Portfolio

Dr. Donna Moore is a native of Charleston, SC. She attended Charleston County Public Schools, graduating from St. Andrew's Parish High School in 1982.  After completing her degree in Music Education from Furman University, Dr. Moore began her teaching career as a Band Director. Her bands experienced much success over her fifteen years as a music educator.  Bands under her direction won a South Carolina Single A State Marching Band Championship, received numerous superiors at state concert festivals, placed first in national concert festival competitions, and received numerous Outstanding Performance Awards. She consistently had a large percentage of her band recognized at both the regional and state levels.  After completing graduate work in Music Education, Dr. Moore found a passion for research and information management.  After completing her Master's degree in Library and Information Sciences she began a career as a librarian both at the college and K-12 levels.  Most recently, Dr. Moore has combined her passions for creativity and information management into teaching Media Arts and Computer Applications. 

Dr. Moore's teaching philosophy is grounded in constructivist theories.  Instead of the “sage on the stage” delivery, she prefers student-centered teaching that acknowledges the students’ previous knowledge and encourages inquiry and self-construction of knowledge.  The two main pedagogical elements she employs are critical instruction and inquiry learning. Her goal is to have all of her students actively engaged with class materials, with themselves and each other, and with the outside world which allows for the construction of knowledge. 

Her approach to leadership can be summarized in John W. Gardner’s statement that leadership is about the “release of human talent and energy.” She understands that leadership is a collaborative effort between those who lead and those who consent to be led. Leaders must be confident enough to articulate a clear direction and open enough to receive criticism. Together the leader and group members can use this dialectic to collaboratively build a strong community of purpose. From her own experiences, she understands that communities are not foundational and must be collectively defined and constantly renewed. Explicit in this approach is a commitment to open, collaborative leadership.

This portfolio provides a look at just a few of the artifacts from her career as a Librarian and teacher.