Kesar Patel is a Principal with an over a decade of national and international experience. She has worked as an English teacher and smoothly integrated the subject in the curriculum. Her experience has made her cognizant of the challenges that are faced by the teachers in the teaching-learning process. In her field, she has been interacting with children from various strata of society and has developed a keen sense of understanding of their requirement. She is an ardent believer of ‘Story pedagogy’ and ‘Activity based learning’ and has implemented the methodology in her school.
There are some interesting facts about inclusive education brought to the fore by research-10% of the world’s population live with a disability and 80% of that population is found in developing countries.
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In India, we are quite aware of the challenges faced by people with special abilities. There are no adequate services to meet their needs. Ramps are unavailable non-functional, lifts and elevators are not adapted for their use and there are many other problems.
One of the services which is not properly available for them is education also. There are hardly a few handful of organizations who cater to the educational, emotional and social needs of these people, especially children.
When we speak of inclusive education among schools, a far bigger cry for help reaches out to the society. The main aim of inclusive education is to bring these children into the mainstream and help them live a normal life. But their needs are different than the other children.
It is difficult to explain to a teacher that he or she must first understand the needs of the children and then deliver the learning concepts to the children. Teaching and learning goes on a psychological platform rather a physical one. The educators who understand this are successful in their profession. Now if we speak about children with special needs then my first opinion is that they must be a part of mainstream education if they are able to cope up with it.
Among the group of teachers, there are some who are more sensible and have an apt way of handling these children without getting angry. Patience plays a dominating role. The educator has to have a lot of patience in handling the child. The educator must also have a listening ability which is required. At times these children want to talk a lot especially if they are hyperactive or dyslexic. They also have a constant urge to be felt appreciated and praised by everyone. Their successes are small but if praised properly they leave a positive impression on the persona of the child helping him to gain momentum in the cycle of his life.
I feel all the teachers can handle them well but the educators need a supporting hand from the administrative authorities of the school and parents. The parents of the child play a very crucial role. They should provide all the relevant information about the child to the school. It is pertinent that they are in constant touch with the school authorities to provide the best of the education for their ward.
This was related to teaching and learning. Another grave issue especially in India is with assessments. Though now there are deviations wherein the boards have set rules wherein, the child should not be penalized for spellings if he is dyslexic, or oral examinations are allowed if the child cannot write, but still I am of the view that these children suffer in the name of assessment. A separate assessment system should be set up wherein they are tested for the concepts learned and not for the number of answers written.
The government had and will be setting up many committees in future also to suggest recommendations and improvements on how to help these children better. But these suggestions take a long time to be implemented.
The need of the hour is to accept their existence unquestionably and help them lead a normal life.
It is important that we change our perception towards them to help them change their world.
"The only disability in life is a bad attitude."-Scott Hamilton.
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