academic gears

The VoicePed UnDegree

no ivory towers required

An eight-month Teacher Certification for #StayPutScholars who are ready to get super-real about their teaching (aka pedagogy) in an all-hands-on-deck, feet-to-the-fire kinda’ atmosphere.

Registration for The VPUD – Class of ’24 NOW CLOSED

THE VOICEPED UNDEGREE

The VoicePed UnDegree (AKA The VPUD) is a 34-week course with a vaguely academic structure that is built on the premise that grown-ass people can make their own decisions about:

what kind of teacher they want to be,
where they are in their journey to being that teacher,
what they need in order to make that journey easier (and more fun!), and
how to assess their own, danged progress on that journey.

Meet the Class of ‘24

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This is the program I have been waiting for! I am a passionate learner and I do so through reading and by doing. Going back to the political landscape of university is not an option for my fragile heart, so the VPUD Undegree seems like the perfect fit for me!

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“I’ve attended a bunch of workshops and obtained several certifications but I feel like the VPUD is my next step on the journey toward becoming the best teacher I can be… I don’t have time to waste on courses I don’t need for a piece of paper I don’t care about. I just want to continue learning and then do the best job I can as a teacher.”

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“I’ve joined the VPUD because I’ve been wanting to take my pedagogy to the next level but didn’t want to seek out a masters through academia, for many reasons. I’ve actually had the privilege of watching Dr. Shannon Coates build this incredible program from behind the scenes and I believe what she is doing is revolutionary.
I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

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“I’m a newbie teacher serving a small rural community. I’m confident the VPUD will give me the training I need to complement the real life know how I’ve gained.”

Here’s What You Get Out of a Training Programme Built on THAT Premise:

1. #pedagogyforreallife

You know the kind of pedagogy I’m talking about. The kind that doesn’t just apply to singers who are already well-coordinated. Or who already know what they want to say and how they want to say it. Or who only want to sing western-classical styles. Or who are in tertiary educational systems. Or who are able-bodied and/or white and/or neurotypical and/or cis-gender and/or male and/or heterosexual and/or adults (but not possessing toooo high of a chronological number) and/or part of a privileged socio-economic status.

Yeah. THAT kind of pedagogy.

The kind you need to be an effective voice teacher even when you’re not teaching in an academic institution. Especially when you’re not.

#pedagogyforreallife

2. #studentdirectedpedagogy

You know the kind of pedagogy I’m talking about. The kind that, despite (or perhaps, because of) not having experienced it in your own learning journey, you’ve been reaching for your entire teaching journey. The kind of pedagogy that knocks disengagement and disinterest to the curb. That never limits critical thinking or reduces autonomy. That doesn’t ‘teach to the test’ (or the next performance) or impose external assessment protocols. That relieves you of the burden of responsibility for your students’ learning.

Yeah. THAT kind of pedagogy.

The kind that results in engaged, motivated, creative, passionate, empowered singers who have everything they need to own their learning, their message, and their voice.

#studentdirectedpedagogy

3. #pedagogyforlife

You know the kind of pedagogy I’m talking about. The kind that you think other teachers must have because they seem confident and self-assured and like they always know what to do. The kind of pedagogy that means you no longer have to wonder why an exercise or an image or a directive (or an entire lesson!) was successful. (Or why it wasn’t successful. Or why it wasn’t successful this time. Or why it was successful this time and not last time.) That allows you to develop your own, values-forward assessments of effective teaching so you’re not reliant on external, variable, irrelevant assessments of student learning such as, student retention or high grades on exams or multiple arts school participants or acceptances to tertiary institutions.

Yeah. THAT kind of pedagogy.

The kind on which you can confidently build a lifetime of teaching. Of effective, empowering, enthusiastic, passionate, engaged, ease-filled teaching.

Sounds spectacular, doesn’t it?

#pedagogyforlife

Here’s How You Get It:

Co-developed learning outcomes & self-assessment protocols
Live, highly interactive lectures with pre-lecture learning prep, post-lecture learning consolidation exercises, facilitated discussion topics, and extensive supplemental resources
Live, cohort-directed seminars based on in-group discussion & reflection
Live, cohort-responsive labs focussed on development of pedagogy principle application, assessment protocols, and diagnostic skills
Facilitated teaching (live, in-studio and/or asynchronously) based on co-developed learning outcomes
Monthly, facilitated reflection seminars to update & revise learning outcomes & self-assessment protocols
Weekly office hours for further discussion
All session recordings & transcripts available for replay or review through to the end of August
24/7 discussion & interaction through our dedicated Slack space

Registration for The VPUD – Class of ’24 NOW CLOSED

Registration for The VPUD – Class of ’25 opens in Spring 2024

click here to get the info you need to decide if The VPUD is right for you.

Registration for The VPUD – Class of ’24 NOW CLOSED

Registration for The VPUD – Class of ’25 opens in Spring 2024

click here to get the info you need to decide if The VPUD is right for you.

What an incredible ride this #voicepedjourney is, eh?

One day, you think, “hey, maybe I’ll try this voice teaching thing out because this 9-5 in a financial office is really not for me” (and you also think, “I should probably try it now, while I am on 12-month paid parental leave after having my first kid” (because: Canadian)) and …

… it turns out you love that teaching gig WAY MORE than you thought you would so you give notice at your 9-5 and …

… you realize real quick that you wanna’ be WAY BETTER at this teaching thing than you are so, a decade after graduating with a degree in vocal performance, you go back to school to get a masters degree in vocal performance, specializing in voice pedagogy and …

… then you sign up to get a doctoral degree too because, you know, why not? It’s not like they’re hard or anything, right? (oh yeah; totes easy. ahem) and …

… you have the privilege of TAing for an undergraduate voice pedagogy class (nearly two decades after having taken it in your undergraduate degree), which eventually leads to teaching said class and …

… you love the snot out of teaching that class and …

… it turns out that you’re pretty good at teaching that class and …

… you join forces with a badass business coach who supports your dream to create a voice pedagogy course (or seven) for independent voice teachers so they don’t have to go back to school like you did and …

… then a pandemic hits, accelerating your time table for developing more of those kinds of courses and making it perfectly normal to do those courses online from anywhere in the world and …

THEN you’re all:

I need to make a WHOLE THING for independent voice teachers so they can get a FULL ON VOICE PEDAGOGY DEGREE without leaving their lives and careers to do so, don’t I?! And …

… your badass business coach AND all of your business-besties (who you met through said badass business coach) are like: yeah. YEAH, YOU REALLY DO NEED TO MAKE THAT THING … just don’t call it a “degree”, mkay? We have mixed feelings about our experiences in academia AND what you’re doing here is way beyond what any institution could ever dream of offering so …

… you’re just like, “okaydoke. I’ll make this thing and I’ll call it the opposite of a degree so people will know that while it’s structured kind of like a degree, it’s gonna’ have all the stuff that academia *wishes* they could offer (and, frankly, that academia often *thinks* they offer) and …

… it’ll be ready for independent voice teachers to sign up for by June 2022 and it’ll start in September 2022 and …

… we’ll have core curriculum and electives and labs and practicums and assessments that don’t suck and …

well, it happened and it was spectacular.

Here’s a Smattering of What The VPUD ‘23 Cohort Had To Say About It:

"There is more excitement in the teaching as I learn to take less responsibility for their learning. Which is hard because: THIS IS MY JOB and it’s so easy to feel like there are so many expectations about what you’re supposed to do. But really, you’re just creating this container for exploration."

Natalie Huggins, Miss Natalie’s Piano and Vocal Studio, St. Louis, Missouri

"I know my students are going to be more independent singers when they have shows, auditions or gigs that I can't be there for and when they go off to college and have new adventures in the performing world. If you are on the fence about jumping into the VPUD, JUMP!
You will not regret it!"

- Amanda Kaiser, Sing City Vocal Studio

"Through this process, I am far more willing to explore with the students and to support them as they discover for themselves what does and doesn’t work for them, rather than to tell them that something isn’t going to work."

- Erin Milley-Patey, Voice Teacher

Here’s What You Do To Get It:

1. Invest your time:

watching and processing Lectures every month
participating in Discussion Topics, Office Hours, and Open Studios
preparing for and participating in Seminars and Labs
recording and discussing lesson recordings
scheduling and participating in Open Studios

Note: in hard numbers, you are committing to up to 4 hours per week of synchronous sessions & an additional 3 to 4 hours per week of asynchronous and/or schedule-responsive sessions

time investment

emotional capital investment

2. Invest your emotional capital to:

kindly and honestly recognize your strengths and commit to building on them
kindly and honestly examine what holds you back from being the most effective teacher you can be and commit to changing those things
work out how to apply your learning to your teaching in the manner that works best for you
recognize, respect, and support the journeys of your fellow learners
learn with humility while confidently occupying your necessary space

3. Invest in the ongoing growth & sustainability of our industry by:

intentionally supporting agency in the singers you work with
prioritising student-led learning in your studio and other voice spaces you inhabit
intentionally and uncompromisingly building inclusive voice spaces
leaving behind external teaching assessments
modelling self-assessment and agency-informed pedagogy

industry growth investment

financial investment

4. Invest financially:

$10,000 total
- 15 to 20% registration downpayment
- monthly payments of $500 to $1000 over 8, 12, or 16 months

NOTE: there are other no-penalty payment plan structures available; we can talk about them in our Discovery Call

Here’s Me Talking About #PedagogyForRealLife (which will give you a better idea of what I’m all about):

“Shannon Coates challenges voice teachers to take note and do better by sharing transformative pedagogy based on student-led approaches and building intentionally inclusive voice spaces. And she does it in the most delightfully heart-felt and humorous way.”

– Nikki Loney

“I’m in the lesson space with you, gently reminding you about how to be the teacher you told me you want to be.”

– It Me!

“Shannon Coates is not only a brilliant educator, she is also down-to-earth, funny, and delivers high-level concepts with easy-to-understand language. In this episode, John and Shannon discuss practical voice pedagogy and how knowledge can help singers flourish.”

– John Henny

Registration for The VPUD – Class of ’24 NOW CLOSED

Registration for The VPUD – Class of ’25 opens in Spring 2024

click here to get the info you need to decide if The VPUD is right for you.