Principled Practitioner

In Fall of 2025, I was tasked with a good friend of mine to brainstorm some activities regarding the piece "Soldier's Procession and Swords Dance", arranged by Bob Margolis. Through creating these activities, we were encouraged to think outside of the box. I took this idea of thinking outside of the box and thought on it for a while. I realized that the tradition of rehearsing rep forever in the classroom is something that is getting tired, and that the activities should be more engaging to a student other than "play these bars over and over again until it's right." There are better ways to teach music, and the activities listed here are some of those ways.

Reading about Abril's work on cultural validity in the music classroom was very enlightening. I have seen examples of bias in the music classroom, and further used it to work on designing a curriculum on music in other cultures. As a contemporary music educator, I seek to lessen the amount of bias showcased in the music classroom by moving away from harmful stereotypes in music and favoring works that are less biased and more culturally valid.

Reading about Mayr Sawyer and her journey to bring music from throughout the world to the music classroom opened my eyes to the ways I could bring similar experiences to the music classroom. I strive to make change in music education by connecting with the music that grows from the diverse cultures of my students and pushing to normalize discussions about these musics in the classroom.

For Principles in Music Education, I was tasked alongside a group to interview a member of the Music Education faculty at Crane School of Music. Our group was assigned Dr. Jeff Francom, who we learned quite a bit from in terms of educational philosophy. Dr. Francom discussed his experiences in Argentina, highlighting how his time there inspired him to pursue education as a means of assisting and uplifting others. On top of this, he also talked about his experience teaching in Florida and how he accommodated his entire class to help empower those who needed a helping hand. This resonated with me, as one of my main philosophies as an educator is to create a safe space for anyone who might need one.