Dr. Edward Varner
#peacefuldrummer
Educator/Musician/Actor
About
Committed to helping create a more peaceful, just, sustainable, healthy, and joyful world. Educator, musician, & arts education specialist & advocate. With 14 years of teaching experience and nearly two decades in educational leadership, I empower teams in executing academic programs to prepare our next generation for the future.
Talks about #music, #education, #leadership, #artseducation, and #musiceducation
Talks about #music, #education, #leadership, #artseducation, and #musiceducation
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Dr. Edward Varner has been an educator, musician, actor, and arts education specialist and advocate for more than 33 years. He is particularly excited about liberal arts education and continues active participation in relevant organizations. He has presented creativity and the importance of play, SEL, music, arts, language experience, and literacy workshops at a wide variety of local, regional, National, and International conferences and strongly believes we can never stop recruiting teachers and administrators to our cause! Ed has published about the alignments between arts education and social & emotional learning competencies and continues to advocate for quality music and arts programming in our schools and community. Dr. Varner is also the author of the Social & Emotional Learning Column for the Journal of General Music Education, a peer reviewed journal of the National Association for Music Education; "I hope by increasing my publication profile, I can reach more teachers and thereby positively impact the educational lives of children exponentially."
Ed provided seven years of leadership as the supervisor of music and art education for the Great Falls Public Schools in Great Falls, MT and is currently in his twelfth year as the Director of Visual and Performing Arts for the Milton Hershey School in Hershey, PA. He holds a BA in Music from CSU, Los Angeles. He completed the Master’s Degree in Educational Administration and Leadership from the University of British Columbia and earned the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in School Leadership from Concordia University Chicago. "As an educator, I have always been a firm believer in the philosophies of integration and differentiation of curriculum to better meet the needs of students. I must know my students in order to adequately and effectively meet them where they are and help them progress to the next level. This philosophy of knowing your students necessitates the added element of care. Educators must care for their students, themselves, and have the fortitude to continue caring when it appears that others have surrendered." - Dr. Edward Varner |
Educators must care for their students, themselves, and have the fortitude to continue caring when it appears that others have surrendered. ” 
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A A growing number of music and arts teachers are embracing the natural alignments between music education, Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA). However, these objectives too often run the risk of becoming amorphous, misused, or catch-all efforts lacking authenticity and meaning.
In Breaking Through, author Edward Varner helps music teachers understand the purpose of SEL, how it intersects with DEIA, and how to promote quality and equitable experiences for all students. The book is divided into three sections:
Varner also explores how music teachers can use SEL to teach important life skills, including cooperation, communication, positive interactions, responsibility, impulse control, and accepting consequences, among others.
Music educators play a vital role in students’ lives and education. And through intentional SEL instruction, they empower their students and communities to break through and disrupt barriers to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access.
In Breaking Through, author Edward Varner helps music teachers understand the purpose of SEL, how it intersects with DEIA, and how to promote quality and equitable experiences for all students. The book is divided into three sections:
- Groundwork looks at music education as a matter of equity and identifies the natural alignments between SEL and DEIA.
- Avenues for Disruption offers strategies to make music education mindful, meaningful, and manageable.
- Moving the Needle One Step at a Time identifies points of disruption and barriers to equity through an anti-racist lens.
Varner also explores how music teachers can use SEL to teach important life skills, including cooperation, communication, positive interactions, responsibility, impulse control, and accepting consequences, among others.
Music educators play a vital role in students’ lives and education. And through intentional SEL instruction, they empower their students and communities to break through and disrupt barriers to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access.
Available at F-Flat Books
Finding Sanctuary: Helping My Principal and Community Understand the Value of School Band Beyond Obvious Entertainment Contexts
There are still many educators and parents who remain unaware of the value of the school band beyond obvious, natural entertainment contexts and find it easy to devalue school band along with other arts programing. This text highlights evidence that supports music and school band as method to achieve improved student success in school. This eBook will better inform decisions that school administrators make with regard to existing scheduling challenges and financial dilemmas facing American schools.
Finding Sanctuary highlights factors that will help school administrators and community stakeholders better understand the true value of school band. The author explores relevant research regarding the relationship between music education, academic success, and social engagement in school. He further discusses an exploration of student perceptions regarding the reasons they participate in band, how band participation supports their academic goals, and how students view participation in band within the larger context of their experiences in school.
Workshops/Keynotes/Presentations
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Creativity, SEL, and the Important Role of Play in the Classroom
A celebration of the very important role of play in education and a reminder that teachers also have a responsibility to teach to creativity, student engagement, and ongoing student success in school – more than your written curriculum. The Fun Factor: Relevance, Rigor, and FUN Can and Should Coexist in the Classroom
All learning needs to be active and fun. Students need to respond to their academic life by moving, singing, playing instruments, creating, and having fun. The linking of academic information with actual life experiences encourages students to be actively involved. This active involvement, the fun factor, will lead to better assimilation and retention of information. It will also encourage greater student interest and motivation and help to establish a more efficient environment for learning. Relevance, rigor, and fun can and should coexist in the classroom. Take Time in Life: Finding Success, Finding Balance, and Enjoying the Ride
Who are you? You were born to dance, sing, act, create, make music and play. And then- life happened! This presentation helps participants explore personal strengths and challenges to living an authentic and creative life. |
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WHY CHOOSE ME?
Connect Professionally on Linkedin - Dr. Edward Varner