Owen Flanagan

Dr Neelly

3/23/20

Victoria Hagedorn’s article “Including Special Learners: Providing Meaningful

Participation in the Music Class” is dissection of the IEP planning process as it pertains
to the music teacher, because progress within the IEP equates to a meaningful
experience for any special needs student in a music class. The IEP process revolves
around 5 major points. An IEP must utilize assessment information, long and short term
goals, plans for individual student needs, plans for any specific services the student
might need in their education, and a standard of criteria to evaluate the progress of the
student. Each student will have a specific IEP with specific needs individual to that
student. The student’s special needs will be outlined in the IEP and the job of teacher is
to find places in their curriculum where the needs of the student can overlap with the
subject matter and accommodate their needs when presented. For example a student
might have trouble with listening to directions, or using fine motor skills. In this situation
in a music classroom, you might need to take time to explain directions more than
once, or demonstrate more than once, or position the student’s hands on the
instrument for them etc. According to Hagedorn it all comes down to two primary
tenants which are patience and communication. A meaningful experience equals
progress in the student’s IEP and progress in the IEP is reliant on the willingness of the
teacher to accommodate the student’s needs, and the exchange of the information
between the special needs teacher, the classroom teacher, and the students parents.
Without being patient with the student the student won’t progress, and without
accurate and concise information exchange the student’s progress won’t be evaluated
properly.