Table Of ContentACCESSIBILITY OF VISUALS IN THE MUSIC CLASSROOM
FOCUSING ON STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES, STUDENTS IN POVERTY,
AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE
HONORS COLLEGE
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR HONORS IN THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF MUSIC EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF MUSIC
COLLEGE OF THE ARTS
BY
KATHERINE A. HOLBROOK
ABSTRACT
This research focuses on visual aid accessibility for students with disabilities, students
from poverty, and culturally diverse students. Each of these facets are explored, defined, and
reflected on in regard to how visual aids could be more accessible for each community of
students. Posters have been developed based on this research to practically apply the findings to
visuals that could be used in a music classroom.
When considering the accessibility for students with disabilities, it is crucial to review
legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990, 2004, 2013) which
mandates services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. This research specifically
focused on cognitive disabilities, language disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and vision loss,
or those that would be hindering when using visual aids.
Another community of students that are discussed in this research is the students in
poverty. Classroom structure may be one of the largest influences on any student’s learning
abilities, which includes visual aids. There are many types of poverty that are to be
acknowledged in any classroom environment, and some students may even be considered in
multiple subcategories of poverty (Payne, 1996). These subcategories include situational,
generational, absolute, relative, urban, and rural (Jensen, 2009). Visual aids help students in
poverty with availability of instructional resources, dedication to diversity and equity, and
emphasis on reading skills.
Cultural diversity is an additional factor of differentiation when defining a community of
students and their accessibility in the classroom. Culture is currently viewed as shared patterns of
behavior and interaction, as well as cognitive constructs and understanding learned through
socialization (Pratt, 2016). It is crucial that a culture not be essentialized (making
generalizations about a culture that would blur their unique distinctions) in the representation of
that culture. Cultures can be explored through songs, choral works, instrumental selections, and
listening experiences while making musical connections to a culture’s art, dance, literature,
drama, and social studies.
Practical applications of creating visual aids that are more accessible are then
discussed. Each group of students have specific accommodations that are needed to promote
accessibility to the learning environment, including visual aids.
DEDICATION
To my mother, Kenli Holbrook, for showing me what it means to
teach with compassion and to foster lifelong learning
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to my thesis director and mentor, Dr. Michelle Folta, for encouraging me
through this process and guiding me down the path that led to this thesis. It has been a long time
coming, but this completed thesis has become a passion project for myself because of her
investment.
Thank you to the music educators of Muscogee County School District, for mentoring me
through my undergraduate degree and welcoming me into your classrooms. I am thrilled to
continue these connections as I become a colleague next school year.
Finally, thanks to the supportive faculty members of the Schwob School of Music at
Columbus State University who have supported and guided me. I am beyond fortunate to have
such successful mentors to follow that are so passionate about their craft.
Introduction
For most individuals, visual stimulation is constantly occurring. From the moment we
wake up, we take in a world of information primarily through our visual senses as well as other
senses such as auditory and kinesthetic. Children retain so much simply from visual stimulation.
Many educators deem it important that knowledge taught at school is accessible to all students.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures services to children with
disabilities in their education (2004). To comply with this law, all teachers should strive to make
their classroom accessible for all students, including music educators. If children retain
information well from visual stimuli, the quality of the visuals in a classroom should be
considered, including how accessible they may be for all students. Accessibility of visuals in the
music classroom for students with disabilities, students in poverty, and culturally diverse
students will be explored in this thesis. The practical application of the research has been
considered and visual aids have been developed to reflect the necessary accessibility.
Students with Disabilities
Music teachers strive every day to make their classrooms accessible for everyone,
particularly students with disabilities. Adamek (2010) structured her book Music in Special
Education, by types of disabilities and this section will be similarly structured, but will only
address cognitive disorders, language disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and vision loss, as
they relate to the accessibility of visual aids and posters in the music classroom. To understand
education in the life of a student with disabilities, it may be resourceful first to understand the
laws in place that ensure educational services be provided.
Most students with disabilities are in inclusive classroom settings as mandated by IDEA
(1990, 2004, 2013). According to Ayers, Quinn, and Stovall (2009) and Thomas and Loxley
(2007), inclusion is “based on issues of social justice, equity, tolerance, pluralism, and individual
rights.” Four basic philosophical ideas guide inclusion-based practices: 1) the belief that all
people desire to develop in some capacity; 2) the belief that the student is a whole person and to
provide an integrated approach for that student’s education through collaboration with others;
3) the belief that these students should have experiences as close to normal as possible; and
4) the promotion of empowerment and decision-making of students and their families regarding
services (Kochhar, West, & Taymans, 2000).
It is also important to establish the differences between mainstreaming and inclusion.
Mainstreaming means the students are only in the general education classrooms for part of the
school day. Mainstream students spend are only in the general education classrooms for part of
the school day. Mainstream students spend a large portion of the school day in a designated
classroom and only attend one or two general educational classes. Alternatively, inclusion
students attend general education classes for most of the day, and sometimes receive one-on-one
instruction based on their academic needs (Adamek, 2010).
Inclusion was mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990, 2004).
According to the United States Department of Education (2017), IDEA (2004) was a law that
mandated services to children with disabilities throughout the nation. Within this legislation,
students with disabilities receive input from parents and teachers regarding their educational
goals. Individualized Education Plan, or IEP, contains a statement of the student’s present level
of performance (PLOP), annual educational goals, and the support and services provided by the
school, such as paraprofessional assistance. The IEP team is comprised of the parent, at least
one general education teacher, at least one special education teacher, a school district
representative, a school psychologist, and the child if at the age of 16 or older.
Section 504 mandates accommodations to attain the goals of the IEP. The “Section 504”
name comes from the law section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. A Section 504 Plan
consists of specific accommodations, supports, or services to aid the academic success of the
student with disabilities. The team that develops a Section 504 Plan can include the general
education teachers, the special education teacher, the principal, the parent, and possibly the
student, based on maturity and age (Stanberry, 2017).
As previously stated, for the purpose of this thesis, the focus on students with disabilities
is limited to students with cognitive disabilities, language disorders, autism spectrum disorders,
and vision loss. This decision was based on the specific disabilities that may hinder learning
with visual aids. However, other disabilities should be considered when developing a learning
environment and teaching style as a whole.
Cognitive disabilities can take many forms such as 1) intellectual disability, 2) learning
disability, or 3) traumatic brain injury. Intellectual disability, formerly known as mental
retardation, can be caused by genetic factors, environmental factors, or brain factors. Students
with cognitive disabilities can have difficulty with cognitive skills and adaptive skills. Children
with these disabilities can be more likely to have multiple disabilities. Students with learning
disabilities can have neurologically based processing problems with processing information in
terms of input, memory, integration, and output. Issues with reading, writing, math, or general
memory are typical complications for students with cognitive disabilities. Additionally, students
may have difficulty with attention, socialization, or frustration tolerance. Traumatic brain
injuries can affect all areas of functioning for a student including social/emotional, cognitive,
physical/motor, and communication (Adamek, 2010). The effect of the injury that happened to
the student is dependent of the nature, severity, and location of the injury. Music teachers of
students with intellectual disabilities may consider providing additional support in order for the
student to find success in the music classroom, such as communicating with the general
education and special education teachers and the parents to determine participation goals in the
music classroom (Adamek, 2010).
Language disorders can be caused by other afflictions such as cerebral palsy, mental
retardation/intellectual disability, autism, brain injury, or hearing impairment. This complication
with language can be developed before, during, or after the development of typical language
skills. Language delay should not be confused with language disorder. Language delay is when
the student develops typical language competencies but at a slower rate than expected, while
language disorder is when the student displays language skills and behavior that are not typical
of normally developed language skills. The student’s difficulties may be related to content
(semantics), form (phonology, syntax, and morphology), or functional use (pragmatics).
Children on the autism spectrum should also be considered when assessing the
accessibility of visuals in the music classroom. Autism and autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
are highly present in American schools; one in one hundred individuals have either autism or
autism spectrum disorders (Adamek, 2010). The autism spectrum is based on six different
qualitative criteria: 1) measured intelligence (severely impaired to gifted), 2) social interaction
(aloof to passive to active yet unconventional), 3) communication (nonverbal to verbal),
behaviors (intense to mild), sensory (hyposensitive to hypersensitive), and motor (uncoordinated
to coordinated). Students with Asperger’s syndrome, a syndrome on the spectrum, are highly
functional, for example; they experience challenges in social behavior, but have little to no
