Finding a Systemized Approach to Music Inclusion

nclusion in education has become the norm in the thirty years since the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (PL 94-119). A definition for inclusion, however, is still elusive, and it means different things to different people. Although there is much discussion of what is and is not inclusion, many models currently exist (O’Dell and Karr-Kidwell 1994). Miller (1994) suggests that inclusion is “the point in the continuum of services which places the student with disability in a regular classroom with appropriate support personnel to receive instruction and related services alongside peers. ” Regardless of interpretation, inclusion is labor-intensive and must receive administrative support and schoolwide cooperation in order to work, that is, ensuring learning success for all students as well as meeting individual needs. This is a tall order for general education teachers whose classes consist of anywhere between fifteen and thirty students. While most classroom teachers are assisted by various special education specialists and paraprofessionals, music educators are often expected to fulfill this educational mandate for all students with disabilities in a given school without any assistance. Furthermore, music classes are inherently different, in that few general education classrooms demand as much group cooperation and interaction, and they require “rapid acquisition of many academic skills . [while] performing complex psychomotor tasks” (Gfeller 1989). Although there is no shortage of literature concerning the inclusive classroom, the disjointedness of information causes confusion for music educators. Teacher preparation programs are increasingly putting emphasis on teaching strategies and management techniques within the context of inclusive classrooms, yet many music educators still feel overwhelmed and ill-prepared. Additionally, the music educator is traditionally left out of the referral process and the subsequent instructional planning phase for those with disabilities. A study conducted by Kaiser (2000) on music students’ perceptions of music experiences for deaf students found that while at first subjects were apprehensive about their preparedness to work with deaf students, they felt significantly more positive about their preparedness following the interaction. Real life involvement with the special needs population outside the classroom setting seems to be an important prerequisite for equipping music educators. Furthermore, there is a need for systematic compilation of existing literature on instructional strategies for inclusive music classrooms. Comprehensive and practical ideas for successful inclusion practices can best be found outside of music education journals or in the earlier music education literature (late 80s and early 90s) when “mainstreaming” was still the practice. Since inclusion requires individualized planning, instruction, and alteration of the environment for each student, a practice considered most desirable and feasible by regular classroom teachers (Schuum and Vaughn 1991), no one source of information will address the broad spectrum of disabilities and possible accommodations for each disability. The already stressed music educator will need to piece information together and fill in the gaps, even after intentional searches. It is too big a task for any one individual. We must initiate collaboration with school personnel, from counselors to school psychologists to special education staff and paraprofessionals. We have to be creative and resourceful even after we have found out what to do, for only we can determine how to do what we are supposed to do and translate these ideas into practice in the context of music education.