Inclusive Education

 Inclusive Education

Inclusive in education is an approach once thought only necessary fore ducating students with special educational needs. Now it is crucial that allt eachers ensure inclusive practice for all students in their classroom and the wider school. Under the inclusion model, students with special needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled students. Implementation of these practices varies. Schools most frequently use them for selected  students with mild to severe special needs.

Inclusive education differs from previously held notions of integration and mainstreaming, which tended to be concerned principally with disability and ‘special educational needs’ and implied learners changing or becoming ‘ready for’ or deserving of accommodation by the mainstream. By contrast, inclusion is about the child’s right to participate and the school’s duty to accept the child. Inclusion rejects the use of special schools or classrooms to separate students with disabilities from students without disabilities. A premium is placed upon full participation by students with disabilities and upon respect for their social, civil, and educational rights. Inclusion gives students with disabilities skills they can use in and out of the classroom. 

Inclusive Education: What is it all about?

Since independence, year after year the goal of UEE is set, but never achieved so far. One doesn’t realise that millions of children in this world are victims of genetic disorders. This “disorder” often puts the victims into a very disadvantageous position, not merely because of the “disorder” but due to lack of proper understanding by the others/all. Education for all, means, the system should bring all the category of the children in the age group of 6-14 years into the school fold. No one can be denied. In this context, efforts are being made to integrate children with the “disorders” into the school system and facilitate learning by making curriculum adaptation. This “facilitation” calls for a systematic planning with regard to children teachers, teaching learning material, classroom management and material management, starting from classroom to state level. The training institute (DIET) at the district level plays a prominent role in promoting elementary education in terms of quantity, quality and equity. 

Type and levels of Disabilities

The disabilities can be broadly classified into the following categories. These categories can be further classified on the basis of level of problems and type of problem.

(i) Visual Impairment

(a) Refractive errors-short sight or long sight.

(b) Partial vision or low vision. who have difficulty in reading print even after wearing spectacles.

(c) Totally blind.

(ii) Hearing Disabilities

(a) Slight hearing loss - (26-40db) decibels.

(b) Mild hearing loss - (41-55 db) decibels.

(c) Moderate hearing loss (56-70 db) decibels

(d) Severe hearing loss (71-90 db) decibels

(e) Profound hearing loss (91db or more) - Hearing aid does not help

(iii) Mentally Retarded

(a) Slow learners - (I Q 75 to 89 IQ)

(b) Mild mentally retarded (IQ 60-65 to 70-75 IQ)

(c) Moderate Mentally Retarded. (IQ 35-40 to 60-65 IQ)

(d) Severely retarded (IQ 20-25 to 30-35 IQ)

(e) Profoundly retarded (IQ 20-25 and below)

(iv) Physically Handicapped or Orthopedic Handicap

(a) Polio of hands or legs (Upper or lower limbs)

(b) Central nervous system disorder (cerebral palsy, Epilepsy)

(c) Congenital malformations of limbs (e.g. Spinal bifida, or Club foot, or bow

legs)

(d) Diseases of the muscular skeletal system.

(e) Muscular dystrophy or wastage of muscles in arms or legs.

(f) Rigidity of joints - due to Rheumatoid arthritis.

(v) Learning Disabilities

(a) Reading disabilities (dyslexia)

(b) Disability to comprehend or speak - Dysphasia

(c) Writing disabilities - Dysgraphia

(d) Arithmetic disabilities (dyscalculia)

(e) Disability to express orally - aphasia

(f) Disability to read or write printed matter - Alexia

Strategies of meeting the special needs of children with disabilities

The following strategies are useful in meeting the special needs of children with disabilities.

(a) Reducing the deviation

This can be achieved in two ways - reducing the defect/disability and reducing the visibility of the defects.

(b) Reducing the disability

This is possible through the following strategies.

(i) Practice - copy writing, speech training, remedial instruction etc.

(ii) Substitute learning-use of left hand if right hand becomes deformed. Lip reading if unable to develop speech, braile learning, type writing, if unable to write by hand etc. (Devices which help in improving functioning)

(iii) Functional prosthetics – magnifying glasses for the children with partial sight, hearing aid calculators, if unable to compute, braile type writer, alphabetic chart for those who forget the shapes of the letters etc.

(c) Reducing the visibility of the defect: This is helpful in developing positive attitude towards the children with physical defect. The visibility of the defect can be reduced through the following strategies.

Use of the cosmetic prosthetics; Use of articifial limbs which are not functional, wearing black glasses by blind person, transparent hearing aid. Etc. Compensatory learning; proper body posture control learning appropriate soial manners etc.

(d) Changing the environment: Manipulation of the environment is also very much essential in meeting the special needs of children with disability. this involves

1. Alteration of physical environment, and,

2. Alteration of the social environment.

3. Alteration of the physical environment has two important objectives

1. Improving responses-Removing architectural barrier so that mobility is eased, adaptation in the house hold articles so that day to day activities can be carried out without much difficulty, adaptations in the communication devices. like videophone for the deaf, talking machine for the blind etc.

2. Improving stimulus large print book for the partially sighted, proper placement in the class for the deaf avoiding distraction for a child with concentration problems etc.

4. Alteration of the social environment - through parental guidance and Counselling Orientation to the peers,  public awareness programmes teacher training programmes.

Role of teachers in meeting the special needs of children disabilities in the inclusive schools

The role of teachers in meeting the special needs of children with liabilities vary from one disability to other. How ever there are certain common roles. They are listed below.

1. Identification of the children with disabilities in the classroom.

2. Referring the identified to the experts for further examination and treatment.

3. Accepting the children with disabilities.

4. Developing positive attitude between normal children and disabled children.

5. Placing the children in the classroom in proper places so that they feel comfortable and are benefited by the classroom interaction.

6. Enabling the children with disabilities to avail the facilities provided for them under IED scheme.

7. Removing architectural barriers wherever possible so that children with disabilities move independently.

8. Involving the children with disabilities in almost all the activities of the classroom.

9. Making suitable adaptation in the curriculum transaction so that the children with disabilities learn according to their ability.

10. Preparation of teaching aids/adaptation of teaching aids which will help the children with disabilities learn.

11. Parental guidance and Counselling and public awareness programme through school activities.

12. Acquiring competencies which are essential in meeting the needs of the children with disabilities.

13. Cooperating with resource teachers if resource rooms are available.

14. Collaborating with medical and physiological personnel social workers, parents and special teachers.

15. Providing scope for cooperative learning among disabled and normal children.

16. Conducting case studies and action research related to the specific problem of children with special needs.

17. Construction of achievement and diagnostic tool.

18. Adaptation in evaluation for children with special needs.

19. Nurturing the talent among children with disabilities.

20. Providing remedial instruction to the children who require it.

The teachers can perform the above roles only when essential competencies are developed among them. This calls for intensive training of the teachers with adequate practical component.

Children With Special Needs:

Children with special needs are often also referred to as ‘exceptional children’. These children may either be ‘special’ because of their innate characteristics or the environment in which they have grown.Children with exceptional talents are called gifted and have their special needs. Similarly, children coming from materially deprived and socio- culturally disadvantaged backgrounds have their own special needs.

Traditionally, children with special needs (except the gifted, who are ignored) are labeled as defective and kept away from regular classrooms. ‘Labeling’ children under special categories, many people argue helps in identifying their specific problems and arranging special programmes for them. On the other hand, the disadvantages of labeling, many people believe, are overwhelming. Labeling often is an incomplete description of a human being, focusing on the negative and lowering one’s self image. Second, incorrect labeling or over generalization may lead to incorrect treatment.

Gifted and Talented Children

Gifted, talented, able, geniuses, bright are terms associated with a group of people who have extraordinary abilities in one or more areas of performance. According to Purcell (1918) the terms gifted and talented refer to children and youth who are identified as possessing demonstrated or potential abilities that show evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, specific academic or leadership ability or in performing and visual arts. Ramos-Ford and Gardner (1991) defined intelligence or giftedness as “an ability or set of abilities that permit anindividual to solve problems or fashion products”. This perspective of। giftedness is referred to the theory of multiple intelligence. Intelligence manifests itself in linguistics, logical mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily- kinesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal behaviours.

Children with IQ of 140 and above are considered to be gifted. Gifted children often begin reading earlyand read above their grade level. They have unusually large vocabulary and wide ranging interest. They display a thirst for knowledge, excellent memory and the ability to transfer information from one topic to another.They are able to learn rapidly and easily and retain what they learn. They usually ask a lot of questions and demonstrate mature reading ability. They often enjoy the company of older children and show interest in humanity and the universe at a very early age. Besides academic accomplishment, they are socially well adjusted and have superior physical ability and moral attitudes in comparison to average children. Often, they excel in every subject.

Gifted children may be identified through screening. During this process school teachers, psychologistsand other school personnel attempt to identify all potentially gifted children. Formal measures of identification include taking intelligence tests and achievement tests. Often however, such tests have a restricted range of topics on which questions are asked. Therefore they are not considered a full proof method of identifying gifted children.

Gifted children are above average in their abilities and therefore require special treatment at school to make full use of their potential. Two ways of providing support are ‘acceleration’ and ‘enrichment’.Acceleration refers to allowing children to take up courses of more than one year in the same year or skipping grades. This means, that a class VIII child would either do courses of both classes VIII and IX in the same year or skip one year and take admission in class X directly after VIII. Enrichment refers to providing a more enriched curriculum, with a wider range of educational experiences. It is greater in depth or broader than the regular curriculum. This may involve providing mini courses or special programmes including mentorship with an expert.

It is important to note that the number of gifted girls appears to decline with age. Girls during elementary years of schooling have been reported to show higher achievement than boys, but by adolescence,their achievement levels tend to decline. One of the reasons for this decline is the gender role socialisation that girls receive where behaviours associated with competition and independence are generally discouraged.Without independence, opportunities of high levels of creativity, achievement and leadership considerably reduce. It is therefore important to pay adequate attention to girls and encourage them to work towards realizing their potential.

Creative Children

Some psychologists believe that creativity is a personal quality or a trait. Others suggests that it is not a personality trait but a skill or a process that produces a ‘creative product’, such as a painting, invention, computer programme or solution to a personal problem. To be creative, a new invention or creation should be  intended. A brilliant work of art resulting from an accidental spilling of paint is not considered creative unless the artist recognizes the potential of creating new designs by intentionally spilling paint.  Creativity, however, is not restricted to art alone but creative work is possible in all subjects. 

Early psychological research in the decade of 1960s suggested that  creativity and intelligence are different but related cognitive capabilities. They found that though high levels of intelligence is a requisite trait for high levels of creativity. The following abilities require high levels of both intelligence as well as creativity:

- analyze situations

- see relationships

- separate relevant from irrelevant

make good decisions

- ask good questions

Guilford (1963) suggested that both convergent and divergent thinking are important in the structure of intellect. In convergent thinking, the answer is often predetermined that is the recognized ‘right’ or ‘best’.Divergent thinking, on the other hand, is characterized by producing a wide variety of alternative solutions,each of which is logically correct. Guilford said that divergent thinking is characterized by fluency, flexibility, and elaborate ion. Fluency refers to the number of different responses based on retrieval of information from the memory. Flexibility refers to the ability to transform information, to reinterpret it or redefine it and adapt it to new uses. Elaboration refers to thinking about implications and applications of original ideas.

How can creative children be identified? One of the ways of identifying creative children is by looking at their biographical information for creative activities that they have been engaged in. Does the child constantly make or build things? Does he or she have wide interests, hobbies or unique collections? Does the child have unusual experience or talent in art, poetry, creative writing, handicrafts, music, dance, computers or science? Research has shown that involvement of adolescents in theatre is a definite sign of creativity. Children who play with imaginary friends at the pre kindergarten level also show signs of creativity at a later stage. Besides these,self reported involvement in creative activities, action researches and high levels of task commitment are also signs of creativity. Formal identification procedures include conducting Renzulli’s ten item creativity rating scale, Torrance tests of Creative Thinking etc.