Doug Goodkin

Doug Goodkin is in his 45th year teaching preschool, elementary and middle school children at The San Francisco School. In addition to teaching children, he maintains a rigorous schedule of teacher-training, giving courses and workshops in 45 countries on every continent throughout the world. He is the Director of The San Francisco International Orff Course, a frequent guest teacher at The Orff Institut in Salzburg, Austria, a teacher in the Orff-Afrique Course in Ghana, West Africa, the leader of the jazz band Doug Goodkin & the Pentatonics, the creator and teacher of The Jazz Course and the founder of The Intern Program at The San Francisco School.

He is the author of nine books on music education, has published many articles in music journals worldwide and writes an onging blog titled “Confessions of a Traveling Music Teacher.” He has given a TED talk available for viewing about the importance of music education. His work is well known for blending effective music teaching with humanitarian practices, community ritual and social justice.

Because of his work in jazz, community building and the role of music is creating and sustaining a healthy culture, Doug has long been interested in African music and the diverse cultures from that remarkable continent. Meeting Kofi Gbolonyo in 2003 was a life-changing moment that set many things in motion, most of which led to the creation of the Orff-Afrique Course and it's role in helping support Nunya Academy. The vision of Nunya combines Doug’s dedication to children, music and education in a way that nothing else does. He is deeply honored to be a part of this extraordinary project.