Music Therapy in Special Education: Do We Need More Evidence?

The evidence-based framework underpins the field of special education research. Many educational researchers and administrators accept this model, and expectations of research are rapidly changing as it gains prominence. This dialogue explores the impact of the evidence-based model through a debate between two researchers in the field – a special education academic with a positivist agenda and a music therapy researcher with qualitative inclinations. Through a series of questions designed to illustrate their complementary perspectives, the authors provide opinions on what constitutes evidence in special education and consider the music therapy literature from these perspectives. Ultimately, they propose a research study that pragmatically accepts the evidence-based framework as one valid approach to research. This research project is seen as one step in a series of studies that have international collaborations as their basis.