Celebrating All Learners,Part I: Expanding Our Vision to Reach Students with Disabilities and Special Needs

Understanding Disability

The prevalence of children with disabilities is dramatically increasing within the United States. ¹ This increase directly affects both the school and studio teacher. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an individual with a disability has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a history or record of such an impairment, or is perceived by others as having such an impairment. Major life activities include things such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping, walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading, concentrating, thinking, communicating, and working. Major life activities also include major bodily functions, such as immune system function, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions.

The ADA does not specifically list all the impairments covered under the law, but it does include comprehensive services and accommodations that must be made by state and local governments, employers, and schools. In addition, the ADA lists several factors that must be considered to determine whether an impairment is a disability under the law. In this sense, the term disability is a legal definition, rather than a medical definition.

Research on Music Education and Students with Disabilities

While we have a long way to go in improving access to string education for underserved and at-risk populations, I am not sure that we have been as intentional in our efforts to make string instruction accessible to students with disabilities. Jones (2015) indicates that there are still great gaps in the research literature related to studies of students with disabilities and music education. Studies to this point have focused on attitudes of music teachers toward inclusion of special learners in the classroom, though there has been an upward trend in the number of studies related to accommodations of students with disabilities in the classroom in the past 15 years. That being said, there is still a dearth of material on what music educators—in particular string teachers—can do to best serve the needs of the special learner. Jones, Haywood (2007), and others also underscore that the voices of special learners have been largely excluded from research.

Research on Music Education and Students with Disabilities in String and Orchestra Classrooms

Gooding and Yinger (2014) conducted a comprehensive review of research within the United States related to inclusion and disabilities in the string or orchestra classroom. They found twenty studies, articles, or papers ² that related directly to issues of inclusion or special learners in that specific learning context, which were divided into three categories: (1) those that dealt with pre-service or in-service music educators’ perceptions and practices when working with students with special needs, (2) those that empirically studied practices for string instruction with students who have special needs, and (3) expert opinion on educational practices for teaching special learners to play string instruments.

While Gooding and Yinger covered publications and studies through 2014, it also is important to know whether there have been any trends in recent years that would indicate an increase in research or publications on inclusion specifically within the string or orchestra classroom. For that purpose, I conducted a review of sessions presented at ASTA national conferences from 2015 to 2020, contents of the American String Teacher (AST) journal from 2014 to 2019, and contents of every issue of the String Research Journal to look for articles, research, papers, or presentations related to special learners.

My review of ASTA national conference programs found only nine sessions were focused on any sort of inclusion related to special learners. By contrast, there were eighteen sessions focused on increasing access to string instruction for underserved populations (as I mentioned above, increasing access has been a major focus for ASTA in recent years). Within the String Research Journal (founded in 2010), only one entry (Gooding and Yinger 2014) related to students with disabilities, and that article was the extensive review of literature mentioned above. Gooding and Yinger found only four articles about inclusion in AST prior to 2014. Using the same criteria that Gooding and Yinger used, I reviewed all AST issues from 2014 to the November 2019 issue and found no articles that related to inclusion or special learners within the string or orchestra classroom.

Attitudes toward Students with Disabilities

While this article focuses on attitudes toward students with disabilities in the United States, it is important to note that this topic is a worldwide issue. In the summer of 2019, I was invited by the Ukrainian chapter of the European String Teachers Association to present a workshop on string pedagogy. During our discussions, the most frequent topic that was brought up by Ukrainian teachers was a need for additional training and information on working with students with disabilities. They specifically identified issues related to autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. In addition, educational researchers around the world are looking at teacher attitudes toward students with disabilities, particularly in countries that may have a shorter history of inclusion. In Finland, Saloviita (2018) found that positive teacher attitudes play a critical factor in the level of success students with disabilities will achieve in any classroom, and other studies of international school settings—including Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia—reveal that a majority of teachers hold “neutral or negative attitudes toward the inclusion of pupils with special needs in regular primary education” (Ahsan and Sharma 2018; de Boer, Pijl, and Minnaert 2011; Galaterou and Antoniou 2017). But, one of the primary factors that contributed to this attitude was the teachers’ sense of insufficient knowledge and competency for including students with special needs in the classroom (Altun and Eyüpoğlu 2018; de Boer, Pijl, and Minnaert 2011; Kraska and Boyle 2014; Varcoe and Boyle 2013). This same factor is true for teachers within the United States, though more recent reports indicate that teacher attitudes do show a positive upward trend in recent decades (VanWeelden and Whipple 2014; Wilkerson 2012). And, it should be noted that much of the research about inclusive music education is taking place outside of the United States. Jellison and Draper (2014) found only twenty-two total studies over the years 1975–2013 on inclusive music education settings. In general, teachers with greater levels of training and preparation report more positive attitudes towards inclusive education. These changes may be due in part to shifts in social attitudes toward individuals with disabilities and to increased expectations for inclusion as a result of changes in public policy. In general, teachers with less than 25 years of experience hold more positive views of inclusion than those with greater experience. These teachers also display greater familiarity with strategies for including students with disabilities in the general classroom and a greater focus on individualized instruction for all students, but we do not yet see the same level of research or resource information available for music classrooms.

“The shift toward more positive attitudes for inclusive education brings with it a change in teacher understanding about what students with disabilities can and should be expected to accomplish.”

The shift toward more positive attitudes for inclusive education brings with it a change in teacher understanding about what students with disabilities can and should be expected to accomplish. Another way of saying this is that teachers do not see students from the point of view of their deficits, but from the perspective of what their individual gifts and learning support needs are. This is the opposite of what is frequently called ableism—specifically, that there are inherently discriminatory attitudes and systems in place against any and all disabled people. This can be overt or subtle discrimination and can be seen in two primary areas: the presence of reasonable accommodations and modifying instruction in order to meet the specific learning needs of the student. Reasonable accommodations are defined by federal law ³ and include a wide range of issues such as religious beliefs, physical, mental, or emotional health, and academic needs. Examples for string teachers include modifying the physical space of the classroom or school building to provide appropriate access to the rehearsal space or making appropriate modifications to an instrument to make it possible for a person with specific disabilities to play. Consider, for example, issues of accessibility to rehearsal room space, such as the use of risers, the placement of chairs and stands, and accommodations needed to actually play a string instrument. String instruments are designed with the right-handed player in mind, so left-handed musicians are at a natural deficit. At my university, we recently graduated a cellist who played with the bow in his left-hand and fingered the notes with his right hand. He had been denied admission to several other institutions because of this perceived deficit, but I am really proud to let you know that he recently won an audition to perform as a member of the cello section in a national orchestra in Latin America.

What are other ways in which we inherently discriminate against those with disabilities in our classroom?

An additional challenge for the teacher is students who have hidden disabilities—that is, those disabilities that are more or less apparent, but may not yet have been made formally known to the school or to the teacher. While some schools may have effective means of communicating with teachers about special needs, not all parents choose to reveal those needs to the school or teacher for several reasons. These could include feeling nervous to share sensitive medical information with the teacher, combating negative stereotypes about their disabilities, or a sense that the child would be unfairly singled out or embarrassed in front of peers or others.

At the college level, students may also choose to hide their needs, hoping to get by or overcome a disability in a new environment or to not require accommodation in hopes they might be viewed as typical. In the studio, parents are not required to disclose disabilities, but it is essential that studio teachers ask parents to consider sharing existing conditions and appropriate accommodations so that the teacher can make informed decisions and develop appropriate practices to assist each and every student. At each level and in each setting, however, all teachers need to be aware that there still may be hidden (or undiagnosed) disabilities. Students may make a seemingly strange request or ask for help in a way that may be related to disability. If students are unable to help, for example, with rearranging chairs or stands, there may be a physical condition that prohibits that. If students are struggling to play off-the-string bowings for the first time with a steady motion, and if everything has looked and moves normally, there could be a physical condition prohibiting execution and control of the bouncing bow. Teachers should not attempt to diagnose disabilities but should communicate with students and parents about whether there is anything that might be prohibiting a normal function. In every case, however, it is essential that teachers recognize that all disclosure about any condition is completely voluntary.

Conclusion about Attitudes toward Students with Disabilities

Although many authors have called for increased focus on studying issues of inclusion, providing more training for teachers, and improving the overall climate for inclusion within music education classrooms and studios, it would appear there has been little, if any, progress. In fact, it would appear that the opposite has taken place. This is a frightening concept. As we will see, the corporate world—particularly in fields of technology and innovation—has placed greater emphasis on recruiting individuals with special needs into the workforce, because of the specific strengths that these special learners bring to the job. The corporate world has begun to view these individuals from the perspective of their strengths, rather than from the perspective of their weaknesses. This is moving beyond accommodation and instead moving toward integration and collaboration—a more holistic approach to teamwork and community. Is there something that the string profession could learn from this viewpoint? After all, our focus within any string ensemble—whether folk music, rock, classical, or any other genre—is to bring people of diverse backgrounds together to create something unique and beautiful. It stands to reason that changing teacher attitudes through training must be a critical factor in the potential success of inclusion of special learners into the string and orchestra classroom.

Furthermore, while public school teachers may have access to pre-service and in-service training opportunities related to working with students with disabilities, these opportunities are limited for private or studio teachers. studio teachers do not have access to the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that is part of the instructional plan for children with disabilities in a public school setting. As a result, they may not be aware of the important accommodations that should be in place for these students. Second, parents may hesitate to share information about their students with special needs to their studio teachers, thus denying important information to that teacher that would help serve the student. However, with the appropriate parental permission, when public school and studio teachers share a specific student, these teachers can share what strategies and teaching techniques have been successful, what accommodations have worked, and can also develop a common language for how they approach learning about the instrument and the levels of music that are appropriate for the individual student. Finally, it is incumbent on ASTA and other organizations to provide this type of critical information to its membership.

Understanding Musical Aptitude

Understanding what music aptitude is and is not is essential for music teachers. The field of music cognition and music aptitude are still relatively new, and our knowledge of music aptitude has dramatically increased in the past decade. We expect our understanding of the following concepts to continue to increase with ongoing research:

Playing a string instrument is a complex activity, comprising abstract reasoning, logical reasoning, spatial reasoning, physical-kinesthetic aptitude, musical aptitude, emotional intelligence, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence in some of the following ways.

Performing music well is an incredibly complex human activity, even for students who are developmentally typical. As we consider students who are special learners, it is essential that we understand more clearly what disabilities we will encounter in the studio and classroom. In the next issue of AST, I will discuss in greater detail the most common disabilities encountered in teaching-learning settings, typical characteristics of those disabilities, and strategies for supporting these very special learners in their quest to achieve fulfillment through playing a string instrument.