Music Education: Learning Module on Special Needs Students

This guide provides resources, terms and techniques to assist students completing the learning module on special needs students for licensure in music education.

Examples of teaching materials will be found in the Curriculum Materials Center in the Education Building.  For more information, see CMC website.

You can find more resources in the tabs menu, but below is a short list of some of the top go-to resources for this course.

Suggested Keywords for Searching

The key database for education literature is ERIC (linked below.) While you can use any keywords that describe the topic, using the terms that ERIC uses to describe topics (called descriptors) can make a big difference in finding useful articles and other publications.  These terms can be identified using the ERIC Thesaurus.  

Please note that in order to locate older articles published, scholarly research often requires searching with phrases or words that are now inappropriate, such as "mental retardation." 

General:

• MUSIC EDUCATION
• SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS 
• The thesaurus provides a long list of related terms, among them DISABILITIES.  This term has many narrower terms associated with it, including 
  • MENTAL RETARDATION
  • INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
  • SEVERE DISABILITIES. 
    • Narrower terms are listed under each of these, such as DOWN SYNDROME.  The indexers who assign terms tend to assign the most specific term for the article in hand, so you may need to search several synonyms. 
    • These can be combined using the OR command, e.g., MENTAL RETARDATION OR DOWN SYNDROME.

For legal issues, consider searching:

• EDUCATIONAL LEGISLATION
• SCHOOL LAW
• SCHOOL POLICY
• STUDENT RIGHTS
• TEACHER RIGHTS

Combining appropriate legal terms with appropriate terms for special needs students using the AND command will provide more relevant articles, e.g.,

• SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS AND SCHOOL LAW

Use the search box below to look for books, videos, journals, and other items held in Randall Library's collections. Note that this search can't be used to find journal articles--for that you'll need to either use a database or go to the library's main search at https://library.uncw.edu/.

Just as the ERIC database uses a controlled vocabulary of search terms to improve the quality of your search, the library catalog uses Library of Congress Subject Headings to indicate the subjects covered by books, media and other cataloged resources. 

Instead of music education, subject heading to use are:

• MUSIC -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY
• SCHOOL MUSIC -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY
• MUSIC IN EDUCATION
• [Type of musical composition] -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY, e.g., INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY
• [Musical instrument] -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY, e.g., PIANO -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY
• [Musical groups] -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY, e.g., BANDS (MUSIC) -- INSTRUCTION AND STUDY

Also consider searching:

• SPECIAL EDUCATION - MUSIC 
• CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES  
• PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
• CHILDREN WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES 
• PEOPLE WITH MENTAL DISABILITIES
• EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN    (a broader topic that also includes gifted children)

Also consider searching specific disabilities,

• AUTISTIC CHILDREN
• CEREBRAL PALSIED CHILDEN

For legal issues in education, use 

• EDUCATIONAL LAW AND LEGISLATION

For culturally responsive teaching, use:

• MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION
• EDUCATIONAL EQUALIZATION