In the field of inclusive education, the literature has recently acknowledged teachers’ relevance for the development of schools that are able to support all students. Thus, numerous researchers have advocated for collaborative, reflective, and experiential courses (EASNIE, 2015a; Florian & Pantic, 2017), and for the responsibility of teacher education to focus not only on teachers’ knowledge but also on the definition of a clear inclusive framework (EASNIE, 2015a; Florian & Pantić, 2017) and on the development of positive attitudes towards inclusion (Fiorucci, 2019; Sharma & Jacobs, 2016). Despite these reiterated calls, in the field of teacher education towards inclusion, the documentation of initiatives that involve groups of colleagues, that are based on experiential learning or on the use of reflection as a crucial tool for inclusive teachers is mostly lacking. As a result, the opportunity to gain inclusive competencies is not provided to all teachers, especially in the case of Italian in-service and secondary-school teachers (INDIRE, 2020).

Given these premises, the main purpose of this research was to describe in its complexity an experiential course in the field of inclusive education for all-subjects teachers at lower secondary school based on their active involvement in an orchestra. The metaphor of the orchestra, in fact, is often used in the field of inclusive education to describe a situation where differences are valued and harmonized to produce a rich result (as in Booth, 2011; Tomlinson, 2014). In addition, numerous authors have recognized the value of liminal and disruptive spaces for the modification of attitudes, and modalities of interaction, both in the field of experiential education (such as Bolick et al., 2020), and in that of performance studies (as in Turino, 2009). Thus, the main research question of the present project was: how does work an experiential course on inclusive didactics based on active involvement in an orchestral experience with the Esagramma Method for a group of in-service all-subjects teachers from the same lower-secondary school in Milan?

Based on this framework, the project was shaped as an exploratory single case study (Yin, 2018). Thus, a group of 7 colleagues teaching different subjects in the same lower secondary school were involved in an 18-hours course. The course was structured around the active involvement of teachers in an inclusive orchestra with the Esagramma Method, that is specialized in the inclusion of non-expert people in symphonic orchestras (Sbattella, 2013). Then, to allow participants to fully live the metaphor and derive the maximum didactical benefit from the course, the experience of the orchestra was combined with some theoretical and practical hints. They allowed, in fact, to translate the experience lived in the orchestra into a situated knowledge applicable to teaching. Thus, the orchestral sessions were integrated with a specific work on reflection as a tool to capitalize learning from experience; on the role of observation to achieve a deep reflective competence; on differentiated instruction, to explicitly name, and discuss about the strategies used in the musical sessions; on collaboration as a crucial competence for the success of the orchestra. At the end of the course, then, the participants were suggested to work together on a theme of the group's choice based on the practices of problem-based learning. Thus, they would have the opportunity to mobilize the newly acquired competences towards a topic perceived as relevant for their school community. Data were collected first using semi-structured interviews with participants (Brinkmann & Kvale, 2015) and qualitative class observations (Emerson et al., 2011) both before and after the course. Then, participant observations (Spradley, 2016) were performed during the whole course. The analysis of the data, instead, was performed using Thematic Analysis as described by Braun and Clarke (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

The comparison of the outcomes of this research with the existing literature has highlighted first the comprehensiveness of this experience. In fact, the participants reported first the crucial role played by a liminal experience for the development of new competences (as in Bolick et al., 2020; Glazier et al., 2017), reflecting also the importance attributed to liminal space as transformative (as in Turino, 2009). Then, they mentioned this experience as an opportunity to identify in their students, moving towards a less directive role in teaching (as in Deni & Malakolunthu, 2013; Girvan et al., 2016). Moreover, they described the birth of a community of practice (as in Bolick et al., 2020; Girvan et al., 2016). Finally, a change in attitudes towards inclusion was observed (as in Lautenbach & Heyder, 2019; Song et al., 2019). Then, some original outcomes were mentioned in this case study. First, the participants reported a special appreciation for the format, mirroring the difficulty to find collaborative, and experiential courses in the Italian context of teacher education. Then, they illustrated the involvement in the orchestra as an opportunity to live first-hand an inclusive experience where each participant is valued with its peculiarities. Thus, this experience is consistent with the use of the orchestra metaphor inclusive education sometimes has done (as in Booth, 2011; Tomlinson, 2014). Moreover, a change in their didactical practice was observed, because after the course the participants showed numerous attempts of differentiation. Finally, they mentioned the smoothing out and calming effect that this course had on the group. Thus, these outcomes, though exploratory, suggest a promising direction in the field of teacher education towards inclusion. In fact, only providing different formats and possibilities teacher educators will be able offer all teacher the opportunity to learn how to really be responsible for all their students.

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