Equitable and Inclusive School Education

This book highlights the strategies and approaches to the practice of equitable and inclusive school education, elaborating the role of various stakeholders such as teachers, special educators, parents, peers, teacher educators, educational administrators and Ed-tech firms.

The aim of this book is to create an understanding of equitable and inclusive school education which is not restricted to children with disabilities but also includes children with different learning needs as well as those from socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society. The focus is on presenting practical strategies that are grounded in theory and supported with research. The significance of screening at the classroom level, development of need-based accessible learning teaching materials, customizing the pedagogy practices for inclusive classrooms, need-based examination accommodations, leveraging the potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to elicit the participation of all and collaborative efforts toward realizing the optimum potential of each learner are a few basic ideas illustrated in the book with examples. The volume also discusses recent national and international policies for equitable and inclusive education, recommending courses of action for effective implementation of the existing provisions by teachers and educators.

The book will be useful to students, researchers, teacher-educators, special educators, special education teacher educators, pre-service teachers and parents. It will also be an invaluable companion to in-service teachers, policymakers and educational administrators, curriculum developers and NGOs working in the field of inclusive education.

Bharti Kaushik is currently an associate professor at CIET NCERT. She holds a Master’s in Physics and a PhD in Education from Delhi University and has been working in the area of equitable and inclusive education since 2002. She has published four books in English language and two books in Hindi language and 43 research papers in UGC-recognized journals. She has developed the PRASHAST – Pre-Assessment Holistic Screening Tool for schools. Currently, she is facilitating the preparation of teaching-learning material in Indian Sign Language and coordinating a live series “Teaching Learning Interventions for Inclusive Classrooms”.