'How can I include them?': Teaching pupils with visual impairment in the inclusive music classroom

Abstract

In most cases, music teachers lack specific strategies to give an appropriate response to the educational needs of students with visual impairments. Taking into account the need to find new approaches that are helpful for music teachers to go through the many challenges of inclusion, this article explores the potential that active music methods may have in the inclusive music education of students with visual disabilities. This exploratory study uses qualitative content analysis in combination with a case study method, intending to contrast the resources found in three active music methods (Ward’s, Dalcroze’s, and Suzuki’s) with the real experience of a music teacher. Results include ten resources which promote learning for all students along with the description of how the teacher used them in real life, examples and guidelines to be applied in the music classroom. Conclusions show that the pedagogies analyzed offer a wide range of opportunities for multi-sensory learning through the resources presented -which can also be transferred to other music pedagogies-, and confirm that active music methods facilitate inclusion in environments where students with visual disabilities are present.