The expertise of the music support teacher and workshop-teaching for school inclusion: pratices and research data

The research discusses the role that a support teacher with a music degree can assume in the italian lower secondary school. The expertise of this kind of support teacher has been considered a strategic resource for improving learning and participation of all students: art in general and more specifically ”quality music teaching” are both considered fields which are able to create stimulating situations in which teachers of all subjects can actively contribute in the planning, execution and assessment of interdisciplinary workshops. Using the method of Design-Based-Research, a "Metamodel for educational intervention" was elaborated and proposed to the schools participating in the experiment. It was applied during the school year 2011/2012 and used as a reference for the planning and execution of innovative and inclusive support activities by groups of teachers in specific classes (defined “intervention” classes); these classes were chosen according to predefined criteria. In each school some classes where traditional support activities were organized, were identified and used with a control function (“control” classes). Three lower secondary schools located in the south of Rome participated in the research, for a total of 3 “intervention” classes , 7 “control” classes, 95 teachers and 187 pupils aged from 11 to 15 of whom 12 with a disability.