Pedagogy

Student Evaluations and Teaching Testimonials 

Diversity & Inclusion Statement

I define diversity as the collection of varied experiences, perspectives, identity intersections, and approaches present in a classroom. The recognition in higher education that diversity is a prerequisite for learning has increased the range of voices present within institutional walls. Some of the challenges we face as educators include ensuring that students from underrepresented backgrounds have an equal opportunity to succeed and actively updating and including perspectives in the canon that have historically been ignored or erased. Building upon a wide range of experience facilitating dance experiences in diverse community settings and my own research on body image and progressive dance pedagogy, I seek to create classroom spaces where aesthetic diversity is welcomed and a wide range of cultural experiences are celebrated. Following Dr. Nyama McCarthy-Brown’s[1] framework of culturally relevant classrooms, I create and continually update syllabi so that all students, particularly students whose ancestral histories and wisdoms have been marginalized, can see themselves reflected in the content and the readings. I wish for all students to graduate with an understanding of the historic and present realities that have shaped grossly lopsided distributions of power. Accordingly, I am committed to constantly updating my teaching practices, designing syllabi for equity, and contributing to research on inclusive and accessible pedagogy.

[1] McCarthy-Brown, Nyama. Dance pedagogy for a diverse world: Culturally relevant teaching in theory, research and practice. McFarland, 2017.

Teaching Philosophy 

Since I can remember, the classroom has been a sacred space of enlightenment for me. Like many, I have had my share of negative educational experiences, but I continue to return to the classroom because of the excitement of learning, the energy of shared knowledge, the magical “aha” moments of renewed understanding, the importance of seeing new perspectives, and the empowerment that comes from sharpening our skills of perception, action, and reflection. Teachers are tasked with setting clear learning objectives for students, building and implementing a plan to help students reach these goals, and assessing student progress along the way. This “relay race” aspect of teaching and learning is indeed important. Similar to a researcher who conducts a literature review before presenting their own ideas, a teacher shares the wisdom of their teachers so students can build upon this information as they move forward into a brighter future.

However, the idea that knowledge moves forward in a linear fashion is reductionist at best and colonial at worst. Building a brighter future means constantly revising the work of our teachers to include perspectives that have historically been ignored and erased. It means adjusting our syllabi so that all students, particularly students whose ancestral histories and wisdoms have been marginalized, can see themselves reflected in the content and the readings. In the styles that I teach – ballet, contemporary modern, jazz, and musical theater dance – it is especially necessary to highlight the vast contributions of ALAMAN artists and the strong influence of African-, Asian-, and Latin-diasporic dances on each of these forms through assigned readings and audiovisual material.  

In addition, the diversity of experiences and perspectives of all participants in the classroom are rich resources for both student and teacher learning. To build upon the knowledge of these teachers and co-learners, I seek to cultivate an inclusive, student-centered learning environment that encourages students to bring their full selves to the classroom and maximizes opportunities for students to meet course learning objectives. In all of my courses, students submit initial surveys at the beginning of each course and are asked to share their preferred learning style, their goals for taking the course, and experience with dance. This launches my semester-long journey toward (1) adapting course material to each students’ learning preferences and (2) understanding how a student’s identity, goals, and anxieties relate to the course material and learning objectives. By identifying the overlap between content and student context, I am able to give feedback in a way that is personally relevant and meaningful to each student. I am also able to tailor concepts to the preferred learning style of the student. For instance, a video of a planet spinning on an axis might be more helpful than an auditory prompt about the head-to-tail connection for a visual learner. All students benefit from exposure to multiple modes of learning while reviewing our shared commitment to our individual goals and class learning objectives builds classroom community and boosts intrinsic motivation.

Following Paulo Freire’s (1968) [1] learning cycle of action, dialogue, and reflection, students who enroll in my courses engage principally in practical exploration- individual and collective- but also and crucially in peer-to peer-learning activities including small discussions and constructive feedback sessions. They share their technical and artistic discoveries with one another and are encouraged to experiment with different modes of thinking and embodiment. For example, in the seminar course, Body Image and Gender, students have the opportunity to read a text about objectification theory, discuss the text with classmates, participate in a dance practice related to the reading, and reflect in a written forum about their embodied experience in relation to the text. Each form of engagement deepens a student’s understanding of the material and ensures that diverse learners with a wide range of skill sets are able to grasp the material. Depending on the course, students are assessed on a variety of factors including their physical dance practice, written work, participation in class discussions, and analysis of dance films/writings. I am prepared to make accommodations to ensure that all students are given the opportunity to display their strengths and hone their weaknesses as they achieve the course learning objectives.

Technique courses are also inspired by Freire’s (1968) approach but are facilitated in such a way that the class retains physical and energetic momentum. Extended dialogue and reflection takes place outside of class to reduce the risk of injury to students performing athletic movement sequences. Inside the walls of the studio, students engage in rigorous conditioning for strength, flexibility, balance, and precision as we work together to grow musicality, clarity of energetic intention, somatic authority, and artistry. Students also engage with collaborative, kinetic prompts to contextualize the past and reimagine the future of the form. For example, students might explore basic principles of stability and expansion by mapping the opposing lines of energy in the body. In addition to using the map as a tool for improved technique, students improvise and co-create choreographies that push the bounds, collapse, or alter the directions of the lines to create new possibilities. Explicitly crafting opportunities for students to innovate in the classroom is especially important for students who do not see their identity intersections and body type represented in their chosen dance career. In this “relay race” of learning,” I strive to create a classroom space where students gain an understanding of historic realities and principles while developing the agency to reimagine a better and more inclusive future for dance.

[1] Freire, Paulo. "Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1968." Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos. New York: Herder (1972).