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Whimsical artwork, shelves of student keepsakes, a six-foot furry orange monster staring inquisitively from a corner — collectively, the memorabilia in Scott Durbin’s University of Louisiana at Lafayette office illustrate his journey as an educator and music industry professional. 

This December, Durbin can add another signpost to his collection: Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction.

Durbin planned to earn his master’s degree immediately following his undergraduate studies in the early ‘90s, but, with a wedding on the horizon, instead he earned an alternative teaching certification and began working in New Orleans schools.

Although music had long been part of his life, Durbin says he largely put it aside until he began having children.

“When you have children, you’re born into that world of children’s programming — TV, music, and movies that you’re evaluating. For me, the lack of real people in children’s programming was obvious,” he says.

Durbin’s response was to gather a group of friends — Rich Collins, Dave Poche and Scott “Smitty” Smith — and to make a music-based television show with real people and real music.

In 2002, the were born.

“Of course, my experience as an educator informed what the Movers were,” Durbin says. “I’d done a lot of research-based best practices to create an educational philosophy for that program. And we just had an idea that we knew would work.”

They were right.

The group signed a contract with Disney in 2007 and ultimately filmed 75 episodes, winning an Emmy along the way. This year, the Movers released their , which includes a track featuring Lisa Loeb.

During the last 17 years, Durbin amassed some serious credibility and experience in the music entertainment industry. When the UL Lafayette School of Music & Performing Arts began piecing together its music business major, Durbin was a great fit.

But to continue in academia, Durbin needed one more credential — he needed to finish his master’s.

“So here I was juggling three balls: creating a curriculum for a program that really didn’t have it, earning my masters, and continuing my work with the Imagination Movers,” he says. “The online master’s program was really the only way I could’ve accomplished it.”

Specifically, Durbin wanted to complete his master’s in curriculum and instruction, which built on his early experience as a technology and then writing specialist and would inform his new role.

“I had a lot of real-world experience but it was a matter of taking my experience and creating an instructional scope and sequence that made sense for the music business program and would lead the program in the future,” he says.

“All that knowledge with regards to curriculum and instruction, I could apply to my present situation here at UL Lafayette and really strengthen the program because of it.”

UL Lafayette’s online M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction prepares teachers to reform, refine, and develop curricula and instruction techniques primarily at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

Durbin says as a University instructor, he was an “anomaly” within the curriculum and instruction program but was able to work with professors to apply coursework to his subject matter at the university level.

And he’s already begun applying those lessons directly to the classroom. By learning about active-learning instructional formats, Durbin says he’s been able to transition his instruction from a lecture-model to a more student-based model.    

“In the music business program, it’s really about how they can apply what they’re learning once they leave here. I felt student-centered instruction and active learning was a really helpful way to facilitate that,” he says. “Moving away from lecture-based instruction is not something I would have done if not for the online learning experience.” 

Becoming a student again shaped Durbin’s perspective in other ways, too, from engaging with other educators to using tools in different ways.

“Being a student allows me to see things from a student’s perspective, which further informs my point of view,” he said. “We had a lot of online discussions so you were interacting with other professionals regarding the course material so it wasn’t just my point of view; I could see other people’s points of view and how they experienced the content, which I think rounded it out.

“It’s been a great experience, quite honestly, to do the online master’s.”

Durbin said he planned to take two courses each semester but had to adjust his plan. The online Master of Education program gave him the flexibility to set his pace.

Even when the Imagination Movers had a tour in Asia, Durbin was still enrolled in one course. And when his mother became ill, he was able to take a semester off.

“Obviously, those types of situations impact where you are in life,” Durbin says. “Fortunately, when you’re doing an online learning situation it allows you to manage your time. I could still get it done, even if I had to take care of the things life threw at me.”  

What’s next for Durbin? More juggling.

The Movers have more tour dates scheduled for the spring, and in March all of the episodes produced with Disney will be available on the new Disney+ service. Meanwhile, Durbin will continue sharing his expertise with future music industry professionals at UL Lafayette.

“We always have an iron in the fire. It definitely gives the program extra validation that I’m still a practicing professional member of the industry, whether I’m writing or publishing,” Durbin says. “I’m still doing a lot of the things I’m teaching about in the program. I can talk to students about how to face these issues when they leave here with their degree.”

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