Learn how to engage all learners in quality music instruction that matters
Online Course
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Would you like us to facilitate the course or workshop series for your school, district, or organization? Click here to request a call!
Why most professional learning for music educators is unsuccessful
There are many professional development options available that provide a “taste” or “introduction” to culturally responsive teaching for music educators, however they are unsuccessful with creating lasting change and impact because they are:
- Not on-going, sustained learning (“one and done” or a series of workshops on unrelated topics)
- Not job-embedded or provide on-going implementation support
- Not differentiated, or speak to the goals of teachers at different points in their professional journey
- Not focused on practical, tested, classroom strategies
- Not part of a larger plan, leading to low motivation from teachers (seems like another passing “fad”)
- Not data driven, or measure effectiveness on teacher’s practices and impact on students
Shifting the landscape of music education to make culturally responsive & equitable instruction the cornerstone, and not an “add-on”, requires a well-developed, and sequential professional learning plan that takes music educators from uncertainty and misconception, to clarity and confidence.
And that’s where The Responsive Music Educator™ Foundations course comes in!
A self-paced course with live support, the course is organized into four major topics. This research-based, sequential professional learning curriculum provides a clear roadmap and practical, time tested strategies for application in K-12 music classrooms. Additionally, our proprietary self-assessments help you to measure your progress making this course a powerful tool for data-driven professional learning.
Topic 1: Developing a Mindset for Equity in Music Education (3 modules)
Topic 2: Cultivating an Affirming Music Learning Environment (3 modules)
Topic 3: Selecting Repertoire Through a Culturally Responsive Lens (3 modules)
Topic 4: Designing Culturally Responsive Music Curriculum & Instruction for Variability (3 modules)
The Foundations course provides K-12 music educators with:
- The essential knowledge about the key components of culturally responsive music education
- The foundational skills to apply culturally responsive teaching practices to your music program
- A supportive professional learning community to network with like minded music educators and practice skills so you can be confident when you apply them with your students
- Self-paced learning so you can learn comfortably at your own pace
- Live group coaching support so you can get personalized feedback as your implement
Using our proprietary Responsive Music Educator™ Professional Development curriculum, K-12 music educators will dive deep into the principles of Culturally Responsive Music Education so that you can work towards cultural proficiency, cultivate affirming learning environments, select repertoire relevant to your learners, and design high quality music instruction that is designed for learner variability & connects and engages learners in real-world contexts through the artistic process.
You will engage in a step-by-step process in order to gain clarity on the implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy in your music context. You will receive numerous supporting materials, resources, guided support through monthly live coaching calls, and expert feedback so that you can save time and energy while developing the confidence to implement successfully.
Who’s the Course for
- K-12 music educator of all disciplines
By the end of the course you will:
1. Know the principles of Culturally Responsive Music Education and how to apply them in your context.
2. Understand how to develop your skills and dispositions for equity and cultural proficiency in order to cultivate culturally affirming music learning environments where your learners feel a sense of belonging so that they feel safe enough to take the risks necessary for rigorous learning.
3. Be able to design culturally responsive instructional plans that are connected to real-world, relevant contexts and intentionally designed for learner variability.
This course is right for you if:
- You want a clear and effective process for implementing culturally responsive approaches so you can spend more time enjoying making music with your students
- You want to cultivate a music program that easily attracts, engages, and retains learners of all backgrounds and abilities
- You want a music program where your learners feel safe enough to take the risks necessary for high engagement and improved musicianship skills
- You want to know how to appropriately select diverse repertoire without engaging in appropriation
- You want to design and deliver instruction that provides ways for learners of all backgrounds and abilities to access the high quality learning they deserve
Move beyond theory: If you want to create an equitable and culturally responsive music program, you need to do more than read a few books, listen to some podcasts, and attend a “one-and-done” session. You need foundational knowledge, beyond the theory, about what culturally responsive teaching can look like in the music context; you need to develop practical skills; you need a clear process for implementation; and you need guided practice on the skills in order to implement in your music program. This is what you’ll get in this course.
More than just another “knowledge dump”: You don’t need another course with a bunch of content and knowledge that you don’t know how to implement. This course provides an opportunity to develop both knowledge and skills by following a proven, guided process to learn and practice skills. You’ll leave each modules ready to implement what you’ve learned in your music program.
Feedback from past program participants:
“I really appreciated you modeling for us how to lead a lesson with inclusiveness. When you asked and used our pronouns, used subtitles, and modeled different ways to interact with your sessions, it put into clear focus how little things make such a big difference in feeling safe and welcomed into your space. It was refreshing to be respected as an educator with valuable experiences of our own to share. Your feedback was always affirming but also pushed us to think even more deeply.” Music Educator, Virginia
“Ashley’s sessions were very well organized and concise. I loved having the workbook to take notes during the sessions. The time we had together was just enough to make me want to take a more in-depth look at incorporating culturally responsive teaching practices and creating curriculum to support it.” Larissa Perez, National Sales Consultant, West Music
What you’ll learn:
Part 1: Developing a Mindset for Equity in Music Education (3 modules)
You’ll learn how to develop a lens for equity that allows you to understand how bias can affect student learning, develop skill towards cultural proficiency, and learn how to identify obstacles and barriers in common music policies, practices, and procedures.
You will engage in learning activities for critical self-reflection, examining program policies & procedures, and role-playing to understand various scenarios along the cultural proficiency continuum.
Part 2: Cultivating an Affirming Music Learning Environment (3 modules)
You’ll dive deep into what it means to cultivate a music learning environment that provides safety, purpose, and the sense of belonging students need in order to take the risks needed for high quality, culturally responsive, rigorous music learning.
You will engage in learning activities to understand the levels of culture and how to leverage them to better understand learners, asset based thinking, and strategies for classroom management and facilitation that promotes learner agency, personal responsibility, and accountability.
Part 3: Selecting Repertoire Through a Culturally Responsive Lens (3 modules)
You’ll learn a step-by-step process for identifying, authenticating, and connecting repertoire in order to support a culturally responsive pedagogical approach.
You will receive numerous resources for selecting diverse repertoire with respect and authenticity, as well as feedback on how to best utilize repertoire within a culturally responsive approach.
Part 4: Designing Culturally Responsive Music Curriculum & Instruction for Variability (3 modules)
You’ll learn key moves you can make in order to shift music curriculum beyond simple facts and skills, to a robust approach that engages your learners in deep understandings by centering culturally relevant & responsive contexts of engaging with music.
You will learn how to translate music standards into culturally relevant, real-world learning experiences, how to create culturally relevant unit & concert programs, and how to apply the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Principles to design daily lesson & rehearsal plans for variability.
What’s included
- 12 module online course curriculum: Each module is a deep dive into one portion of our framework so you can avoid overwhelm by focusing on developing knowledge & skill in one area at a time
- Self-paced: Available as a digital course so that you can learn comfortably at your own pace
- Access to online course community to ask questions in between course sessions and to network with like minded music educators
- Monthly group coaching calls so you can get real-time feedback & support
- Accompanying workbooks, my curated resource lists, templates, checklists, instructional examples, repertoire suggestions, and more to short cut you to success
- PD Certificate upon completion of course tasks
PLUS these bonuses!
- Workshop Replay Library of previous and upcoming virtual workshops
- Complimentary registration to all live virtual workshops throughout your year in the course
- Complimentary registration to our 2025 Virtual Conference
Your investment
- Enrollment currently closed. Click here to join the Weekly Newsletter list for updates on future enrollment!
Interested in our PD Program for your school, district, or organization? Click here to request a call to discuss!
Here’s what music educator, James Dorsey, shared about our professional learning offerings!:
Hear what teachers & instructional leaders say about our professional learning offerings here!
What to expect
Modules access
You’ll get access to the welcome module immediately upon enrollment. Each module contains between 2-10 lessons and is released one week at a time so you have time to learn and implement.
Designed for action, each module has been carefully sequenced around key actions for you to take in your classroom right away!
You’ll have access to the course for one year from enrollment (with options to extend).
PLC Community
Enrollment includes membership to our online PLC where you can ask questions, get support, and network with other like-minded music educators.
Monthly coaching calls
Each month, we’ll meet live for a group coaching session where you’ll have a chance to connect, ask questions, and get personalized support on whatever tasks you’re working on implementing in your music program.
Cancelation & refund policy
- There are no refunds due to the digital nature of the course content
- Submission of payment acknowledges agreement to the terms and conditions. Click here for the terms and conditions .
About the Facilitator
Ashley Cuthbertson, M.Ed, NBCT (she/her) is the Founder & CEO of A. Cuthbertson Consulting, LLC, a national educational consulting firm committed to shifting the landscape of music education by helping music educators make culturally responsive & equitable music teaching and learning the norm, not the exception.
Ashley’s work as a professional learning facilitator, instructional coach, and curriculum writer helps K-12 music & arts educators develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to deliver instruction that is culturally responsive & relevant to the diverse and ever-changing needs of today’s learners so that all students have an equitable pathway to success in the arts.
A dedicated music educator with a track record of success working with students in a wide variety of diverse communities and contexts, as a PK-12 music educator in the public, private, and charter schools, Ashley consistently received highly effective teacher ratings and consistently demonstrated the ability to move students’ musicianship skills forward while creating culturally responsive, learner centered learning environments.
A skilled curriculum designer, Ashley has written curriculum for a variety of schools and organizations, as well as led curriculum teams for the Virginia Department of Education resulting in over 15 new general music units for the “Go Open VA” open educational resource database.
Described as an “engaging and charismatic” teacher educator, as a consultant, Ashley has over a decade of experience serving hundreds of music & arts educators across the U.S. and internationally, helping them to connect instruction to the cultural frames of reference of their students to more easily engage students in their programs. Music educators report that her professional learning programs are “engaging”, “safe”, and provide strategies that “will have a positive impact” on their students.
A Nationally Board Certified Teacher, Ashley holds a Master’s in Education, as well as certifications in the Kodály approach and Arts integration. Ashley has over fourteen years of experience in education as a general music & choral educator, a band educator, a K-12 musicianship instructor, a private lessons instructor, lead teacher, new teacher coach, adjunct professor, curriculum writer, speaker, and consultant.
A passionate advocate for music education, Ashley additionally serves the National Association for Music Education as a member of the Music Education Policy Roundtable & Equity Committee, and the Virginia Music Educators Association as chair of the DEI Council.
A regular consultant for schools, districts, and organizations across the U.S., and a sought after keynote & conference speaker, Ashley is dedicated to ensuring all learners have access to a highly qualified and skilled music educator providing equitable access to music education for all.
Hear what teachers & instructional leaders say about Ashley’s work here!