top of page
Instructional Strategies/Dispositions
Instructional Strategies
Reflection
Reflection serves as a guide to comprehensive and authentic learning. As a student-centered approach, students take ownership of their learning while deepening engagement.
Problem-Solving
Problem-solving can inspire and foster deep learning engagement and musical growth among students. As a valuable life skill, it paves the way to self-actualization within daily life.
Project Based Learning
This personal form of learning empowers students through hands-on experiential learning. These projects are aligned with students' interests and foster student agency.
Experiential Learning
Experiential learning experiences deepen understanding and make learning experiences more impactful. These experiences foster empathy, compassion, and a sense of social responsibility.
Instructional Tools
Merriam's Functions of Music
Alan Merriam, The Anthropology of Music (1964)
Alan Merriam's sociocultural functions of music work as a tool by providing comprehensive and open-ended questions for understanding the different functions of music. His generative questions provide a framework for reflection and critical thinking.
Facets Model
Barrett, McCoy, & Veblen, Sound ways of knowing: music in the interdisciplinary curriculum (1997)
Culturally responsive teaching is crucial when creating a music education curriculum. The Facets Model provides a gateway to deepening understanding as the open-ended questions provide inquiry related to historical, social, and cultural contexts. Additionally, the use of the Facets Model can be used to uncover hidden or buried ideas that if not brought to light could misrepresent or perpetuate falsehoods about people. It is also useful for educators to use as a personal resource when lesson planning to ensure that they are being as thoughtful, respectful, and insightful as possible when introducing students to new music.
16 Habits of Mind
Dr. Arthur L. Costa and Dr. Bena Kallick
The 16 Habits of Mind are "dispositions or thinking behaviors that are desirable attributes for learning and living productively in a complex world." These habits are often used when individuals are confronted with problems with no immediate solution. This framework, intentionally developed with positive, growth-oriented language, is used as a tool when problem-solving and is dedicated to growing cognitive, social, and emotional development for all learners.
bottom of page