Studying inclusion in music education: an integrative literature review as a support in the choice of methodology, using WebQDA

Abstract

To reflect and clarify the methodological paths we are following, theobjectives of this work were to base the choice of the methodology to be usedin our research project related to the Inclusive Education of children with spe-cial needs in Arts Education Programmes in Music in Portugal. We started bycomparing methodologies used in other research studies on the same theme. Wecarried out an integrative literature review according to the theme of our study. Webegan by searching articles through selected keywords in English between 2015and 2020 in the search engine Google Scholar and b-on, and in the databases:ERIC, Web of Science, and Scopus. All the compiled information was organ-ised and studied through content analysis supported by the webQDA software.We compared methodological options of 40 selected studies. We found 3 empir-ical studies, 27 studies using an interpretative paradigm and 10 studies using asocio-critical perspective. However, according to the subject of our study, thereis only one study using the Action-Research Methodology. Nevertheless, consid-ering the other methodological possibilities, we confirmed that this methodologyis the most appropriate for our type of study. The flexibility and collaborativenature of Action-Research is an advantage. The researcher can be considered aspart of the reality under study, allowing us to achieve an in-depth understandingof the problems and practical situations. From this perspective, all subjects can beparticipants in the construction of knowledge, in a continuous dialectical process,in favour of inclusion.