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"Invisible" students may include those who are awkward, are shy, have a disability, or are quiet by nature. Music educators can help socially challenged young people succeed in music and in life by creating a positive atmosphere in the music classroom from the beginning, by pairing "invisible" students with more outgoing or older peers, by modeling friendly and supportive interaction, and by encouraging information exchange among students.
Keywords: atmosphere; challenge; ensemble; identity; interaction; pairing; peer; performing; social
Jason is a seventh grader at Jefferson Junior High School. Today is band day. Jason goes to his locker, removes his trumpet, and proceeds down the corridor. He arrives at the band room, where there is a rumble of students warming up on their instruments. He finds his seat and sits down at the very end of the row and takes his folder out of his case. Jason's stand partner sits next to him as he sets his music out to get ready to play.
fason's band director finishes his warm-up and moves to working on a piece of music titled "Jamaican Holiday. " Jason loves the rhythms and the percussion sounds that are a part of this music. He is excited about the performance of this piece at the next concert. "Jamaican Holiday" is difficult for Jason.
Jason likes his classmates in band. However, it has been months since he has spoken to anyone in band, including his teacher. No one from band says hello at lunch, in the hallway, or on the playground. Jason gave up trying to make friends in band a long time ago.
At the end of rehearsal, Jason packs up his trumpet in his case. He walks silently past many of the students with whom he has been making music for weeks. He proceeds down the hall and back into the mold of junior high school.
This vignette was taken from a qualitative case study about Jason, a child who suffered from traumatic brain injury syndrome.1 This research focused on interactions among Jason, his classmates, his band director, his parents, and his school district. Jason encountered many challenges as a child with special needs in band. However, the purpose of this article is not to examine issues of children with...