Overview: Inclusive Education | Child Development and Pedagogy for CTET Preparation - CTET & State TET PDF Download

What is Inclusive Education?

• Inclusive education operates within a classroom setting, integrating children with learning disabilities alongside those without.
• Disabilities encompass a range including vision, mobility, speech, and hearing impairments.
• Special needs children primarily interact with non-special needs peers, fostering integration.
• Co-teaching is a common feature, involving both a special education and general education teacher.
• This approach is termed Integrated Co-Teaching (ICT) or Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT).
• Inclusive classrooms typically cater to students with mild-moderate disabilities, distinguishing them from self-contained classes.
• Self-contained classes house students with significant or multiple learning disabilities.
• Inclusive education rejects segregated classrooms, recognizing the harm segregation poses to all students.

Principles

• Remove barriers to participation and learning for children with special needs
• Ensure protection of all students' interests without discrimination
• Offer equal educational opportunities to empower every student to reach their potential
• Foster a nurturing environment that encourages understanding, problem-solving, and collaboration
• Combat social exclusion and prevent marginalization of children with special needs
• Enhance classroom diversity by uniting children from diverse backgrounds, strengths, and weaknesses to inspire mutual learning and growth

When is a child labelled as one who has learning disabilities?

• Vision and hearing are crucial senses in education.
• Vision or hearing impairment is classified as a sensory disability.
• Speech developmental issues or language comprehension difficulties constitute impairments.
• These impairments hinder the ability to express thoughts verbally or in writing.

Visual Impairment

Visual impairment can manifest in three types:

• Complete absence of sight
• Vision measuring less than 3/60 or 10/200 (Snellen)
• Reduced field of vision, subtending an angle less than 10 degrees

Hearing Impairment

• Hearing loss results from ears being unable to receive sounds effectively.
• Moderate hearing loss can often be managed with hearing aids, but severe loss presents challenges.
• Categories of hearing loss include:
  • Slight impairment: 26 to 40 decibels of hearing loss
  • Moderate impairment: 41 to 60 decibels of hearing loss
  • Severe impairment: 61 to 80 decibels of hearing loss
  • Profound impairment: more than 81 decibels of hearing loss

Speech Impairment

• Speech impairment encompasses:
  • Distortion of speech
  • Difficulty articulating words
  • Omitting parts of words in speech
  • Substituting one word for another
  • Stuttering during speech
  • Resonance disorder
  • Phonation disorder
• Speech disorder also encompasses language impairment, affecting a child's ability to express themselves verbally.
• Special strategies are employed to address these impairments while maintaining educational quality.
• In inclusive classrooms, these techniques are utilized to educate students with disabilities alongside non-special needs students.

What are the Benefits?

• Encourages acceptance and tolerance of individual differences, fostering interaction between students with and without learning disabilities
• Provides children with special needs a sense of security and belonging, preventing ostracization
• Promotes friendships among diverse groups of children
• Supports the development of special talents in all students, tailored to individual expectations
• Cultivates team spirit among students
• Engages parents from various backgrounds in their children's education
• Facilitates learning of societal behavioral norms for children with special needs through interaction with peers
• Ensures equitable education for all students, including age-appropriate and functional course materials for those with learning disabilities in inclusive classrooms