Dr Anthea Skinner and Dr Leon de Bruin

About

Musical experiences can promote relationships and new kinds of flourishing can challenge dominant assumptions about the lives of people with disabilities. Approaching music through organised, developmental and sustained approaches should be available to all, but these are often not promoted or considered for those with a disability in school or community environments. The Adaptive Music Bridging Program established in Melbourne, Australia 2023 engages students aged 8-14 with a disability in ensemble based instrumental lessons, cultivating musical skills, literacies and knowledge through weekly participation. We examine the Adaptive Music Bridging Program as a case study to explore how adaptive pedagogies and teacher practices positively impact learning,  efficacy, and self-determination for students with a disability. We interrogate participatory pedagogies that foster inclusion and belonging, in turn, these promote positive learning behaviours, musical engagement, and the setting and meeting of students own musical goals. We implicate important questions for the field of disability studies and mainstream music education in schools, communities and private studios. These questions relate to the marginalization and exclusion of people with disabilities, and the value of pedagogic, relational/ theoretical discourse that allows music teachers to approach their profession with access and equity at the heart of what they do, who they teach, and what they aspire for their students.

Date

Thursday 28 August 2025 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM (UTC+10)

Location

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