IncluMusic, a project dedicated to fostering the inclusion of students with Special Education Needs (SEN) in Higher Music Education (HME), has recently achieved significant milestones. The project team continues to hold regular monthly meetings to review the progress and plan upcoming activities. In addition, mid-term findings were disseminated at two major AEC events: the IRC Meeting in Dublin in September 2024, and the AEC Annual Congress in Milan in November 2024, where the e-learning platform, featuring six different modules for teachers, administrative staff and tutors was showcased.
Progress on the e-learning platform
The team has made significant progress on its e-learning platform. While the courses for teacher training are nearly complete, work on the modules for administrative staff and tutors is still ongoing. The next steps include internal and institutional evaluations of the training programme by project partners (only conservatoires), with results expected by the end of January 2025. Following this, Work Package 4 will start, focusing on the evaluation of external testing. This phase will be coordinated by the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM).
All the videos featured in the different modules are being uploaded to the official IncluMusic YouTube channel, which you can access here. You can now subscribe and click the notification bell to stay updated on new uploads and resources!
Dissemination highlights at AEC events
At the AEC International Relations Coordinators (IRC) Meeting in Dublin in September 2024, IncluMusic hosted a session titled “Enhancing Accessibility for Students with Special Education Needs (SEN): The Example of the Erasmus+ Programme and IncluMusic.”
This session was organised in collaboration with the Austrian Erasmus+ Higher Education Agency and featured speakers Kim Fallen Bailey, Jessica Harris, and Áine O’Sullivan (RIAM), alongside Maria Prodromou (European University Cyprus), and Margit Dirnberger (Austrian Erasmus+ Agency).
The session explored the challenges faced by SEN students during Erasmus+ mobility, including issues related to wheelchair accessibility, neurodivergent needs, and accommodations for students with visual or hearing impairments. Practical strategies for fostering inclusion were shared. The project training modules were presented for the first time, which include resources like mindfulness techniques. Participants engaged in collaborative discussions and shared personal experiences, helping to identify actionable solutions for inclusive practices across institutions.
At the AEC Annual Congress and General Assembly in Milan in November 2024, IncluMusic was featured in a session titled “Fostering the Inclusion of Students with Special Education Needs in Higher Music Education: The Case of IncluMusic and the CM Special Needs Working Group.”
This session was organised in collaboration with Conservatorio di Milano and the AEC Diversity, Inclusion and Gender Equality (DIGE) Working Group. It was led by IncluMusic team members Elide Scarlata (Conservatorio di Musica Alessandro Scarlatti di Palermo), Ioana Zagrean and Maria Pia Ferdinandi (Università LUMSA), along with Francesca Innocenti (Conservatorio di Musica Arcangelo Corelli di Messina, DIGE Working Group member), and Emilio Piffaretti (Conservatorio di Milano).
The discussion highlighted the progress of IncluMusic’s six Work Packages, focusing particularly on the third one. Attendees learned about the role of Academic Tutors in supporting SEN students, with hands-on exercises on music therapy and mindfulness to illustrate part of the content included in the modules. The session also included contributions from the DIGE Working Group, which provided insights on addressing visible and invisible disabilities in HME institutions. Speakers discussed the importance of creating safe spaces for dialogue, tackling implicit biases, and adopting inclusive practices to enhance accessibility and equity in HME.
IncluMusic is a strategic partnership project co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme and coordinated by the Academia Națională de Muzică „Gheorghe Dima” in Cluj Napoca, Romania. To find out more about the project’s latest developments, please do not hesitate to visit the official project website: https://www.inclumusic.eu/ and stay tuned to AEC’s social media channels.
