by Dale A. Witte
The WELS Elementary and Secondary Music Teacher and Inclusion
Most WELS teachers do not have the luxury of having a special education teacher in their building with them, let alone having one in their classroom (Enser, 2013). Recent graduates of Martin Luther College have had the benefit of access to special education course offerings in which they are taught about students with disabilities and how they can best be served in the WELS Lutheran elementary or secondary school. Future graduates of the recently announced MLC special education major will be much more prepared to educate children with disabilities than veteran teachers have been.
WELS music teachers are educated at MLC first and foremost in the principles of what it means to be a good teacher. Add to that their desire to specialize in the field of music education, and they become perfectly poised to teach the whole child, including the disabled.
The WELS music teacher needs to have at their fingertips best practices for inclusion of students with disabilities so that these student are not hindered in any way in their Christian education. This is in keeping with the command of Jesus in Matthew 19:4 to “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Benefits and Barriers to Successful Inclusion
At first glance, it may seem daunting for the general education or music teacher who hasn’t been trained in special education courses and techniques to include students with disabilities in their regular classes, choir, or band, but there are numerous hidden benefits to including students with disabilities in these classes. In their book Music in Special Education (2010, 2nd ed.), authors Mary Adamek and Alice-Ann Darrow noted the following three benefits:
- Benefits for students with disabilities include higher expectations, more appropriate role models, wider circle of friends and support, and a broader array of meaningful experiences.
- Benefits for students without disabilities include increased acceptance of others, opportunities to function as a positive role model or peer tutor, and opportunities for leadership.
- Benefits to teachers and school include creating an atmosphere of acceptance and diversity, and opportunities to individualize instruction and alter instructional methods to better serve all students. (p. 52)
Adamek and Darrow also noted that “even though much progress has been made in the past three decades to improve the quality of education of students with disabilities . . . there remain several barriers to successful inclusion: organization, attitude, and knowledge.” (p. 45)
Classrooms need to be predictable environments, free from distractions, helping all students focus on the task at hand. Music classrooms are no exception. Imagine the visually or physically impaired student who needs to know that the path to their seat is free from obstacles. The music teacher needs to be organized as well, having gathered strengths, needs, IEP goals, and effective intervention strategies to be prepared to teach the student with disabilities.
A teacher’s positive attitude toward their students, parents, administration, and duties will go a long way to helping disabled students be successfully included in their classroom. Strive to build a relationship with each disabled student while focusing on their strengths to learn who they are as a unique child of God. Look beyond their disability to a role God has given them in his kingdom.
Music educators must have knowledge about the characteristics of specific disabilities so that they can talk to other education specialists about a disabled student’s abilities and needs, as well as intervention strategies. Knowledge of age-appropriate intervention strategies, classroom adaptations, and music selections will also help the disabled student continue to have high expectations and goals. Ask the question, “Would I use this music with same-aged students who do not have disabilities?” If the answer is no, find music that is better suited to the age of the student.
Best Practices for Inclusion in the Music Classroom
The following list of best practices for inclusion of disabled students in the music classroom has been compiled from Adamer (2001), Hammel (2004), Darrow (1999), and Adamek & Darrow (2010).
- Collaborate: Collaborate with other teachers, specialists, administrators, community agencies, and parents, developing effective partnerships to find out as much information as you can about individual students. Identify the strengths of the student, along with their special skills and talents. Identify the weaknesses or limitations of the disability. Know the IEP objectives the student with disabilities is working on. Identify and employ strategies that are useful in working with the student.
- Adapt: Implement instructional accommodations, modifications, and adaptations that promote learning and success for disabled students. Adamek and Darrow (2010) and Hammel (2004) offer many examples of the accommodations, modifications, and adaptations that can be made for the inclusion of a student with disabilities in the music classroom.
- Positive Interactions: Create opportunities for positive interactions between students with disabilities and students without disabilities. Some students with disabilities may benefit the most from the social interaction music classes naturally afford. Making music in a choir, band, or orchestra is a natural group activity that promotes the positive social interactions.
- Classroom Management: Carefully structure and implement classroom management techniques and interventions to promote positive student behavior (Hammel, A., & Hourigan, R. M., 2011). Read more.
Summary
Adamek and Darrow (2010) state that all students need variety, individualized attention, positive relationships, and high attention—not just students with disabilities (p. 75). The principles of successful inclusion apply not only to the music classroom but to all classrooms, elementary and secondary, public and private. Even though the WELS educator may not have a dedicated special education teacher or music therapist in the building, they can use the best practices for inclusion to help instruct the students God has given them, seeking out the help of special education and music therapy professionals as special needs arise.
Dale Witte (DMLC ’89) is the choir director and music teacher at Winnebago Lutheran Academy in Fond Du Lac, WI. Click here to review the full article.
References
Adamek, M. S., & Darrow, A.-A. (2010). Music in special education. Silver Spring, MD: American Music Therapy Association.
Adamer [sic], M. S. (2001). Meeting special needs in music class. Music Educators Journal, 87(23), 23-26. doi: 10.2307/3399720
Darrow, A. (1999). Music educators’ perceptions regarding the inclusion of students with severe disabilities in music classrooms. Journal of Music Therapy, XXXVI(4), 254-273.
Enser, T. (2013, April 2). Should WELS schools serve all students?. Retrieved from http://blogs.mlc-wels.edu/wels-educator/2013/04/02/should-wels-schools-serve-all-students/ Hammel, A. M. (2004). Inclusion strategies that work. Music Educators Journal, 90(5), 33-37.
Hammel, A., & Hourigan, R. M. (2011). Teaching music to students with special needs: A label free approach. New York: Oxford University Press.
New special education major at MLC. (2013, April). Forward in Christ, 100(4), Retrieved from http://www.wels.net/news-events/forward-in-christ/april-2013/new-special-education-major-mlc?page=0,0