TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE TOMORROW April 5 th - 7 th, 2013 Blind People’s Association (BPA) Jagdish Patel Chowk Surdas Marg, Vastrapur Ahmedabad Blind People’s Association (BPA) & Sense International, India (SII) 2 nd Joint Asian Conference of ICEVI & DbI

Teacher Concerns About Including Students with Disabilities in Regular Education Programs in Ahmedabad Dr. Rina Shah, Founder & Director, Learning Links Educare, Mumbai & Dr. Ishwar Desai, Director & Senior Inclusive Education Consultant, Desai Consulting Pty Limited, Melbourne, Australia Former Head: Unit of Disability Studies & Inclusion, The University of Melbourne, Australia

SECTION A: INTRODUCTION SECTION B: RATIONALE AND AIMS OF THE STUDY SECTION C : METHODOLOGY SECTION D: MAJOR FINDINGS SECTION E: IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION

SECTION A INTRODUCTION

 An emerging trend…….  Internationally & in India in recent decades has been the inclusion of children with disabilities… Including the visually impaired in regular schools INTRODUCTION Education For All

Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusive Movement Regular Teachers’ Preparedness Systemic Barriers Barriers arising from Societal Values & Beliefs Compliance with Policies Responsibility for Education Parental Resistance Lack of Skills among Teachers INTRODUCTION Teacher Concerns

SECTION B Rationale and Aims of the Study

 A review of the literature revealed that there is very little known about the concerns of teachers toward the inclusion of students with disabilities in India……. And in so far as Ahmedabad was concerned There appeared to be no studies undertaken on this issue RATIONALE AND AIMS OF THE STUDY Review of Literature

 The present study was designed: To identify the concerns of primary school teachers in Ahmedabad regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities into their regular classroom programs To determine if significant relationships exist between these teachers’ concerns about inclusive education and selected factors in their personal and professional backgrounds and experiences RATIONALE AND AIMS OF THE STUDY Aims of the Study

Teachers’ Background Variables Personal Characteristics  Gender  Age  Caste Educational Background Concerns  Academic Qualifications  Professional Teaching Qualifications about  Qualifications in Special Education Work Experience Integrated  Total Number of Years of Teaching Experience Education  Length of Experience in Teaching Students with Disabilities Class Size  Number of Students in Class (Class Size)  Number of Students with Disabilities in Class RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TEACHERS’ BACKGROUND VARIABLES AND THEIR CONCERNS ABOUT INCLUSIVE EDUCATION Personal Characteristics  Gender  Age  Caste Educational Background  Academic Qualifications  Professional Teaching Qualifications  Qualifications in Special Education Work Experience  Total Number of Years of Teaching Experience  Length of Experience in teaching students with Disabilities Class Size  Number of Students in Class (Class size)  Number of Students with Disabilities in Class Concerns About Inclusive Education

 The present study was designed: To identify strategies which these teachers perceive could be adopted by key stakeholders to address teacher concerns regarding the inclusion of students with disabilities into their regular classroom programs RATIONALE AND AIMS OF THE STUDY Aims of the Study

SECTION C Methodology

 A sample of 560 primary school teachers working in inclusive regular classroom programs in Ahmedabad, Gujarat was selected to participate in the study  A cluster sampling method was used to select the subjects  se teachers were dawn from 98 schools The selected schools were situated in the six administrative zones managed by the Municipal School Board and the Education Department METHODOLOGY Subjects and Setting

Three-Part Survey Questionnaire Part I: Background Information of Teachers Part II: Concerns about Inclusive Education – Gujarati (CIE-G) Scale & Open-ended section for ‘Additional Concerns’ Part III: Strategies to Address Teacher Concerns Regarding Inclusive Education METHODOLOGY Research Instrumentation

SECTION D MAJOR FINDINGS

 The composition of item loadings clearly indicated that the emerging dimensions were: Factor I (Concerns about Academic Achievement and Standards) Factor II (Concerns about Infrastructural Resources) Factor III (Concerns about Self-Efficacy) Factor IV Concerns about Motivation) Factor V (Concerns about Social Acceptance)  The factors were named according to the nature of items loading on each factor MAJOR FINDINGS - 1

 Female teachers  Teachers without a special  education qualification  Teachers who taught in classes that had over 20 students EXHIBITED A significantly higher level of concern about inclusive education than their counterparts MAJOR FINDINGS - 2

 On the whole, teachers had the highest concern for the factor of: Infrastructural Resources’ (financial, human and physical resources) necessary for teaching students with disabilities in their classes  And the teachers had the least concern for the factor of: ‘Social Acceptance’ of students with disabilities (acceptance by non-disabled students and their parents of students with disabilities) MAJOR FINDINGS - 3

Teachers’ Background Variables Personal Characteristics  Gender  Age  Caste Educational Background Concerns  Academic Qualifications  Professional Teaching Qualifications about  Qualifications in Special Education Work Experience Integrated  Total Number of Years of Teaching Experience Education  Length of Experience in Teaching Students with Disabilities Class Size  Number of Students in Class (Class Size)  Number of Students with Disabilities in Class MAJOR FINDINGS - 4 Relationship between Teachers’ Background Variables and their Concerns about Inclusive Education Concerns About Inclusive Education

 The major additional concerns, beyond those covered in the CIE-G Scale, regarding inclusive education for most teachers were: lack of training in the implementation of inclusive education negative attitudes of school staff and community toward students with disabilities inappropriateness of the conventional curriculum and teaching methods to meet the educational needs of students with disabilities MAJOR FINDINGS - 5

 A number of strategies were suggested by teachers…… Which could be adopted by various key stakeholders to alleviate teacher concerns regarding inclusive education  The most frequent suggestions were made for the…… School Management Council, Ahmedabad Municipal Primary School Board Parents/ Guardians of Students with Disabilities MAJOR FINDINGS - 6

 The teachers’ main suggestions for the School Management Council, Ahmedabad, were as follows: financial assistance for teaching resources & specialized personnel support provision of on-going training to teachers for resolving problems that they might encounter Provision of various incentives, activities & other measures directed at school administrators, teachers and students with disabilities MAJOR FINDINGS - 7

 The major suggestions put forth by teachers for the Municipal School Board were: training of teaching and non-teaching staff to implement inclusive education programs financial assistance for educational materials and equipment and special facilities necessary for implementing inclusive education programs to reduce the non-teaching workloads of teachers MAJOR FINDINGS - 8

 The most important suggestions that teachers proposed for parents/guardians of students with disabilities were: regular meetings with teachers full support and cooperation to school teachers constantly encourage their child and support learning at home MAJOR FINDINGS - 9

SECTION E IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

 The study cited in this presentation identified a number of concerns teachers have regarding the implementation of effective inclusive education in their State  Key Stakeholders An opportunity to understand Ideas for remedial action IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Key Stakeholders

 Ideas for remedial action, such as, but not limited to the following……. Restructuring schools for implementing inclusive education practices IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Restructuring Schools

 Ideas for remedial action, such as, but not limited to the following……. Garnering support of: -policy-makers -state officials -school administrators -school principals  For effective implementation of inclusive education IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Support of Key Officials

 Ideas for remedial action, such as, but not limited to the following……. Providing adequate training of regular classroom teachers both at the pre-service and in-service levels so that they have the necessary knowledge, skills and attitude to address the needs of students with disabilities in their classrooms IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Teacher Training

 Ideas for remedial action, such as, but not limited to the following……. Providing adequate funds for: -Special educators -Teacher aides -Para-professional staff -Purchasing appropriate teaching aids and materials IMPLICATIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS Para-professional Support

“The challenge now is to formulate requirements of a school for all All children and young people of the world have the right to education It is not our Education Systems that have a right to certain types of Children It is the School System of a country that must be adjusted to meet the needs of all children”. - Mr. Bengt Lindquist (Salamanca Conference on Special Needs, 1994) CONCLUSION

IT IS NOT A DISABILITY THAT MAKES A PERSON DEVIANT BUT SOCIETY’S INTERPRETATION OF DISABILITY

WE EXCLUDE: Because we don’t understand WE DON’T UNDERSTAND Because of Limited Contact WE LACK CONTACT: Because we exclude WE EXCLUDE: Because………