Inclusive music pedagogies in practice: Multisensory and learner-centred approaches

In many parts of the world, mainstream schools accommodate learners with diverse abilities. Over recent decades, inclusive pedagogies have been widely discussed in education, acknowledging that all learners differ, and that successful inclusive educational settings should provide multiple opportunities for learning. This requires teaching, learning, and assessment approaches that offer multiple entry points for participation and learning. Within music education, significant research has theorised inclusive music classrooms and programmes (Jellison, 2015; McCord et al., 2025). However, there remains limited research-based guidance on how inclusive pedagogy can be enacted in practice within music education. This presentation shares findings from two research studies exploring learners’ experiences of inclusive pedagogy in music education, undertaken in higher and primary education contexts, in Ireland and Cyprus. A case study methodology was employed in both studies. An integrated framework combining theories of inclusive pedagogy and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (Varvarigou, 2025) was used to map inclusive music pedagogy in practice. Findings from both studies revealed that key practices promoting inclusive pedagogy included repetition of structure and materials to establish a sense of routine and to promote musical development; imitation-based activities that gradually led to interaction; and multisensory learning. These experiences extended beyond the visual, auditory, and tactile modalities traditionally emphasised in education to include olfactory, vestibular (sense of balance and movement), and proprioceptive (sense of body in space) dimensions of musical learning. The presentation concludes with recommendations for inclusive practice across diverse learning contexts and across the life course, advocating for hands-on, person-centred and participant-led approaches within flexible structures. Furthermore, it highlights the role of educational leadership in promoting co-creation and recognising learners as experts in their own learning.