ED&I Hub | Diversity Fellow Project, Nicoletta Ciampa

Creating Capacity through Music

Project Narrative

1. Please describe your activities during your Fellowship experience. Describe your final capstone project(s).
My 2016-2017 Diversity & Disability Fellowship had two roots: the diversity committee and the music therapy team. Both groups are in their first year of existence and were developing their purpose, reaching out to the West Virginia University (WVU) Center for Excellence in Disabilities (CED) staff and the Morgantown, West Virginia community, and planning their first events. In both circumstances, there were typical “getting your footing” hurdles to cross, but a shared vision and effective collaboration helped the groups problem-solve and find ways to reach the populations they sought to reach.

2. Who did your project inform, help, influence or impact? (UCEDD, individual, community, state) How?
The Diversity Committee’s purpose is to increase cultural and linguistic competency throughout the WVU CED staff. Before taking specific initiatives that are lined out in the center’s five-year plan, the committee evaluated present-levels in cultural and linguistic competency. Throughout the process the committee had to evaluate and make decisions about what diversity means in our community and throughout West Virginia. Some of our survey questions returned results that would make one think that the West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disabilities is not very culturally or linguistically competent. As a committee, we had to analyze which questions returned said results because of West Virginia’s demographic and which questions returned results that suggested an area of weakness. According to the census West Virginia is predominately white, Christian, and in poverty. This meant that questions about representation in race and ethnicity yielded low competency but might be more indicative of West Virginia rather than the West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disability.

After analyzing the survey the committee developed a purpose and goals for the next five years. The goals that were established compliment the five-year plan that was developed by the WVU Center for Excellence in Disability in the Fall of 2016. The most immediate action steps for the committee were planning the Poverty Simulation & Training that took place on Tuesday, April 18 in Flatwoods, West Virginia, and developing a more inclusive social justice statement for the Center’s use. In addition, it was decided that education about what diversity, and cultural and linguistic competency are needed in order to proceed. Since most people see diversity as a person’s quality, many did not see diversity in West Virginia or the WVU CED. If people begin to see diversity not as an individual’s qualities, but as an interaction between people with multiple intersecting identities then West Virginia and WVU CED become more diverse than initially thought. The Poverty Simulation & Training was the first step in identifying and initiating some self-reflection and redefining of what diversity means for West Virginia.

I believe that the Intergenerational Choir addressed some diversity goals as well. The choir did not turn out as initially planned since participants who were recruited from various care-centers did not attend, but the experience is still beneficial for the CED staff and community members who attend. The Intergenerational Choir is not traditional music therapy; in fact, some would even say that it is not music therapy. Community music therapy, as it is termed by music therapy professionals, is based on music therapy principles and is executed by a trained music therapist, but addresses goals in a group context and feels and looks more like community music making rather than therapeutic intervention. Other professions have similar initiatives with “preventative care” community programs; their interventional expertise is used to create support systems, promote self-efficacy, and enhance social interactions within homogeneous and heterogeneous population groups.

Other music therapy related activities include providing direct services at Mountainview Elementary School with Ms. Jessica Bolyard’s Autism Spectrum Disorders classroom, helping establish music therapy as part of the WVU CED’s programs, and advocating for the profession in general. At Mountainview, Ms. Bolyard has a Master’s degree in Special Education and is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst as well as a Nationally Board Certified Teacher. My weekly 30-minute sessions at Mountainview provided me with the opportunity to use music therapy in an educational setting and to use my knowledge and experiences as an educator to enhance my planning and implementation in music therapy.

3. Why did you choose to work on that project(s)?
My capstone project for the semesters was helping follow through on the WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities’ contract with the Kennedy Center’s Very Special Arts Professional Development project “Creating Capacity through Music”. The professional development is intended for teachers who teach students ages 4-7 and who have students with and without disabilities in their classrooms. “Creating Capacity through Music” seeks to teach teachers how to use music in their classroom with purpose.

The project began by identifying an audience and attempting to recruit teachers in Monongalia and Marion counties through their respective district’s professional development or continuing education system. Additionally, local early childhood groups were contacted about the program. The aforementioned entities were all enticed by the prospect of this training, however registration yielded zero participants. This process continued with new approaches until a “we come to you…for free” model was established. Eventually we booked a training at the Hildebrandt Early Education Center at West Virginia University and provided a training for about 20 early educators. In the Fall of 2017, the training will be taken to school’s in-service days for public school teachers.

Content for the professional development training in centered around the need for more inclusive and strengths-based classroom models. For my Summer 2016 capstone project, I wrote a literature review on the use of music for non-musical purposes by classroom teachers in inclusive classrooms with children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The literature suggested that music can be used to increase motivation, attention, and social interaction in the classroom when implemented with those intentions. Here it is important to note the role of teacher training and practice when choosing to utilize music for these goals. It is essential that teachers have positive self-efficacy in their music use which requires adequate training and supervised practice. The “Creating Capacity through Music” training provides teachers a hands on opportunity to learn musical strategies for accomplishing non-musical goals, and provides an opportunity for in-classroom support from a music therapist.

4. What did you gain from being a Diversity Fellow?
My second year in this fellowship provided me the opportunity to actively participate and contribute to the fields that I anticipate working in. Through the opportunity created by my capstone project I was able to fuse my passions for inclusive and quality teaching with use of music and music-therapy based practices. I realized that there is a direct connection between fields, and also a need from both professions to have competent “dual-professionals”. I find that I am able to bring my teaching strengths to my music therapy practice and vice versa.

5. How will this experience impact your education or career decisions?
Generally I think the biggest “take-away” from my experiences at the CED is the importance of collaboration and a true multidisciplinary approach to client care. I have learned everything from practical skills to theoretical approaches from the multiple disciplines of the CED trainees and staff; that knowledge is just as or more valuable than some of my in-class experiences. The opportunity for students of varying backgrounds to collaborate and exchange ideas freely is a valuable experience.

6. What are your future goals? Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
As a professional musician, my motto regarding career choices has always and will always be to “keep an open mind”. Currently I may have an ideal population or grade but I do not want to shut off other opportunities at the expense of an ideal. Not to mention that the political climate we currently live in threatens both of my fields and poses the need to think creatively and advocate passionately. If we’re speaking in the ideal world, in five years I will have a position in a public school teaching K-2 where my class is notorious for effective inclusion and accomplishing individualized education plan goals in the least restrictive environment. Afterschool, on the weekends, and in the summer I will organize and facilitate community music therapy, group, and individual programming for various populations. My vision is to help create a community that is more efficacious in its inclusivity, interactions, and advocacy for people living with disabilities. I see that typically developing people are sometimes made uncomfortable interacting with people with disabilities (and vice-versa), and I believe that is this due to a lack of opportunity, education, empathy, and understanding of diversity. I seek to remedy these social issues through music and education.

More proximal endeavors include participation in “Dream Catchers” production of On the Other Side of the Fence, a musical written by a music therapist about friendship and social justice for those who are different from you. Beyond the contextual social parallels, the program will provide an opportunity for Morgantown youth to interact and participate in music and drama regardless of diagnosis or ability. The program provides an opportunity to research best practices for inclusive music therapy programming and perception of friendships of youth with and without disabilities.

7. What recommendations do you have for other Fellows?
If I were to make recommendations for future Diversity & Disability Fellows it would be to explore your own identities, define what diversity means to you in different contexts, and to always look for ways to make connections between your passions and the passions of others. Remember: diversity is an interaction.