Dawn Kolakoski is an adjunct professor in the Creative Arts in Learning programs in the Graduate School of Education, where she has taught since 2003. She has experience as an elementary music teacher, choir director and organist, music studio owner, national trainer for teachers in music and art, professor and department chair of a large undergraduate teacher education program, and most recently, as Director of Online Instruction at Northern Virginia Community College near Washington, D.C.
She has been teaching teachers for over 30 years. Her interests include integrating the arts into the classroom, curriculum development, mentoring beginning teachers, early childhood education, educational leadership, and online instruction. She teaches the courses Multiple Perspectives through Music; Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment; and Educator Inquiry: Seminar and Thesis Project.