A Bit About Me

I am a scholar and performer of the jew’s harp, an ancient, mouth-resonated musical instrument found in many cultures around the world. I have studied the instrument since 2005, speaking, performing, and conducting award-winning research in over a dozen countries. I serve as a core mentor with EmergenceBC, where I bring a wealth of experience in various aspects of the music business. I honed my skills as a non-profit arts administrator with top music organizations including the Chan Centre, Vancouver International Song Festival, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and music intima, and served as the Executive Director of the North American Jew’s Harp Festival. As a performer, I have appeared on local and international stages of all sizes as a soloist, collaborator, and ensemble member. Now a fulltime professor in the VCC Music department, I work with emerging artists and teach courses in ethnomusicology, pop music history, and social media for musicians.

Personal and Professional Values

I am currently entering my eighth year of teaching Music at VCC. In my first year of teaching, I remember feeling pressure to be an authoritative expert on all the topics I was teaching. This certainly created a feeling of imposter syndrome, as described by Stephen Brookfield in The Skillful Teacher. As I gained more experience, I realized that I did not have to be an expert on everything, and that I could be more of a facilitator than an authority. While I may have a greater breadth and depth of knowledge and experience about my course topics than the students do, I present myself as an enthusiastic lifelong learner who is discovering and exploring alongside them, rather than an authority who is transmitting information to them from the top down. I see my role as largely about creating a safe classroom space in which to discuss difficult topics like racism, inequality, and oppression. The safety to speak, participate in discussion and dialogue, ask questions, and test ideas is crucial.

According to the Teaching Perspectives Inventory, my highest values are Developmental, Nurturing, and Social reform. This makes sense as I do believe in the power of education to change society, and I believe that is part of my responsibility as an educator with a platform. I scored low on Transmission; indeed I have very little interest in transmitting facts in order to prepare students for exams. In fact, I don’t even use quantitative assessments anymore. Instead, I “test” students’ progress and understanding using the same mechanisms I use in class: discussion forums and reflective writing assignments. I am also very aligned with VCC’s ethos as a developmental institution, meeting learners where they’re at and acknowledging the individuality of everyone’s journey. I am very aware of the need for accessibility, accommodations, and flexibility when working with adult learners with busy lives and many responsibilities.

I scored 22 on the Classroom Vignettes survey, which puts me in the Reformed/Student-Centered category. However, I feel that I still have more work to do to get my practice as student-centered as it could be. This relates to a core truth of my teaching: that I will never totally be satisfied with my work as a teacher, and will always be looking for ways to improve. I suppose this relates to an overarching tendency towards perfectionism (which often hinders more than it helps), but I also believe it is the result of a sincere interest in teaching and pedagogy. I feel that I am always a student of teaching and can always improve on what I’m doing. I also think it’s important to model this growth mindset as an educator to show students that it never really ends, we never really finish learning, and this can be an exciting and motivational truth rather than a defeating one.

The “teaching truth” that I most agree with Brookfield on is “the regular use of examples, anecdotes, and autobiographical illustrations in explaining difficult concepts is strongly appreciated by students”. I have found that the more honest and transparent I am with students about my own process and relationship to the subject matter, and my personal experiences and background relating to it, the more I’m able to communicate a higher-level understanding of the topics.