Teacher Education for Including Children with Disabilites in Elementary Education

By:
Dr. Anita Julka
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The National Policy on Education (1986) and the ‘Persons with Disabilities Act, (1995) of Government of India promoted the education of children with disabilities in mainstream environment. Also, India is a signatory to the Salamanca Statement 1994 and therefore committed to facilitate the inclusive education. In order to progress with this important agenda of inclusion, there needs to be a comprehensive investigation into the way in which the current pre-service and in-service programmes incorporate the spirit of inclusion. The present study was taken up with the objective of assessing the existing inputs in the teacher education programmes with reference to children with disabilities and the perspectives reflected. The sample comprised of 50 Teacher Education Institutions belonging to five regions of the country. Also, the teacher educators and the principals of these Institutions were interviewed to assess their understanding of the recent developments and the how they planned and managed the teacher education programmes. The results showed that the teacher education programmes have remained unchanged and are still based on medical model of disability. The results implied a need to revamp the exiting teacher training curriculum for the implementation of inclusive education.


Keywords: Teachers, Disabled, Training, Inclusion
Stream: Disability, Health
Presentation Type: 30 minute Paper Presentation in English
Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Dr. Anita Julka

Reader, Department of Education of Groups with Special Needs, National Council of Educational Research and Training
Delhi, INDIA

Researching in the area of Cognitive architecture for the visually impaired, I got the opportunity to work in this apex organization that plays an advisory role to the government of India in implementation of Educational Policies. Being in the Department of Education of Gropus with Special needs I was involved in a number of research, development and training activities for inclusion of children with disabilities in education. While providing consultancy to a number of organizations both at the National and International level, I was involved in a number of collaborative projects with international organizations like the UNESCO, UNICEF, and Aus aid. Presently a member of the National Steering Committee for development of the National Curriculum Framework, I have given inputs for development of the National Curriculum Framework that is inclusive in nature.

Ref: D07P0082