TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE TOMORROW April 5 th - 7 th , 2013 Blind People’s Association (BPA) Jagdish Patel Chowk Surdas Marg, Vastrapur Ahmedabad-380015 Blind People’s Association (BPA) & Sense International, India (SII) 2 nd Joint Asian Conference of ICEVI & DbI
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Blind People’s Association (BPA) & Sense International, India (SII)
Blind People’s Association (BPA) & Sense International, India (SII). TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE TOMORROW April 5 th - 7 th , 2013 Blind People’s Association (BPA) Jagdish Patel Chowk Surdas Marg, Vastrapur Ahmedabad-380015. 2 nd Joint Asian Conference of ICEVI & DbI. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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TOWARDS AN INCLUSIVE TOMORROW April 5th - 7th, 2013
Blind People’s Association (BPA)Jagdish Patel Chowk
Surdas Marg, Vastrapur Ahmedabad-380015
Blind People’s Association (BPA) & Sense International, India (SII)
2ndJoint 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
INTRODUCTIONTeacher 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 STUDYReview 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 CharacteristicsGenderAge Caste
Educational Background Academic Qualifications Professional Teaching Qualifications Qualifications in Special Education
Work ExperienceTotal Number of Years of Teaching ExperienceLength of Experience in teaching students with
Disabilities
Class SizeNumber 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
METHODOLOGYResearch 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 - 4Relationship 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 & RECOMMENDATIONSKey Stakeholders
Ideas for remedial action, such as, but not limited to the following…….
Restructuring schools for implementing inclusive education practices