Mainstreaming Exceptional Learners in Music - Hardcover

Mainstreaming is the term commonly used to refer to placing exceptional students in nonhandicapped classes for one period, for part of a day, or for their entire schooling. It is a reality in American education today, and it is here to stay. Its presence adds another variable that must be adequately addressed during the preparation of music teachers. Undergraduate courses for music educators already appear overwhelming in number. They include instruction in performance, theory and history, orchestration and conducting, and nonmusic areas such as learning theory, psychology, and educational history. But to provide adequate instruction for all students in a class, present and future music educators also need to be able to understand the individual differences of a variety of students designated exceptional and must adapt their instruction in appropriate ways. These students are categorized by single labels, such as hearing impaired or learning disabled or gifted and talented. Within each of these general descriptions, there are students of all ages who have a wide range of abilities and disabilities. Understanding these possible differences is a prerequisite for adequate preparation of music educators in the 1990s. The purpose of this text is to make that understanding a reality. Although it is primarily oriented toward music educators, the contents are also applicable to the preparation of music therapists. Only one exceptionality that therapists meet daily - speech impairment - is not specifically addressed in an individual chapter. However, this exceptionality is referred to in several chapters, including Chapter 11, where children with severe communication disorders are described.