I believe in a multi-modal approach to teaching. These include lectures, visual presentations, interactive assignments, and peer reviews/feedback. The studio and classroom should be discrimination-free safe spaces where students feel comfortable coming as they are. Students should be active participants in their own education, charting their own course of study based on their interests, while it is my job to guide them along with the foundations and nuances of flute playing. I recognize that the needs of a student are not universal. Some need clear expectations and specific task-based instruction, while others thrive most when given the chance to self-direct. This way, learning should be a collaboration and ever-changing process.

It is my responsibility to challenge the status quo in my teaching, beginning with teaching a diverse repertoire. My duty is to constantly be learning and researching new repertoire and underrepresented composers. I encourage students to take their own time to find pieces and composers they have never heard of before, especially those from marginalized communities. My goal is that, in addition to developing their own research skills, students will be critical in their examination of music history, asking who is creating the narrative, who has been left out, or, in many cases, violently erased from history. Music is just one of many tools that we can use to make sense of our place in the world in the past, present, and future.

Success comes in many different forms, but the main purpose of education is to provide students with tools and confidence to navigate the world independently. More than anything, my hope is that even as my students become teachers, they never stop learning. Music was originally an aural tradition, and we sometimes learn the most through just listening.