Doctoral Colloquium (Music) | Neurodiverse Students in Post-Secondary Music Programs: A Whole Community Approach
The Doctoral Colloquium is open to all.
鈥�Either you can be a student with a different learning process and we can acknowledge and accommodate that or you can be a successful student at a school like Schulich鈥�
A student at the Schulich School of Music recalled the statement above being made to them by a teacher at our institution. Although this situation may not be typical, too often students with different needs and learning styles face challenges at the post-secondary level. Our entire community needs to recognize that these students deserve support and encouragement. This is often difficult as individuals who have been met with a lack of understanding in the past may be reluctant to ask for help. On Wednesday, January 15th, we will be hosting Drs. Anthea Skinner and Leon de Bruin from The University of Melbourne who will speak to us about that institution鈥檚 attempt to address these issues. The session will be held from 4:30 to 6:00 pm in C201. Graduate students, academic staff and support staff are warmly invited to attend.
Neurodiverse Students in Post-Secondary Music Programs: A Whole Community Approach
鈥淪tudents undertaking higher education music degrees represent a rich tapestry of experiences, cultures and needs. However, equity and inclusion issues related to music students with disability in higher education are frequently addressed in generic ways, and without consultation or consideration of their unique requirements鈥� (Thompson, de Bruin, Subiantoro & Skinner, 2024). Drs. de Bruin and Skinner formed part of a team which collected and analyzed reflections culled from a number of students with disability at an Australian Conservatorium of Music. A good proportion of these students represented the neurodiverse community. Study results indicated that there was a great need for institutional reform in dealing with the issues involved as well as for increased professional development for teachers. The researchers recommended a whole community approach and called for music educators, professional staff and institutional leaders to work together to implement truly inclusive best practices.
Dr. Anthea Skinner
McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Senior Lecturer, Disability Creative Performance
Victorian College of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts & Music
The University of Melbourne
Dr Anthea Skinner is an ethnomusicologist who specializes in disability music culture and education, organology and heritage archiving. She is currently a McKenzie Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. Dr. Skinner has published her research in prestigious journals including Disability and Society and Sexualities and has contributed chapters in books published by Cambridge University Press and Brill. She was also a 2021 Summer Fellow with the Medical Heritage Library where she created a curated resource set on the history of disability music. Anthea鈥檚 research into disability music focuses on professional musicians with disability, their creative output and career pathways, as well as adaptive musical instrument design. She is the coordinator of Melbourne Youth Orchestras' Adaptive Music Bridging Program providing instrumental music education to children with disability.
Dr. Leon de Bruin
Coordinator, Master of Music Performance
Teaching Degree Program, Conservatorium of Music
The University of Melbourne
Dr Leon de Bruin is Senior Lecturer in Music at the University of Melbourne, Conservatorium of Music, where he co-ordinates the Master of Music Performance Teaching degree (MMPT). He is a staunch advocate for quality music education nationally and worldwide, working as Australian Society for Music Education National Past President, committee member of the National Association for Arts Advocates (Australia) and Commissioner of ISME鈥檚 Instrumental and Vocal Teaching Commission. His research spans instrumental music pedagogy, music and educational psychology and performance science, with a focus on music teaching practice and teacher training. It also extends to phenomenological investigations of group music making, in particular diverse community musicking, and critical disability studies.
