs that pull from educational pioneers such as Dr. Maxine Greene, Muska Mosston, Paulo Freire, and Margaret H’Doubler. View my full teaching philosophy here!

 

An excerpt from my book review of The Passionate Mind of Maxine Greene ‘I am… not yet’ by W.F. Pinar:

In my readings of Maxine Greene, I find my own ideas deeply rooted in many facets of her philosophy and her integrated and humanistic approach to learning. I greatly appreciate the depth from which her educational ideas stem: her philosophy on life as an existential phenomenologist and as a life-long student. In my vision statement I speak of this idea through a quote by Erick Hawkins saying “What the artist does to make art and the spectator does to receive it, is in no way disconnected form what he, as artist or spectator, thinks about everything else in the world” (Hawkins, 2004, p. 112). As a life-long student, this is an ever-changing understanding of what we ‘think’ about the world, and is one of the greatest things about teaching: that our own learning can have an impact beyond our own journey, that it can inspire and open doors for others beyond what they know or can see now. Additionally, I base my ideas of teaching in the realm of experience: allowing experience to be a place for the students to discover their own connections to and within the larger world picture. The equal weight she gives to self knowledge/wide-awakeness and knowing one’s place within the world/democracy is part of my constant search for what H’Doubler (1957) and Freire (2001) discuss in saying it is not just about the technique or special knowledge in one’s field but about growth towards a balanced and integrated individual. Additionally, I find my belief in the power of the arts to open our eyes to the possibilities and potentials that surround us daily, to be in direct line with Maxine Greene’s phenomenology of the imagination and the very link that makes art relevant, accessible, and valuable to all individuals.

Sample Lessons and Curriculum:

Multi-modal Resources/Reflections and Projects:

Limon4Kids (2nd and 3rd Grade), 2017

Our multi-modal approach was extremely successful in these classes when paired with Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. Though the classes were very diverse in energy, use of various languages and sounds, rhythmic embodiment, visual prompts seen below, as well as small group and partner work, allowed us to connect with a wide range of students and reach them in a short amount of time. Following their performance, they were allowed to visually reflect and journal on their experience before opening the floor to a full group discussion.

Visual Prompts:

Teacher Resources:

NYU Presentation-Human Development Through the Arts: How the Art of Dance Can Empower Emerging Adults

LMA Reference (choreography, analysis, and observation)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference:

Anderson, L., Krathwohl, D., Airasian, P., Cruikshank, K., Mayer, R., Pintrich, P., Raths, J., Wittrock, M. (2001). Taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Pearson Education.

Culatta, R. (2013). Constructivist theory. Retrieved from http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/constructivist.html

Dewey, J. (1938). Experience & education. NY: Macmillan.

Freire, P. (2001). Pedagogy of freedom. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Freire, P. (2006). Pedagogy of the oppressed: 30th anniversary edition. New York, NY: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.

Hawkins, E. (2004). Body is a clear place : And other statements on dance. Hightstown, NJ: Princeton Book Company. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.nyu.edu:2054/lib/nyulibrary/docDetail.action?docID=10075103

H’Doubler, M. (1957). Dance, a creative art experience. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.

Hilton, W. (1997). Dance and music of court and theater. Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press.

Little, M., & Jenne, N. (2001). Dance and the music of J.S. Bach: Expanded edition. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.

Morris, C. (2008). Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. Retrieved from http://www.igs.net/~cmorris/zpd.html

Mosston, M., & Ashworth, S. (2001) Teaching physical education (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company, Inc.

Palmer, J., Cooper, D. E., & Bresler, L. (2001). Fifty modern thinkers on education: From Piaget to the present day. London: Routledge.

Pinar, W. F. (Ed.). (1998). The passionate mind of Maxine Greene ‘I am…not yet’. Bristol, PA: Falmer Press, Taylor & Francis Inc.

Studd, K., & Cox, L. (2013). Everybody is a body. Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing.