Erin Zaffini
Dr. Erin Zaffini is the Director of Teacher Education for Longy School of Music’s online and on-campus Master of Music Education degrees, online Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies, and Teacher Continuing Education. She is also a faculty member of Carnegie Hall’s Music Educators Workshop and has been a guest workshop clinician for Music ConstructED. As a curriculum specialist in teaching music to students through the lens of Universal Design for Learning and the areas of access, equity, and inclusion in music education, Erin is an active clinician and educational consultant for school districts and fine and performing arts departments around the world. She has served as the Eastern Division Representative for NAfME’s General Music Council and as the Collegiate Coordinator, General Music Chair, and Mentor Program Coordinator for the New Hampshire Music Educators Association. In addition, she sits on the Advisory Committee for the Music Educators Journal. Erin is a proud partner and collaborator with the United Nations through her work at Longy School of Music as well as her role on Zero Project’s international Inclusive Arts Council. Erin is an instructional coach for music educators and administrators and is the project leader for instituting national music educator mentor training within the Society for Music Teacher Education and the National Association for Music Education. She has developed and enacted numerous music educator mentoring and induction programs and is currently the Director of the New Arts Teacher Mentoring Network for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. She is the recipient of the Keene State College Excellence in Teaching and Excellence in Performance Awards. She has recently published articles in General Music Today, Music Educators Journal, Qualitative Research in Music Education, and Update: Applications of Research in Music Education. During her free time, Erin enjoys exploring the great outdoors with her husband (Matt) and two sons (Matty and Aiden), running, biking, and watching nostalgic movies from the 1980s and 1990s.
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eBooks by Erin Zaffini
Posts by Erin Zaffini
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. [...]