How do we design music classrooms where students are genuinely invested, curious, and motivated to learn? In this workshop, teachers will explore how curiosity and student agency (one of the key strands of the newly-revised UDL framework!) can be intentionally built into curriculum and instruction to strengthen engagement, deepen understanding, and support long-term musical and personal growth.
Centering teacher agency and choice, teachers will examine concrete curriculum design strategies that make space for student voice and musical exploration while still supporting clear learning goals and development. We will focus on how curiosity-centered approaches help reduce the need for re-teaching by aligning instruction with how students learn best and by supporting meaningful connections to content.
Teachers will re-envision lessons and units to better support students’ musical and non-music agency. All teachers will leave with a folder of tools and resources that they can continue to use after the workshop
Dr. Erin Zaffini is an internationally recognized music and arts education speaker, consultant, instructional coach, mentor, clinician, and the Assistant Dean of Teacher Education at Longy School of Music. Erin is also a core faculty member for Carnegie Hall's Music Educators Workshop, a Noteworthy contributor and professional development provider for Music ConstructED, and an author and workshop provider for F-flat Books. As Assistant Dean for Longy School of Music, Erin directs the fully online Master of Music Education, the fully online post-masters Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies, and all online graduate-level music education courses. She also oversees Longy’s on-campus Master of Music Education program and summer teacher professional development initiatives.
As an active clinician, consultant, and instructional coach worldwide, Erin collaborates with the United Nations to bring inclusive arts education to diverse communities across the globe. She has served as the Eastern Division Representative for NAfME’s General Music Council, the Collegiate Coordinator, General Music Chair, and Mentor Program Coordinator for the New Hampshire Music Educators Association, and sits on the Advisory Committee for the Music Educators Journal.
Erin is the project leader for instituting nationwide music educator mentor training within the Society for Music Teacher Education and the National Association for Music Education and serves as the Mentor Program Coordinator for the Massachusetts Music Educators Association. She currently facilitates NAfME’s Supporting Beginning Music Teachers Area for Strategic Planning and Action.
A recipient of the Keene State College Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Performance Awards, Erin has recently published in General Music Today, Music Educators Journal, Qualitative Research in Music Education, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education.
Learn more about Erin here: www.erinzaffini.com
