Finding solutions to promote the inclusion of children with Cerebral Palsy in Arts Education Programmes of Music: an integrative literature review using webQDA

Abstract

In order to promote the inclusion of children with Special Needs in Arts Education Programmes of Music in Portugal, an Action-Research project began in September 2018. The present work -an Integrative Literature Review- aims to identify articles related to the theme of our study, analyse what the objectives of these studies were, their methodological options and the conclusions obtained. In this way we will have an in-depth notion of the state of art, or what is already known about the inclusion of children with motor disabilities due to Cerebral Palsy in music teaching. We began by conducting a search through selected keywords in English in the search engine b-on and Google Scholar, and in the following databases: Science Direct, Scopus, ERIC, Scielo and Web of Science. Sixty articles related to the theme of our study were selected. All the compiled information was organised and studied by content analysis supported by the webQDA software. Among the results obtained, we found the need to invest in specialised teacher training, in curricular adaptations considering the students’ potentialities and in enabling contexts and accessibility. The studies also refer the need to develop a collaborative network, that includes designers, teachers, participants, parents, therapists, researchers, etc. so that musical instruments, or digital technologies that replace them, are accessible to all and suited to their individual needs. In this way, the inclusion of people with Special Needs in Arts Education Programmes of Music will be a reality.