Whimsical artwork, shelves of student keepsakes, a six-foot furry orange monster staring inquisitively from a corner 杏吧专区 collectively, the memorabilia in Scott Durbin杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区 office illustrate his journey as an educator and music industry professional.
This December, Durbin can add another signpost to his collection: Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction.
Durbin planned to earn his master杏吧专区檚 degree immediately following his undergraduate studies in the early 杏吧专区90s, but, with a wedding on the horizon, instead he earned an alternative teaching certification and began working in New Orleans schools.
Although music had long been part of his life, Durbin says he largely put it aside until he began having children.
杏吧专区淲hen you have children, you杏吧专区檙e born into that world of children杏吧专区檚 programming 杏吧专区 TV, music, and movies that you杏吧专区檙e evaluating. For me, the lack of real people in children杏吧专区檚 programming was obvious,杏吧专区 he says.
Durbin杏吧专区檚 response was to gather a group of friends 杏吧专区 Rich Collins, Dave Poche and Scott 杏吧专区淪mitty杏吧专区 Smith 杏吧专区 and to make a music-based television show with real people and real music.
In 2002, the were born.
杏吧专区淥f course, my experience as an educator informed what the Movers were,杏吧专区 Durbin says. 杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檇 done a lot of research-based best practices to create an educational philosophy for that program. And we just had an idea that we knew would work.杏吧专区
They were right.
The group signed a contract with Disney in 2007 and ultimately filmed 75 episodes, winning an Emmy along the way. This year, the Movers released their , which includes a track featuring Lisa Loeb.
During the last 17 years, Durbin amassed some serious credibility and experience in the music entertainment industry. When the UL Lafayette School of Music & Performing Arts began piecing together its music business major, Durbin was a great fit.
But to continue in academia, Durbin needed one more credential 杏吧专区 he needed to finish his master杏吧专区檚.
杏吧专区淪o here I was juggling three balls: creating a curriculum for a program that really didn杏吧专区檛 have it, earning my masters, and continuing my work with the Imagination Movers,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淭he online master杏吧专区檚 program was really the only way I could杏吧专区檝e accomplished it.杏吧专区
Specifically, Durbin wanted to complete his master杏吧专区檚 in curriculum and instruction, which built on his early experience as a technology and then writing specialist and would inform his new role.
杏吧专区淚 had a lot of real-world experience but it was a matter of taking my experience and creating an instructional scope and sequence that made sense for the music business program and would lead the program in the future,杏吧专区 he says.
杏吧专区淎ll that knowledge with regards to curriculum and instruction, I could apply to my present situation here at UL Lafayette and really strengthen the program because of it.杏吧专区
UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 online M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction prepares teachers to reform, refine, and develop curricula and instruction techniques primarily at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Durbin says as a 杏吧专区 instructor, he was an 杏吧专区渁nomaly杏吧专区 within the curriculum and instruction program but was able to work with professors to apply coursework to his subject matter at the university level.
And he杏吧专区檚 already begun applying those lessons directly to the classroom. By learning about active-learning instructional formats, Durbin says he杏吧专区檚 been able to transition his instruction from a lecture-model to a more student-based model.
杏吧专区淚n the music business program, it杏吧专区檚 really about how they can apply what they杏吧专区檙e learning once they leave here. I felt student-centered instruction and active learning was a really helpful way to facilitate that,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淢oving away from lecture-based instruction is not something I would have done if not for the online learning experience.杏吧专区
Becoming a student again shaped Durbin杏吧专区檚 perspective in other ways, too, from engaging with other educators to using tools in different ways.
杏吧专区淏eing a student allows me to see things from a student杏吧专区檚 perspective, which further informs my point of view,杏吧专区 he said. 杏吧专区淲e had a lot of online discussions so you were interacting with other professionals regarding the course material so it wasn杏吧专区檛 just my point of view; I could see other people杏吧专区檚 points of view and how they experienced the content, which I think rounded it out.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 been a great experience, quite honestly, to do the online master杏吧专区檚.杏吧专区
Durbin said he planned to take two courses each semester but had to adjust his plan. The online Master of Education program gave him the flexibility to set his pace.
Even when the Imagination Movers had a tour in Asia, Durbin was still enrolled in one course. And when his mother became ill, he was able to take a semester off.
杏吧专区淥bviously, those types of situations impact where you are in life,杏吧专区 Durbin says. 杏吧专区淔ortunately, when you杏吧专区檙e doing an online learning situation it allows you to manage your time. I could still get it done, even if I had to take care of the things life threw at me.杏吧专区
What杏吧专区檚 next for Durbin? More juggling.
The Movers have more tour dates scheduled for the spring, and in March all of the episodes produced with Disney will be available on the new Disney+ service. Meanwhile, Durbin will continue sharing his expertise with future music industry professionals at UL Lafayette.
杏吧专区淲e always have an iron in the fire. It definitely gives the program extra validation that I杏吧专区檓 still a practicing professional member of the industry, whether I杏吧专区檓 writing or publishing,杏吧专区 Durbin says. 杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 still doing a lot of the things I杏吧专区檓 teaching about in the program. I can talk to students about how to face these issues when they leave here with their degree.杏吧专区