New guidance on inclusive approaches to music education

A new guide to accessible music education in the UK is aiming to make it easier to find out about inclusive approaches to music-making and to open up music to people who face barriers to participating.

The guide signposts organisations, resources, venues, assistive music technology and instruments that can help teachers, music organisations and parents to find appropriate support.

Compiled by Drake Music in collaboration with Drake Music Scotland and the Music Education Council’s working group for Additional Support Needs, this first edition is produced as a PDF, with a focus on support for children and young people with special needs.

It is “intended as a starting point to creating a fully comprehensive guide in the future” and lead author Jonathan Westrup, blogging for Youth Music network, said he hopes that it may ultimately take on a wider role. “People told us that they wanted a guide like this, so we will be monitoring how many actually use it in the first year to see if this is a resource worth scaling up and developing further,” he told AP.

Anyone aware of relevant resources that are not included in the guide are invited to get in touch.