Necessary for some, and helpful for all: preparing music educators to reach every student
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5965/2525530408012023e0110Keywords:
accessible music education, pre-service music education, universal design for learning, differentiated instructionAbstract
This paper puts forth the argument that the field of pre-service music teacher education in the United States must include coursework in accessible music education in order to prepare music educators to teach today’s students effectively. The percentage of students with disabilities and diagnoses in today’s schools is rising, and music educators in the U.S. are not adequately prepared to teach these students. Using the framework of “necessary for some, and helpful for all,” the paper asserts that incorporating some of the strategies and approaches of accessible music education – specifically, Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction – into undergraduate music teacher education programs would greatly increase the effectiveness of U.S. music teacher preparation.
Downloads
References
BERNARD, R. Disciplinary Training: The Import and Implications of teacher training programs for the place and content of music education in K-12 public schools in Davis, J. (Ed.) Disjuncture and Discourse: Wherefore the Arts in Higher Education?, 2016.
BERNARD, R. “Charlie on the MTA: Navigating professional development resources for music educators in teaching students with disabilities.” Journal of Art and Special Education 1 (1), Fall, 2019.
BERNARD, R. “Shattering Barriers: Exposing and Understanding the Narratives of Musicians with Disabilities.” In K. Vu and A. de Quadros, (Eds.), My Body was Left on the Street: Music Education and Displacement, 2020.
CAST. About Universal Design for Learning. https://www.cast.org/impact/universaldesign-for-learning-udl . Retrieved March 23, 2023.
COLWELL, C. M. & THOMPSON, L. K. “Inclusion” of information on mainstreaming in undergraduate music education curricula. Journal of Music Therapy, 37(3), 205–221, 2000.
HAALAND, L. K. A phenomenological study of teachers’ experiences of students with learning disabilities in mainstream middle school classrooms (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I database. (Order No. 3462961), 2011.
HAHN, K. R. Inclusion of students with disabilities: Preparation and practices of music educators (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I database. (Order No. 3420149), 2010.
HAMMEL, A. M. Preparation for teaching special learners: Twenty years of practice. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 11, 1. From https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/105708370101100103, 2001. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
HELLER, L. Undergraduate music teacher preparation for mainstreaming: A survey of music education teacher training institutions in the Great Lakes region of the United States. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 1994.
HOURIGAN, R. Preparing music teachers to teach students with special needs. UPDATE, Fall/Winter 2007, 5-14, 2007a.
HOURIGAN, R. A Special Needs Field Experience for Preservice Instrumental Music Educators Author(s): Ryan M. Hourigan Source: Contributions to Music Education, 2007, Vol. 34 (2007), pp. 19-33 Published by: Ohio Music Education Association, 2007b.
HOURIGAN, R. Preservice Music Teachers’ Perceptions of Fieldwork Experiences in a Special Needs Classroom. Journal of Research in Music Education Volume 57 Number 2 July, 2009.
KAISER, K. A., & JOHNSON, K. E. The effect of an interactive experience on music majors’ perceptions of music for deaf students. Journal of Music Therapy, 37(3), 222–234, 2000.
LINSENMEIER, C. V. The impact of music teacher training on the rate and level of involvement of special education students in high school band and choir (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses A&I database. (Order No. 3159804), 2004.
MAY, B. N., WILLIE, K., WORTHEN, C., & PEHRSON, A. An Analysis of State Music Education Certification and Licensure Practices in the United States. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 27(1), 65–88. From https://doi.org/10.1177/1057083717699650, 2017. Retreived June 25, 2023.
NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS. Students With Disabilities. Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg , 2022. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—Cost impact on local school districts. Retrieved March 23, 2023, from http://febp.newamerica.net/background-analysis/individuals-disabilities-education-act-costimpact-local-school- districts/print , 2014.
SMITH, F. Educators deal with the growing problem of autism. Edutopia. From https://www.edutopia.org/autism-school-special-needs , 2008, March 19. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
TOMLINSON, C.A. The differentiated classroom: Responding to the needs of all learners. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2014.
VANWEELDEN, K., & WHIPPLE, J. The effects of field experience on music education majors’ perceptions of music instruction for secondary students with special needs. Journal of Music Teacher Education, 14(2), 62–68, 2005.
VINCIGUERRA, S. Lived experiences of secondary instrumental music teachers who teach students with disabilities (Doctoral dissertation). Available from open.bu. from https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/16836 , 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Rhoda Bernard
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who submit their manuscripts to be published in this journal agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain the copyright and grant to the journal the right of first publication, whilst simultaneously permitting their work to be licensed under the Creative Commons License Attribution, which allows the sharing of work with recognition of the authorship and initial publication in this journal.
2. Contributions in this journal are open access; this means they are based in free use, and non-commercial applications.
