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Dr. Barnes is passionate about mentoring future music educators and supporting professional growth at every stage of a teaching career. Through her work as a Mentor Teacher in the Teacher Residency Program partnership between Rialto Unified School District and California State University, San Bernardino, and a mentor to student teachers and classroom observers, she helps emerging educators develop confidence, instructional expertise, and effective rehearsal practices. Her mentoring work reflects a belief that strong teachers build strong musical communities, and she enjoys contributing to research, publications, and professional learning that advance the field of music education.
Dr. Barnes serves as a mentor teacher and has invited several students into her classroom to observe and practice music teaching strategies. Dr. Peijun Xu used her time in Dr. Barnes' classroom to study bowing techniques in young violinists. She documented her research in her master's thesis, Bowing for the Beginning Violin Student: A Review of Literature and Suggestions for Group and Individual Instruction.
As an adjunct faculty member of the Watson College of Education at California State University, San Bernardino, Dr. Barnes supervises intern and student teachers in art and music as they complete their fieldwork toward their California Single Subject Teaching Credential.
Dr. Barnes proudly chairs the Performing Arts Department at W.A. Carter High School, leading collaborative opportunities for arts teachers in curriculum design, lesson planning, program development, and recruitment strategy.
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Susan Barnes has contributed to the research of Dr. Lee Jenkins in the area of assessment and continuous improvement by implementing innovative testing strategies in her classroom. Through the use of dichotomous rubrics and random performance tests, Dr. Barnes empowers her students to take responsibility for their learning and become intrinsically motivated to achieve continual progress in their musical studies. See her Dichotomous Rubric for Small Group Music Performance on page 24 of Dr. Lee Jenkins' book, How to Create a Perfect School.
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