Donna Weston
Donna Weston is Deputy Director (Learning and Teaching), Head of Popular Music, and Program Director of the Bachelor of Music with Honours at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Australia. She is also the Conservatorium’s International Advisor. Donna lectures in popular music history and semiotic analysis and has a particular passion for collaborative learning and peer-assessment as integral to popular music education. She is convenor of the Musical Livelihoods stream of the Conservatorium’s Research Centre. As a Program Director over the past 12 years, Donna has made significant and on-going changes to several degree designs, keeping in line with both emerging music pedagogy and research as well as the rapid changes in the music industry. Currently, she is engaged in exploring pathways for the intersection of Popular Music Studies and popular music practice at tertiary level, and musical livelihoods for all music graduates. A significant component of her research is also situated in ecomusicology.
Find Donna:
eBooks by Donna Weston
Posts by Donna Weston
Research to Practice: Inclusion Means Everyone
For the past few years, the field of music education has talked about an increased need for diversity and equity in classrooms. However, as I’ve listened to these calls for change, I frequently see that for many people, diversity and inclusion encompasses only race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, orientation, and socioeconomic status. And while these are all aspects of music education that certainly need to change, I hold firm to the belief that we cannot have truly diverse or inclusive classrooms until we also include people with disabilities. [...]
Musicast Episode 18: Kat Reinhert – Popular Music on Stage and in Class
F-flat author, teacher, professor, and singer-songwriter Kat Reinhart sits down to discuss her journey as a musician. She discusses what it took to get where she is now, where she's headed, and lends a ton of advice to those looking to forge their own path in education or the music industry. Take a listen! [...]
The Asterisk: Representation and Diversifying Visual Aids
Welcome to The Asterisk*, a new regular column where we’ll [...]
Musicast Episode 16: Margaret Harrigan- The Importance of Music Play
Elementary music teacher and research Maggie Harrigan sits down with Marissa and Kevin to discuss this importance of music play in the elementary music classroom. She gives advice for where to start, resources to to turn to, and how to incorporate it into your classroom! [...]
Research to Practice: Informal Music Teaching
Action research is a great way to break into thinking about ways to improve what you teach, how you teach, and how students learn. I would even go as far as to suggest that most teachers are already doing this in their classrooms. Action research doesn’t have to be formal or fancy. It just starts with a spark of wonder or an idea. [...]
Musicast Episode 15: F-flat Family Chat- Engagement and Motivation of ALL Students
This week, Marissa and Kevin welcome F-flat family members Sarah Gulish and Chelsea Dehner to the chat to discuss a tricky topic: motivation. In this context, the group refers to a guitar class that attracts students of all ability levels. [...]