Experiences in Implementing Inclusive Education in School

St Mary's School completes 60 years this year, and if there is one thing that we feel the school is, it is inclusive. It's important that, at the outset, we clarify how the school perceives inclusion. We don't see inclusion as something that is confined to the areas of disability, finance, or class. Inclusion is more about a way of life, a way of thinking. It is a journey that is hard but satisfying; it is a striving to be a human being in every sense of the word. Inclusion is a word that is used these days as an adjective by many schools to describe themselves, but any education worth its salt is necessarily inclusive. St Mary's School prides itself on being a school that offers a holistic education, an education that, hopefully, helps children become thinking, creative, empathetic, and responsible individuals and citizens of the country.

How does one begin to be inclusive? What are the things we do that would show that we are inclusive? These are questions that beg to be answered. In order to answer them, I would like to tell the story of how the school stepped into what we now realise was a very narrow idea of inclusivity. We did this by allowing a child with cerebral palsy access to the school. There was a student in school whose brother had cerebral palsy. They stayed just opposite the back gate of the school, and his mother requested that he be allowed to attend school since he was sitting at home and getting bored with life. We thought we were being magnanimous when we said, "Why not let him come?" So, Komal Gupta was admitted to the school, and we thought we could help him in dealing with life. Komal was a very bright boy, locked in a body that would not respond to his brain, and in the years that he spent with us, he ended up changing each and every one of us in the school for the better.

Komal had severely impaired speech and mobility. While his mobility was extremely compromised, he was a very, very bright child. He started attending school, and while we thought we were doing Komal a favour, we did not realise then what a huge opportunity had just been given to the school as a community. Komal changed the way we thought in the many ways that he dealt with life, which was so different from the way the rest of us went about things.

To give you an example, when everybody would be going out for PE, Komal would sometimes say that he would like to stay back in class. But he wouldn't say, "Please leave the fan on," or ask for a sip of water when he was thirsty, mainly because he would not want to impose on us any more than he already was.

Mrs Anita Shorey, who was then heading the Spastic Society of India (now ADAPT – Able Disable All People Together), spoke to the children and teachers and told us how we would have to put ourselves in Komal's shoes and think like him in order to understand him. She explained that he would not ask, so we would have to offer. She raised our awareness and empathy.

There were no elevators in the school at that time. So, if the Commerce class, which was on the first floor, had to go out for PE, the question would be asked, "Where are the strong boys who are going to carry Komal down the stairs?" Immediately, three boys would stand up and carry him down to the field. Komal would be given the whistle, and he would be the referee while the others played football. There was a great deal of learning for both sides on a daily basis.

Komal went on to complete his graduation in Mathematics at St. Stephen's College, and now runs a petrol pump. I would say that the learning from that one admission was that one should always keep one's windows open to let the winds of change blow in and through the school and our lives. When we close ourselves off from what's happening outside, we tend to become inward-looking, while inclusion is about looking at, and out for, the other.

Who are the supporters of the well-being of the child? The immediate environment is made up of parents, peers, and staff, comprising teachers and helpers. We will not consider society at the moment because, while society plays an equally important part, it is largely out of our control. However, the other three - parents, peers, and staff are very much within our control.

What we have repeatedly seen in the life of a child with special needs, and what is also applicable to all children, is that an empowered, informed, and attentive parent means that 80% of the battle is already won. I cannot emphasise how important it is to have an empathetic parent who understands their child's issues and is ready to stand up and insist that the child receives the quality education and attention he or she deserves.

Such a parent need not necessarily be financially well-off. We had two siblings in school, both visually challenged, who were the children of a BSF constable. He was posted in Delhi, and he was always determined to move the children forward, never giving up and never tiring in pursuing this one objective. Both children had their share of ups and downs, but today the elder son has completed his post-graduation from TISS, and the younger daughter is preparing for the Civil Services Examination. It was simply because this parent was willing to fight every battle necessary for his children.

Parents who refuse to acknowledge that their child has needs that may be different from those of others become obstacles that the child may never be able to overcome. These parents inadvertently pave the way for failure because the child is constantly struggling against the odds. Parents, therefore, play a very, very important role in a child's life.

Another important component of the child's support system is his or her peers. It goes without saying that if a child's classmates and those with whom he or she interacts do not accept them for who they are, they are not going to be happy children. It also goes without saying that children who discriminate on the basis of ability or other differences, those who are unkind to one another or bully those who are weaker, are not happy children either.

We have found that children respond best to positive behaviour rather than to talk. They tend to imitate what they see, and when they find that empathetic behaviour helps them remain in the good books of teachers and the management, they naturally begin to adopt that kind of behaviour.

It is important that all staff care for every child, regardless of ability, and that they view both classroom transactions and assessment as diagnostic and formative. Schools should not get carried away by market trends such as interactive boards or fancy PowerPoint presentations. They should realise that some of these trends are not suitable for all students.

How do we get peers and teachers on the same page? It is important to note that inclusion helps the school and the inhabitants of a school much more than it helps the child who is challenged. This is mainly because a happy child makes for a good learner, and inclusion makes for happy teachers and children.

An inclusive school is focused on building relationships, and all of us in schools need to work on that aspect very closely. There are so many areas that concern schools today, and almost all of these areas can be addressed by building good relationships. Academics and discipline, which are core to good schools, need to be worked on very, very carefully. They are an integral part of inclusion, and so any school worth its salt would work very hard to ensure that peers are caring and always looking out for one another.

If teachers are not looking out for children in need, if teachers constantly seek only to prove how well they teach by focusing on academically bright children, and if a teacher focuses on the product rather than the process, then we are in for a problematic situation in that school. Forget those with special needs, such a school is in a problematic situation for all its children because that does not make for great self-esteem in anybody.

On the positive side, many teachers have realised that success lies in the trying and in the thinking. It is not in the marks or in the end-of-term results that you will find the objectives of a school that considers itself inclusive and empathetic. If this is achieved by teachers, then, of course, the management has to stand by the staff at all times to ensure that they feel empowered and that an atmosphere of fear does not exist. These are very, very essential things in the growth of the child.