As a music educator I have led music projects in schools and communities in North America, New Zealand, South Africa, Europe and Scandinavia. As a lecturer and teacher I have presented my work and ideas in universities in North America (Washington, New York, Maryland, Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia), South East Asia (Singapore, Kuala Lumpur), South Africa (Natal, Western Cape, Durban-Westville), Europe (Malmö, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bergen, Tenerife, Limerick) and UK, (York, Cambridge). I have worked in a variety of settings including; special education, prison and probation, health, youth and community, orchestral outreach, local authority, elementary, secondary, continuing, adult, and higher education.
As a lecturer and teacher I have taught doctorial, graduate and undergraduate students in a wide array of courses including: Secondary praxis and practicum, research in music education, dissertation supervision, collaborative arts project, music ensemble, project management and development, and samba/Cuban drumming. Throughout my academic career, which includes four intuitions across three countries, I have taught across the performing arts contributing with both practice and theory in the subject areas of community arts, music, music education, dance, music technology, performance design and acting. I have led around thirty different courses with responsibility for all aspects of teaching and learning including content and delivery, assessment, feedback, and tutorial support.
As an advocate of person-centred learning my teaching strategies vary depending on the context that I find myself operating in. I try to emphasize the reciprocal relationship between theories and practice and stress the importance of experiential learning. From these perspectives I attempt to create learning environments that are open, safe, engaging and authentic with life-long implications. I would like my students to be skilled in life-long learning and self-management techniques, enabling independency and innovative thinking. Assessment of students’ learning is vital to my teaching and learning strategy and these are guided through two ideas (1) To help students learn, by highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and working with them to develop, so as to achieve the required learning outcomes, and (2) To map students’ skills, knowledge and ability against the learning outcomes of their course of study and programme.
As an academic leader I have had responsibility for a department consisting of five full-time and eight part-time faculty. I have led the development of three undergraduate and four graduate programmes. This included the vision, development, and validation procedures. I have also been an external consultant for the University of London on their new community music programme and have contributed to course development in the USA, Ireland, and South Africa.
I am committed to excellent teaching and see this as the cornerstone of my work. Constantly self-reflective, my aim is to maintain a relevancy to the subject area through research and practice and strive to inspire students interests and ambitions.
