Roxanne Dixon
Educator ~ Clinician ~ Writer/ Editor
Curious, engaged learning communities can change the world.
Hi, I’m Roxanne Dixon.
Informed by an interdisciplinary background and 20+ years teaching K-8 music in public and independent schools, I know that active, joyful, multi-modal work deepens engagement and learning, cultivates humans’ natural creative spirit, develops social-emotional (CASEL) competencies, and builds community.
My goal is to apply my knowledge, skills, and experience to enhance people’s lives individually and collectively. I work toward this in many ways, including:
facilitating experiences for people of all ages to joyfully create together through community arts projects, workshops, and school residencies.
teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, leading professional workshops, and coaching teachers to comfortably and confidently engage and empower students in learning communities alive with curiosity and ownership by integrating questioning, movement, music, puppetry, and creativity.
writing songs for children to sing and own together in community with one another.
writing and editing education-related articles including helping authors to bring their insights and ideas to the world.
How might we “play” together?
My Story
In the mid-90s, searching for a college, I happened upon an academic program that set the course for my professional life—the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Miami University (OH). As an undergraduate, I lived in two worlds—the hyper-focused world of a trombone performance major and the intellectually expansive world of interdisciplinary studies where I took upper-level seminars such as Museums as Interpreters of Culture and Gerontology and Ethics. I planned my own coursework focus around integrated arts education with coursework such as Art and the Child, Drama in Education, Modern Dance, and Race, Ethnicity and Culture in American Education. My grant-supported undergraduate honors thesis explored the cultural responsiveness of symphony orchestra educational outreach programs through research and interviews.
Somewhere along this path, I found myself called to teach children within a school setting and added a music education degree to my other majors. Amazing mentors guided me to pursue training the Orff Schulwerk approach—an elemental approach to teaching music through dance and creative movement, singing, playing instruments, poetry, drama, improvisation, and composition. This child-centered, integrated approach aligned beautifully with my interdisciplinary core, and I completed a master’s degree in music education with an Orff concentration at the University of St. Thomas (MN). Still fed by my interdisciplinary roots, my graduate thesis analyzed Orff Schulwerk through the philosophy of interdisciplinary studies.
In my music classroom, we joyfully bring stories and poems to life with instruments, creative movement, puppetry, collaborative creativity, and song. After many years teaching children music through integrated experiences, I found myself called to share what I have learned from my education and experiences beyond just the content-specific box of music class. Multi-modal pathways to engagement in the music room are also pathways for deep, creative, and collaborative learning and engaging in other contexts. Working in a variety of settings, I love embracing new relationships and adventures!
“You have taught me more than I could have ever imagined, and I have appreciated your honesty and your willingness to push me towards a greater understanding of what it means to be an effective educator.”
- Carrie G. (pre-service educator)
“Thanks Roxanne for wrapping your heart around my children through the years and helping them know the joy and possibility in music.”
— Kim K. (parent)
“I remember your classroom being an incredibly welcoming, safe, and creative outlet for me. My future aspiration would be to fulfill these same qualities in my own musical classroom one day.”
– Caroline B. (former student)