Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs

The music classroom is an inherently inclusive and cooperative environment. Meeting the needs of students with special needs, however, requires a specific set of skills, dispositions, and experiences to appropriately adapt and modify instruction. Enhancing the inclusive and cooperative possibilities in the music classroom while meeting the needs of all students is a challenging yet exhilarating possibility. This course will focus on identifying areas of strength and challenge in students with special needs, advocating for the appropriate classroom environment for all students, and the creation of adaptations and accommodations for students in inclusive and self-contained music classrooms.