My values as an educator are a reflection of transfronterx community of which I am a part and humbly serve. My commitment to education is predicated upon the development and integration of inclusive student-centered learning environments that are, safe, holistic, intellectually rigorous, and collaborative. I believe that my fundamental role as a Performing Arts Educator,  is to facilitate multimodal and embodied experiences, to the benefit of students, through the teaching and learning process. My pedagogical approach is fueled by my desire to maximize student engagement through these inclusive and safe learning environments that embolden and empower students to employ their whole self  as they learn the fundamentals of artistic and expressive process. I actively encourage students to draw from a font of resources that includes, but is not limited to, the physical, cultural, and linguistic forms available to them both locally and from the world at large. I believe my efficacy as an educator is based on and, more importantly, fueled by my own commitment to self-improvement, both personal and professional, with a strong focus on student advocacy and community engagement.

My pedagogical, theoretical, and artistic choices in my roles as educator, researcher, choreographer, director, and student are motivated, in large part, by my commitment to being an ally and champion for marginalized voices and complex intersectional identities.

Having witnessed and experienced the full potential and positive impact of artistic expression, my multimodal approach to teaching, theatre-making, and research is driven by a commitment to fostering an environment and curriculum guided by student-generated themes. These themes range from identity to social justice with a focus on inclusion and advancement of opportunities for both diverse and differently-abled students.  

The Performing Arts are a conduit for transformation, liberation, and empowerment for performer and audience member, alike. Theatre is a full sensory experience that facilitates the development of empathy by creating and strengthening the nexus of community through imagination and play. In turn, I advocate zealously in my dual roles of collaborator and ally to challenge commonly held viewpoints by advocating for the influence of marginalized voices and complex intersectional identities.

In my role as  educational researcher, I am committed to furthering initiatives aimed at broadening participation and support of Latina students at Hispanic-serving institutions by identifying the existing barriers and challenging affordances present in a variety of learning contexts. This is made manifest through my engagement in critical feminist informed qualitative research that provides the opportunity to explore the intersectional and intercultural experiences of transfornterx students. Moreover, it stresses the importance of pedagogical and institutional practices that recognize and incorporate the inherent value of these students as cultural and linguistic assets.

These distinctive , though wholly interconnected, facets of my professional identity and practice inform and inspire  my goal to advance equity and inclusion, contemporaneously, in our educational and global community. 

Convertino, C., Alvidrez, M., Pickett, J., & Camberos, D. (2022). Exploring Worksheets and Attendance-taking as Gatekeeping Features in a Gateway Course for Latinx STEM Majors. Journal of Latinos and Education, 1-17.

https://doi-org.utep.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/15348431.2022.2043865

Pickett, J. (2021). Threshold concepts in physical education: a design thinking approach, Sport, Education and Society, 26( 9),1041-1043, DOI: 10.1080/13573322.2021.1984646.

Pickett, J. (2020). Moving Otherwise, Journal of Dance Education, 20(4),242-243, DOI: 10.1080/15290824.2019.1609339.

“Re(producing) Gender Difference: A Cultural Accounting of Professional Skills Amongst Latinx Computer Science Majors” Paper session: Institutional Culture for Women in STEM, AERA 2022

Queer as a Second Language, Queer(in)g Our Classrooms, Department of Education, University of Texas at El Paso, 2019

“Integrating Dance and Technology: A Trio of Lesson Plans” National Dance Educators Organization, 2016

“How a Grant Impacted an Entire Dance Community”, National Dance Educators Organization, 2017.