With the intent of developing an effective community of practice (CoP) that addresses the professional development, instructional, and collaborative needs of music educators and special education paraprofessionals (SEPs), the purpose of this study was to examine the instructional processes, perceptions, and practices of music educators and SEPs in regard to teaching music to students with disabilities. The "grand tour" question of this study was: How does a community of practice offer collaboration and instructional support for music educators and SEPs? Research questions were as follows: 1) How do music educators and SEPs interact within a community of practice? 2) Does a community of practice impact the instructional and collaborative practices of music teachers and SEPs, and if so, how does it manifest in the classroom? 3) How does a community of practice shift participants' pedagogical and philosophical beliefs concerning teaching students with disabilities? 4) How does a community of practice facilitate growth and collaborative planning in ways that the school structures cannot? What does this tell us about music educator and SEP needs? 5) What aspects of the community of practice were most difficult for the participants, the easiest, and what did they find most useful?This was an instrumental case study (Stake, 1995, 2005; Merriam, 1988, 1998) of a group of music educators and special education paraprofessionals in a social learning community. As participants met, and relationships began to form, a community of practice emerged. Six participants, three music educators and three SEPs participated in this study which consisted of eight collaborative meetings that took place over the course of four months. I collected throughout the study, beginning with initial interviews and ending with exit interviews. Participants engaged in five meetings in-person at a local library, and three online via Discord®, an online voice and text chat platform. I observed in their classrooms twice over the duration of the study. Participants found the collaborative nature of the group to be the most beneficial. While instructional practices were only impacted moderately through participation in this community of practice, participant perceptions of their colleagues were changed. Participants stated they felt they understood more fully the perspective of their colleagues as well as how to more effectively collaborate with them.
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