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Dinesh Kumar, Lovely Professional University Unit 28: Inclusive Education and Mainstreaming

Unit 28: Inclusive Education and Mainstreaming Notes

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
28.1 Inclusive Education
28.2 Mainstreaming
28.3 Methods of Teaching in Mainstreaming
28.4 Trends in Mainstreaming
28.5 Summary
28.6 Keywords
28.7 Review Questions
28.8 Further Readings

Objectives

The objectives of this unit can be summarized as below:
• to know about inclusive education.
• to explain the mainstreaming its teaching methods and trends.
• to discuss about methods of teaching in mainstreaming.
• to describe trends in mainstreaming.

Introduction

Owing to lack of knowledge, educational access and technology, disabled children were initially
treated as unwanted and segregated from other children. Later their education was carried out in
special schools. In recent times there has been a shift towards having children with disabilities attend
the same schools as non-disabled children. The educationists now feel that each child should be
allowed to learn in his own way. The concept of inclusive education has been spelt out in the all
governments have been urged to "adopt as a matter of law or policy, the principle of inclusive
education, enrolling all children in regular schools unless there are compelling reasons for doing
otherwise". The basic premise is that the school should meet the educational needs of all children
irrespective of their disabilities or limitations.
28.1 Inclusive Education

It is the implementation of the `policy and process' that allows all children to participate in all
programmes. `Policy' means that disabled children should be accepted without any restrictions in
all the educational programmes meant for other children. It denotes equality, and accepts every
child with his own unique capabilities. This principle must be accepted by all the international,
national and local programmes. The `process' of inclusion denotes the ways in which the system
makes itself welcoming to all. In terms of inclusion of disabled children, it means the shift in services
from `care of the disabled child' to his `education and personal development'. Inclusive education
goes one step further by defining these children as `children with special needs' who need special
attention, rather than children who are `impaired' or `handicapped'. Inclusive education is nothing
but `Making the programme for disabled children as an integral part of the general educational
system rather than a system within general education'.

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