BackgroundThrough its history as a professional discipline music therapy has been linked with special education, and authors worldwide have suggested that music therapy is helpful in supporting student learning and development (Brown, 2002; Bruscia, 1998; Bunt, 1994, 2002; Wigram, Pedersen, & Bonde, 2002). Children's responses often are enhanced in the music therapy setting (Rickson & McFerran, 2007) where splinter skills or unique musical responses that surpass the child's usual level of functioning'' are often evident (Rickson, 2001, p. 29). Music therapy as part of a team approach therefore provides other team members with increased insight into students' abilities and needs (Twyford, 2004, 2007; Twyford & Watson, 2007, 2008; Walsh Stewart, 2002) which in turn leads to music therapists receiving requests for guidance and support from educators and caregivers of students who want to use music in their work.Further, the current international focus on inclusive education, which aims to have all students working alongside their peers (UNESCO, 2009), suggests it will be necessary for music therapists to develop new approaches to work in mainstream school settings. Specifically there is a need to consider working primarily with teachers and support staff in schools rather than using traditional music therapy methods which involve working in private settings away from the classroom. Music therapists will have an important role to play in helping educators to use music more effectively, as this in turn will have a positive impact on student learning. Moreover, geographical isolation and the current small number of music therapists in this country also limit many children from accessing regular, ongoing support. Indeed, the current consultation resulted after school administrators were unable to employ a music therapist to do regular weekly sessions.Currently, however, there is very little literature describing music therapists engaging in a process to empower adults to work with students who have special needs, in school settings. In her review of music therapy consultation in schools, Rickson (2010b) identified several articles that referred to work in early childhood settings (Kern, 2004; Register & Humpal, 2007), or was undertaken with music, rather than general classroom educators (Darrow, 2002; Johnson, 2002; Jones & Cardinal, 1998). She ascertained however that there was a lack of clarity regarding the use of the term 'consultation' and what was involved in a music therapy consultation process; and subsequently set out to describe Music Therapy School Consultation as a specific practice (Rickson, 2010a).At the time this consultation took place, Rickson was using information from four consecutive case studies to develop a Music Therapy School Consultation Protocol (Rickson, 2010b). Her protocol draws on the Social Learning Model of Consultation (Brown & Schulte, 1987), which suggests student learning is impacted by the complex interactions that take place between the student, adults, and the learning environ- ment. She argues therefore that it is best for music therapists to consult with just one consultee who is focusing on one student, each time. The adult learning is likely to have a wider 'ripple effect' however; any constructive adult change is presumed to have a positive impact on many more students than the one/s who is included in the consultation process.Although Rickson's (2010b) work was still in the data collection phase when this study began, the current consul- tation process mirrored many aspects of her protocol. Specifically, the consultation took place over a period of 5 days, that is, a whole school week, and the process involved gaining access to the school, engaging with consultation participants, an assessment process, planning music activities that would be used by staff in an on-going way, implementing those activities, and evaluating the consultation process. …