Conference Program

In recent decades Italy has been experiencing a growing diffusion of instrumental practice in compulsory education thanks to middle schools with a focus on music (SMIM) (Spadolini, 2022). In these schools, students who request and pass an orientation test can attend three additional hours of instrumental, music theory, and ensemble lessons per week (Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito, 2022). Recent studies suggest that SMIMs could be less inclusive than the rest of the school system, at least in the sense that they do not host as many students with specific learning disorders or disabilities as the average for schools at the same level (Chiaro, 2022). Such a pattern might be linked to the possible gaps in instrumental teachers’ training in an inclusive perspective highlighted by previous studies, as well as critical issues related to collaboration and inclusive practices (Rizzo, 2022). Nevertheless, instrumental teachers’ own attitudes, perceptions, and professional needs remain largely unexplored.

My research focuses on the professional development of instrumental music teachers in SMIMs in Trentino, Italy. The central research question is: How can in-service professional development be designed to support instrumental music teachers working in inclusive school contexts, from the teachers’ own perspectives?

The study will adopt a design-based research (DBR) methodology (Lehrer, 2019). DBR allows for iterative design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions directly in the school context, emphasizing teachers’ beliefs (Dignath et al., 2022), attitudes (Kielblock, 2018), and situated practices as key elements in fostering inclusive teaching. Here, inclusion is considered broadly, focusing on equitable participation and learning opportunities for all students, rather than targeting specific groups or using formal labels. 

The exploratory phase of the study will begin with focus groups involving school principals and other staff members to investigate their point of view on the training needs for a specific professional development program for instrumental music teachers. In the meantime, questionnaires aimed at exploring and comparing attitudes toward inclusion, self-efficacy, patterns of collaboration, and the perceived effectiveness and relevance to practice of the training already attended will be administered to instrumental music teachers and teachers of other subjects.
Findings from both data sources will then be presented to instrumental music teachers and used to elicit a discussion on their perceived needs.
This first mixed-methods data collection will inform the design of a context-sensitive in-service training program. Expected findings include a deeper insight into instrumental teachers’ perspectives on inclusion, the identification of key professional development needs, and the development of a training model.