“There is no manual for this”: Teaching students with disabilities in self-contained classroom settings

Abstract

The descriptive collective case study reported in this article explored the experiences of three music educators who teach students with disabilities in self-contained elementary classroom settings. Utilizing Shaffer’s epistemic frame theory, this study sought to consider how teachers made pedagogical decisions and justified their choices in their teaching situations. Analysis of cross-case data collected through on-site multiday observations, interviews, and researcher memos identified three themes: challenges of planning and delivering instruction, teacher ideology, and developing self-efficacy. In particular, teachers discussed the lack of support for making pedagogical decisions, leaned into their own ideologies about student value and musical capability, highlighted the importance of reflexivity, and talked about ways they have developed self-efficacy in their teaching. Implications for the music education profession are shared in conclusion.