Dr. kristina Kastelan-sikora | Collaborator
As a caucasian woman in an urban setting, I have grown up being exposed to music and French, as it has been woven within my being, even though I grew up in a household where my parents did not play a musical instrument, or speak a second language. I have experienced critical incidents in music and in French Immersion school along my journey about being mentored. I have vivid recollections of my first time as a music student. I was two years old and I remember sitting at the piano, learning “The Suzuki Method,” playing one note, one finger at a time, from memory, which soon became two hands. My mother took me home and sat with me to practise daily in between lessons. My piano teacher and my mother were my first teachers and mentors. They were guides, who fostered a love of music within me. I attended a French Immersion school where my music teachers were critical guides and mentors to me along my journey.
As I continued to play music into high school, I realized that I wanted to pursue a career in music education. I attend the Campus Saint-Jean, at the University of Alberta (UofA), to fulfill a Music Education degree (2000). I was then hired by Edmonton Catholic Schools to begin a music program at a junior high school, which never had a music program. After a few years of experience, certain aspects of teaching had become familiar and less time consuming, while new ones offered challenges.
Somehow, I felt my life as a student was not yet over. I sensed there were some serious gaps in my learning, and that these were evidenced in my teaching and in speaking with other colleagues. I chose to return to university part-time to pursue a Master’s in Music Education. What I found most beneficial was being in the classroom at the same time as I was a researcher, thus enabling me to implement what I was learning. I graduated in 2005 and while continuing to teach at the same junior high school, I sought new opportunities to enrich my teaching and learning. I began to mentor student teachers and eventually was asked to lead the Mentorship Program for Beginning Teachers through the Edmonton Catholic Teachers Local, of the Alberta Teachers’ Association. This opportunity gave me the desire to complete my doctoral dissertation at the UofA entitled “Mentoring Beginning Second Language Teachers: Perceptions of Challenges and Expectations of Support” (2013). After 15 years of teaching in the classroom, I am blessed to have had the opportunity to teach undergraduate courses in Music at the Campus Saint-Jean, as well as my current role of supervising French student teachers in many schools during their practicum experiences.
I have a very deep understanding of the impact of one’s own mentors on their experiences. Along my journey, I have been blessed with two incredible girls, Ella and Lizzie, who have been born into a very musical family. They play the piano, harp and violin, and sing in a choir. Music is heard in our house daily and teaches us the value of hard work, resilience, patience, joy, and love.
Regardless of our ability, age, race, religion, or where we are on our journey, all of us have a voice: “Music replays the past memories, awakens our forgotten worlds and makes our minds travel.” ~ Michael Bassey Johnson