Paraeducators' Perceptions of Music Therapy Sessions

Working relationships between paraeducators and professionals in education settings have the potential to positively impact classroom environments and students' work toward Individualized Education Plan goals (Adamek & Darrow, 2005; Hughes, Rice, DeBedout, & Hightower, 2002). An important part of working relationships may be understanding the perspectives of those with whom one works. Doing so may enable co-workers to clarify and negotiate expectations of one another. Such role clarification may, in-turn, foster positive working relationships (Giangreco, Suter, & Doyle, 2010). The present authors, placing great value on the working relationships between paraeducators and music therapists in education settings, wondered how paraeducators perceived, and what they might gain from, assisting in music therapy sessions. To this end, we asked paraeducators to participate in focusgroup interviews and describe what they brought to, learned about students in, and gained personally from music therapy sessions.Current literature related to working relationships between paraeducators and professionals typically addresses paraeducators' roles and responsibilities in the workplace. General and special education researchers have investigated this topic in several different ways. They have studied the issue from the perspectives of teachers (French, 1 998) and the paraeducators themselves (Downing, Ryndak, & Clark, 2000). They have examined the specific activities in which paraeducators engage (Griffen-Shirley & Matlock, 2004) and their interactions with other staff and with families (Chopra et al., 2004). They have also examined the dilemmas paraeducators find themselves in when practicing inclusion (Marks, Schrader, & Levine, 1999).Other literature related to working relationships between paraeducators and professionals addresses ways in which professionals might approach their working relationships with paraeducators. In the area of general education, Giangreco (2003) and Riggs (2004) outlined ways in which teachers might enhance working relationships with paraeducators when practicing inclusion. In the area of music education, Bernsdorf (2001) and McCord and Watts (2006) discussed ways to include paraeducators in music classrooms. In the area of music therapy, Adamek and Darrow (2005) and Hughes et al. (2002) discussed ways to interact with paraeducators. All but one of these authors wrote from their own perspectives as general educators, music therapists, music educators and academicians; only Riggs studied paraeducators' perceptions themselves. As a result, there continues to be a lack of literature addressing paraeducators' perspectives on their working relationships with music professionals.The main purpose of this study was to describe paraeducators' perceptions of music therapy sessions because understanding the perspectives of those with whom one works may enable co-workers to clarify and negotiate expectations of one another. As a partial report of the findings of this study, this article describes twenty paraeducators, perceptions of (a) their learning about students through students' engagement in music therapy sessions, (b) their personal gains from music therapy sessions, and (c) collaborative moments in music therapy sessions.MethodBackground and SettingThe present authors, the first a music therapy academician and the second a music therapy clinician, collaboratively developed this study. The academician had no prior relationship with the study participants; the clinician had working relationships of varying years with the study participants (see Participants). During the study's implementation, the clinician served as our liaison to the site's administration and the study participants. The academician collected and analyzed data. The Duquesne University Institutional Review Board approved this study.The study was completed in a small, suburban, special education center that served students with varying disabilities from school districts in the immediate and surrounding counties. …