Denise Morstad

Areas of Expertise and Academic Work

As a music and arts education instructor at the University of Regina, I am committed to offering high-quality instruction to the students I teach. I aim to help each pre-service teacher develop the confidence, wisdom and verve to teach music and arts education with passion, regardless of his or her prior artistic background or ultimate career aspiration. In return, I expect each student to put forth his or her best effort in all class activities, presentations, performances and written assignments.

I am a reflective practitioner, and I am continually developing and redesigning course content to respond to curricular trends, and to address both the short-term and long-term needs of the students. Our classes are very experiential, and planned educational activities relate directly to the focus of each course. Together we sing, we play instruments, and we make music in traditional and non-traditional ways. We create visual works of art, we explore and create literary works of art, we dramatize, and we dance. These inclusive experiences serve to boost the musical and artistic confidence of all students, and they are based around curricular activities that the students can immediately use in real classroom situations.

At the same time, theoretical discussions about what we do and why we do it are woven through every class meeting. Together, we learn about the importance of music and the arts in our lives, and we learn how to plan music and arts education experiences that will enhance the lives of the students we teach. The teaching plans that we explore and create together are housed on a course wiki that students may access at any point during their careers, and these continue to grow and evolve as membership in the wiki increases.

Finally, I aim to nurture professionally inspiring relationships between the students and myself, and amongst all members of the class. I often share my own experiences - the good and the bad - as teacher, musician, artist and researcher, and I encourage others to do the same. The result is an open and caring environment where students can ask questions, express doubts, celebrate successes and share in the joy of teaching and learning.

Academic Qualifications

MEd (Curriculum & Instruction), University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, 2005

Entrepreneurial Studies Certificate (Focus: The Business of Private Music Education), Human Resources Development Canada, 1997

BEd (Arts Education Program), University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, 1995

Related Teaching and Teacher Education Experience

2005 - present

Instructor & Chair of Music Education, Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

2001 - 2004

Sessional Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

1998 - 1999

Classroom Teacher, Grades 4 & 5, and Music & Arts Itinerant, Grades K - 8, Regina Separate School Division, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

1997 - 1998

Language Arts Educator, Grades 5, 6, & 7, and Music & Performing Arts Director, Grades K - 7, St. Edward Private School, Diocese of Las Cruces, Carlsbad, New Mexico, USA

1995 - 1997

Arts Education Itinerant & Classroom Teacher, Grades K - 12, Regina Separate School Division, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

1995

Music, Drama & Visual Arts Educator, Grades 1 - 12, and Language Arts Educator, Grades 7 & 8, White Bear Education Complex, White Bear First Nation, Saskatchewan, Canada

1993 - Present

Various positions, including:

• Volunteer and professional musician, vocalist, and choir director
• Private studio music instructor
• Arts education workshop facilitator

Courses taught in the past

EAES 201 - Introduction to Aesthetic Education for Arts Education Pre-service Teachers

EAES 310 - Introduction to Aesthetic Education for K-5 Pre-service Teachers

EAES 317 - Introduction to Aesthetic Education for Middle Years Pre-service Teachers

EMUS 101 - Introduction to Music Education, Part I

EMUS 202 - Introduction to Music Education, Part II

EMUS 300 - Curriculum in Secondary School Music

EMUS 499 - Independent Studies in Music Education – Selected Topics