Most people who decide to become teachers have little direct contact before college with students with disabilities. Is it helpful for music teachers in training to spend some time in a special needs classroom?

In a study published in the July 2009 Journal of Research in Music Education, Ryan Hourigan described a group of music teacher trainees as they observed a special needs classroom, then did some practice teaching of students with disabilities. This fieldwork put these preservice teachers in contact--some for the first time--with students who had exceptional challenges.

“I decided to do this study because of the lack of special needs preparation in music teacher education,” said Hourigan. 

In the article, Hourigan presents a brief overview of the education of those with special needs in the United States. As to the participating preservice teachers in the study, he offers the following observations based on the study:

• An orientation session for the trainees, which included introduction to the case method of teaching, was found to be very helpful.
   
• Observation, journaling, discussion, and emerging relationships were important to the participants.
   
• Although some participants had had contact with special needs children, most had very limited experience, and only one had formally taught individuals with similar challenges.
   
• “Adding a special needs fieldwork experience increased the participants’ perceived confidence in teaching students with special needs,” said Hourigan.
   

The complete article, “Preservice Music Teachers’ Perceptions of Fieldwork Experiences in a Special Needs Classroom” by Ryan M. Hourigan, is published in the July 2009 Journal of Research in Music Education, vol. 57, no. 2.

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MENC member Ryan M. Hourigan is an assistant professor of music education at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. This article is based on his doctoral dissertation.

--Ella Wilcox, August 19, 2009, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)