Teaching Philosophy
As a young dancer, I learned to mimic dance steps demonstrated by my teachers. I strived to recreate the exact position with my own body, without understanding the anatomy of my instrument. As I completed my yoga teacher training and took anatomy classes as part of the undergraduate program, my relationship to my body began to transform. I started exploring dance training through the lens of my own anatomy, honoring my individuality and dancing from within. Because of this experience, I teach dance from an “inside out” perspective, emphasizing body awareness and individual expression of each movement instead of aesthetic performance goals.
In striving to honor each students’ individual strengths and needs, I align my teaching practice with Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, which acknowledges that knowledge is multifaceted. Guided by this theory, I aim to utilize multimodal strategies for learning to support diverse learners in my classroom. In practice, this might look like watching dance performances (visual), performing dance phrases (kinesthetic), collaborating with others (interpersonal), and reflective writing (intrapersonal). From these experiences, students will gain a deeper understanding of the content as they explore the concepts through a variety of approaches.
Because learning does not happen in isolation, I believe that honoring students' experiences outside of the classroom and making interdisciplinary connections supports the holistic development of each student. Meaningful learning occurs when students can make connections to their personal experiences. As a constructivist educator, I believe that learning environments are co-created in collaboration with students. Therefore, I value and encourage students to utilize their personal experiences, interest, and curiosities to guide classroom instruction. For this reason, my teaching practice is aligned with culturally relevant pedagogy, which affirms student identities and builds on student experiences to teach knowledge and skills. In turn, the knowledge and skills developed through dance help students overcome challenges and work towards their goals. This supports students in cultivating their identities and understanding the world around them.