Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students’ Perceptions of the Kodaly-Inspired Music Class
Abstract
This study focused on the perceptions of elementary students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing in a music class. The author was a preservice teacher serving her year-long clinical teaching. The goal of the study was to better understand deaf and hard-of-hearing students’ perceptions of a Kodaly-inspired class, their favorite aspects of music, what they believed would make their musical experience more enjoyable, and what areas of music that they, and their music teacher, believed they could improve. Qualitative data consisted of school records, surveys of the students and their interpreters, interviews of the students and music teacher, and observations of the students. Data was analyzed by using the constant comparative method. The results found the following: participants enjoyed music class, their favorite aspect of music was playing instruments, more visuals, sensory activities, and movement would make their experience more enjoyable, and the music teacher believed they could improve rhythm.