How I approach music education in the classroom day to day is influenced by my commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equity. These principles will be guiding my delivery of a meaningful and authentic musical experience to my students. 

  Diversity and music have gone hand in hand throughout human culture. Comparing how across cultures, countries, and generations this rich art has taken its many diverse forms helps inspire my teaching of such a vast and valuable subject matter. Diversity in the music classroom is not simply welcoming a multicultural student body to the table, but creating intercultural connections between the musics that surround each individual. The educative value of this approach is that students learn to appreciate music in all its forms and by extension each other as well. Additionally, from a teacher's perspective, this mandates a departure from an authoritarian style of education to one that allows students to be the experts and culture bearers, of their own choosing. This is the type of approach I believe best suits a complex and diverse subject matter and pursues both musical and educational goals. 

Music as a subject matter seems to connote preclusion in many people. Some students may think musical talent is a divine blessing, unable to be changed throughout their lives. Some students may think their access to music is inhibited by their physical or mental abilities. As a teacher, believing in an inclusive classroom means that all students regardless of talent or capabilities have a home in music. Every student carries their life experiences with them wherever they go, and it is my belief that every student deserves the opportunity through music to express, question, interact, and connect with those life experiences. Music is for everyone; it is my duty as a music teacher to create a learning environment that reflects this principle.

To be guided by a philosophy of equity in the classroom is, in my view, to be committed to removing barriers. There are a multitude of barriers to learning that may impact student life. Through my own experiences as a student teacher, I know how easy it can be for students to be left out or left behind. In the classroom, music presents itself as a subject where these barriers can be addressed; an equitable approach to education is a student-centered approach. As a subjective art, music teachers must utilize the vast and varied musics at our fingertips to achieve this goal and deliver an authentic music education experience that upholds the value of equity.

Diversity, inclusion, and equity represent just three ways I consider how I will teach, and what my classroom will look like. Music has unique and unmistakable value in student identity, and it is through sincere musical experiences that all students can fully realize the educational value of music.