Inclusive education aims to integrate student diversity into mainstream classrooms, providing equal opportunities and fostering an environment of acceptance and empathy (Jardinez & Natividad, 2024; Quazi, 2023). With a willingness to promote accessible learning environments for all students, it works towards eliminating discrimination and creating an inclusive society (Saharan & Sethi, 2009). The new Music Curriculum (2022) describes inclusive education as a pedagogical innovation and a process that promotes equitable access to music learning and should be a priority for every music educator. However, its implementation seems to face several challenges such as lack of trained teachers, insufficient logistical infrastructure and even in terms of community awareness (Quazi, 2023). The aim of the present study is to explore the views of university music students' views on their understanding of inclusive education in music lessons and inclusion in general in the school environment. The question being addressed is whether inclusion is a teaching approach or whether it is a more general attitude to life, values and ethics of the music teacher. An exploratory qualitative study design was employed using an open-ended questionnaire. The questionnaires (N=75) were distributed via email to all students majoring in music education of the School of Music of the Ionian University. The open-ended questions gave the participants the freedom to express in their own words their opinions and thoughts according to their understanding. A thematic inductive analysis was carried out from which broader categories emerged, including the interpretation or misinterpretation of the term itself, the belief that it concerns people with disabilities, the difficulty in its implementation, the treatment of the Curriculum as a barrier, and the need to deal with established beliefs and stereotypes. As Norwich (2005) argues, addressing inclusive education requires a synthesis of values, concepts and teaching experience, respectively the study suggests that inclusion cannot be seen only as a behavioral construct or a systematic pedagogical approach, but rather as a multifaceted concept that requires careful consideration of various factors that need to be taken into account during the studies of future music teachers.

• Inclusion, marginalization, bullying and exclusion
• Music education for social justice and equality

Mitsi Akoyunoglou is an Assistant Professor of Music Therapy and Inclusive Music Practices at Ionian University, Corfu. She completed her BA and MA in music therapy at MSU, USA, and a PhD and a PostDoc at Ionian University. For the period 2023-2026 she is the Regional Liaison for Europe at WFMT and the Country Representative of Greece to EMTC. She is a member of the scientific committee of Mousikopaidagogika, on the editorial board of Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, co-editor of the open access resource Music Therapy Dictionary: A Place of Interdisciplinary Encounters and co-president of the Organizing Committee of the 10th International Conference of GSME.