Patrick Hait
Case Study

            As an instrumental music teacher, I have the honour and ability to teach children how to read, listen, communicate and express themselves in a completely new way.  This new medium of communication is notated by various patterns of lines, dots, numbers and symbols.  Most students have the ability to assimilate this symbolic language into their minds rather easily.  This information is then built upon on a weekly basis for the rest of the students’ life.  An exceptional learner can present a unique, but necessary challenge to ones teaching style and abilities.

            In my relatively short teaching career, I have had the opportunity to work with several exceptional learners.  One of the schools that I teach at houses a ‘gifted and talented’ program in which ninety percent of the class participates in band.  Both of my schools contain special education classes as well.  One of my most interesting experiences was at the end of my first year of teaching when I decided to teach the concept of 1-beat triplets to a clarinet class containing a student from the ‘G&T’ program.  After a couple minutes of explanation, the G&T student seemed perplexed.  “Mr. Hait, don’t you mean twelfth notes?”  I had never thought of triplets in that way before, but this student was absolutely correct.

            Each students’ brain is put together in a different way – some, more different than others.  I would like to tell of my experiences with a particular student that I will call Jane[1].  Jane is a fourth grade student who chose clarinet as the instrument that she wanted to learn.  From comparing her progress to that of the other students in the class, I could tell that she was going to need some extra attention.  Physically, Jane was able to successfully manipulate the reed and the ligature, but she had a very difficult time assembling the rest of her clarinet – particularly, the connection between the upper and lower joints.  Over the first few weeks of instruction, I could tell that Jane definitely wanted to be a part of the social group and feel success in this environment.  Although the disparity between her ability and that of her classmates widened at a rather fast pace, I did the best I could to help her to understand the concepts.

            Upon consultation with the other members of her educational team, including her classroom and resource room teachers, I was able to learn more about her disability.  Her teachers explained to me that she had learning difficulties in the areas of patterning, vocabulary development, mathematics, understanding punctuation, spatial relations and motor skills.  Each of these skills are necessary components to the development of a musician.  Through close work with her classroom and resource room teachers, we were able to help Jane perform and understand the music with a certain degree of accuracy.

            Approximately five weeks into the program, I realized that Jane was having extreme difficulty distinguishing between quarter, half and whole notes.  She was also having difficulty realizing the difference between the head of a note being on a line or in a space.  As I performed a task analysis, I began to break down each individual level of understanding that was needed in order for Jane to learn to read music and play the clarinet.  In defining each of these different levels, her disabilities were clearly manifested, but I determined that she was able to be successful at some level.  I started giving her extra help outside of the small group lesson right away.  Although it was quite frustrating at times, I was able to notice small improvements each week.  As time passed by, she was able to overcome some of her learning difficulties.  This process was expedited when I requested the help of her resource room teacher.  In coordination with Jane’s educational plan, the resource room teacher took the time to help her with rhythmic values using manipulatives.  I could notice the benefits of this reinforcement almost immediately.

            Unfortunately, the severity of her learning difficulties precluded her from keeping up with her clarinet class.  I tried to employ other strategies, such as giving her an extra weekly lesson and even coloring particular notes with a marker to help her to understand. As time went on, Jane was able to perform some excerpts of music, but not with the speed and accuracy of the rest of the students in the group.  After some time, I came to the realization that Jane would not be able to perform at the level of her peers, but that she should still have the opportunity to perform and feel a level of success.

            Unlike the classroom learning environment, instrumental music requires several of the body’s systems to work together in a synchronized manner.  As ones eye sees the notes on the staff, the brain has to perceive their shape and their spatial location.  The performer has to correlate the location and shape of the note with the musical vocabulary he has learned.  The brain also has to notice any patterns that are evident in the music.  The brain then has to communicate with the lungs, fingers, mouth and tongue in order to produce the sound on the instrument.  These elements of musical learning and performance list each of Jane’s disabilities.

            All of the extra help that the resource room teacher and I provided did help Jane to perform in the concert.  The fact that she was able to be successful was a great achievement.  In each class, there are students who attain different levels of expertise.  Although she did not achieve a level of expertise as high as I would have liked, Jane was able to perform at one of those levels.  Her development came more from rote repetition than from musical understanding, but the hope is that as her abilities develop, that she may be able to reach a greater understanding of the music.

Throughout this experience, I have come to the realization that a teacher has to appreciate every student in his class, even though some of these students are at different levels.  As a teacher, I believe that every student can be taught.  Although Jane’s development was slower than the rest of her class, she was able to learn and I feel that she surpassed her potential.  I hope that this experience helped her educational growth as much as it helped mine.