When teaching students with disabilities, it is important for music teachers to consider the functionality of the skills taught and learned beyond the music classroom. In special education, a curriculum centered on the life-long skills important for students to be independent in their communities is called a “functional curriculum.” Before considering how to adapt a traditional curriculum for students with disabilities, music teachers can used the ideas based in functional curriculum to develop a functional music curriculum, ensuring that both students with and without disabilities are learning the skills to engage in life-long music experiences.
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