Carrie Ann’s “How do I get started?” Questions

Posted by on February 8, 2010 
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1) Think about a teaching and/or learning issue, problem, or question that you have about your students, a course, an assignment, a pedagogical strategy, your program, etc. Briefly state that issue, problem, or question as a question(s).

Are music education majors educated and trained enough to work with learning and physically disabled students in music programs?

2) What do you know about this topic and about ways to study this question from the extant literature in your discipline and in higher education more broadly?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) both state that all students regardless of what their disability is must have access to all groups and ensembles that are available to the general student population. Yet, music educators are not given any specific training in how to work with special learners and here is where the problem lies.

3) Given your question, what types of information or artifacts do you already have that will help you answer this question?

I know from personal experience how difficult it is to work with learning or physical disabled music students and have learned over time how to do modifications to make music accessible to all students, regardless of disability.  I have had to look to outside sources (not my general education degree classes) to do so and I know how sensitive of a topic this is.

4) Given your question, what other types of information or artifacts will you need (and from what sources) to answer this question?

I will need interviews with both student teachers and with teachers who have been in the field for a number of years.  Also, I would like to look at the curriculum of a number of universities across the country to see if this topic/area is addressed in the teaching program.

5) Given your question and the information your need, what research strategies might you use to obtain this information and answer this question?

Strategies of interviews, observations, literature reviews, and other research into specific music education programs will have to be implemented to complete this research.

6) What time frame will be most appropriate to answer your question?

This research can be done over the course of the student teaching semester, appox. 16 weeks (4 months).

7) What are some practical problems you might face in doing this study? What resources would you need and how might you obtain these?

Some practical problems would be to obtain access to the schools in which the student teachers are assigned since some schools and administration are not open to having research done on their campus.

8 What ethical issues should you consider in doing this study?

I would have to get special Human Subjects Review Board approval since I am working with special education students (a protected population).

9) In what ways and in what outlets will you be able to obtain peer feedback on this work and make this work public?

This study I would like to have published in our professional journals, such as the Journal of Research in Music Education or Music Educators Journal.   Going through the study, I would look to my colleagues for feedback and to see if they have any other avenues for me to add to the research.

Comments



One Response to “Carrie Ann’s “How do I get started?” Questions”

  • Darren Cambridge on February 16th, 2010 2:15 pm    

    This is certainly a crucial issue worthy of close attention. As I think about your question, one issue that arises for me is whether this is a question about teaching and learning in the context of music teacher education or about the practice of T&L by music educators in the field, or some combination of the two? In other words, are you primarily concerned about what education or training teachers have received about working with students with disabilities, or about what they’ve learned about working with such students–which might come from sources other than formal education, such as their own reflective practice or scholarship of teaching and learning–and how that learning does or does not inform their actual practice?

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