Understanding Inclusive Education

• Inclusive Education promotes personal, academic, and professional development for all learners.
• This is regardless of race, class, color, gender, disability, sexual preference, learning styles, and language.
• UNESCO defines Inclusive Education as a process responding to students' diversity which increases participation and reduces exclusion within education.
• It relates to attendance, participation, and achievement, especially for marginalized students.
• Inclusive Education welcomes all students to neighborhood schools in age-appropriate levels, and regular classes so that the students are supported to learn, contribute and participate in all aspects of school life.
• Schools, classrooms, and programs are developed and designed so that all students learn and participate together.
• Access to quality education is ensured for all by effectively meeting diverse needs in a responsive, accepting, respectful and supportive way.

Key Concepts

• Race refers to groups that humans are divided into based on physical traits related to shared ancestry.
• Multilingualism is the ability of societies, institutions, groups, and individuals to use multiple languages daily.
• Ethnicity is associated with a group's shared identity of culture, religion, language, nationality, and common ancestry.
• Gender is a social construct referring to behaviors, roles, and identities.
• Socio-economic status is a person's societal position based on wealth, occupation, and social class.
• Age is the period of time someone or something has existed.
• Physical activity level measures how active someone is, often categorized as light, moderate, or vigorous.
• Religious beliefs are ideas and values held about a religion, based on faith and influencing life.
• A Learning style is a preferred method of taking in, understanding, and remembering information.
• Common learning styles include visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic.

Inclusion Attributes

• Inclusion values everyone and understands your school community.
• Inclusion is about the needs of the whole community
• Inclusion celebrates diversity and individuality.
• Inclusion is not just about the IEPs, its about knowng and understanding the needs of all pupils.
• Inclusion provides flexible learning and is not just a policy.
• Inclusion changes the way things are organises so that they suit pupil needs
• Inclusion is everybodys responsibility.

Educational Perspective of Inclusive Education

• Inclusive Education provides education irrespective of talent, disability, socio-economic status, and cultural origin in mainstream schools and classrooms.
• Needs of all students are met, preparing them for life
• Teachers improve their professional skills
• Society makes decisions based on social values

Sociological Perspective of Inclusive Education

• Schools and societal values need social acceptance, peace, and cooperation.
• Segregated education teaches children to be fearful/ignorant and generates prejudices.
• Only Inclusive Education reduces these aspects, building respect, friendship, and understanding (CSIE Report, 2002).

Economic Perspective of Inclusive Education

• Out of 700 million disabled persons worldwide, 10% are in India.
• Inclusive Education is cost-effective (Salamanca Statement, UNESCO, 1994).

Humanitarian Perspective of Inclusive Education

• Segregation generates feelings of inferiority affecting a child's status, emotional, and cognitive development.
• Lack of confidence, motivation, and positive expectations arise from segregated learning environments (Stainback, Stainback, and Forrest, 1989).

Democratic Perspective of Inclusive Education

• Equality is important in a democratic country.
• Fair, ethical, and equitable measures enable disable children in mainstream education, avoiding discrimination.

Aims and Objectives of Inclusive Education

• Education for all
• Protection of rights
• Identification of skills
• Development of social consciousness
• Preparing for new challenges
• Development of brotherhood
• Improving the quality of education

Principles of Inclusive Education

• Education is for all, with provisions for all irrespective of sex, physical, mental characteristics, socio-economic status, and cultural variations.
• Promotes all-round development of learners together in the same educational setting.
• Brings all children together into a common educational community.
• Relationships between family, administrations, teachers, and classmates run inclusive schools and enhance education.
• All students should be treated equally within the school, and there should not be any discrimination based on disabilities.
• Students have the right to access knowledge, skill, and information.
• Inclusive Education fulfills constitutional responsibility by ensuring all groups of children learn and live together, providing equality.
• Inclusive Education provides opportunities for students with disabilities for active participation equally.
• Students and their families should be motivated to participate, enhancing confidence.
• All students should be welcomed and accepted without discrimination based on caste, religion, race, or disabilities.
• Each child is different and unique
• It considers individual differences of the children in the learning atmosphere
• Access includes Home to School
• Access to all school areas
• Access to schemes
• Access to all functions
• There must be non-discrimination in the teaching process and behavior
• Inclusion has equality and provides full participation and equal opportunities to all activities.