Learning and Schooling for All

Students come with different needs when they step into a classroom, and an effective classroom learning includes allowing each of them to grow individually while being seated right next to their peers. It is for the educators and educational organisations to understand that all children learn but they just learn differently. At the core of this argument is the ethos of Inclusive Education. Building a world for the future which is kind, just and equitable highly rallies on the construct of an education system that is diverse and inclusive. To give a fair chance to all children to learn, education needs to be bolstered by inclusivity.

Classroom for All – Accepting Heterogeneity

Inclusive Education seeks same classroom for all students but varied methods of knowledge dissemination. This includes learning opportunities without discriminating on the basis of disability, gender, economic status, language, ethnic or social origin, or gender amongst many other parameters. The idea is rooted in the belief to help students grow side by side, amidst diversity.

If we accept heterogeneity and understand that we all can profit from others, we will be ready to develop truly inclusive schools and communities. Without exception, we need to welcome the differences in our children.

Neurodivergent Affirmation

Research has proven that students who are neurodivergent and have differences such as autism, dyslexia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other brain difference learn well but through tailor made ways and differently. A neurodivergent child will have variations in sociability, learning, mood, and many other mental functions and these are not sets to be corrected, these are diverse expressions of a human being which need to be accepted, respected, embraced and worked with.

There is a need for not just promoting methods to help them learn but also celebrating them as variations in the human abilities’ spectrum, and learning from them. Inclusive Education works to break barriers in education, across curricula to pedagogy and teaching.

Neurodivergent Affirmative Practices

In a traditional classroom, movement is often restricted. A student can often be chastised for being loud, fidgeting or interrupting the class through conversations. The fundamental aim for trained neurodivergent support practitioners is to affirm that all kinds of behaviour, including varied movements is a form of communication. At the core of the practices by educators, therapists and organisations building on inclusive education is the need to steer these:

• Figure out what the child needs, beyond their behaviour
• Investigate if their sensory needs are met, their background, any historical trauma and match their skills to demand
• Identify the need for sensory and emotional regulation through the right opportunities throughout learning sessions
• Students may need regular movement breaks, fair downtime and low impact sensory space, each of which are built into opportunities and not as rewards
• Lessons need to be flexible and so does the learning environment
• Plans tailored to work on the strength of the student allowing them to build on their passion and interest is vital
• This data needs to be then fed into behavioural support for the students and accommodated in the pedagogy.

Building Inclusive Education Systems

This shouldn’t be an afterthought, but a starting point. In India a handful of NGOs have worked on educational policies and reforms, relentlessly over the years have been transforming the educational landscape of India. These include Pratham, focusing on high-quality, low-cost and replicable interventions to address gaps in the education system; Teach for India which works towards educational equity; Ekalvya focusing on curriculum and pedagogy reform; Deepalaya who pioneered the Education on Wheels programme, Central Square Foundation working on the quality of education to children from low-income groups and many more.

Quality education is that pillar of our society on which firmly rooted is the foundation of a sustainable future. Inclusive education is a key parameter to ensure that society provides children of this generation and beyond the opportunity to benefit through education, developing their true skills and potential, in turn helping transform the world as they do.