PREPARED BY DR GUNWANT KAUR BRAR ASST PROF SHIVALIK INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH MOHALI

1. Inclusion
By Dr. Gunwant Kaur Brar

3. • Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three
closely linked values held by many
organizations that are working to be
supportive of different groups of individuals,
including people of different races, ethnicities,
religions, abilities, genders, and sexual
orientations.

5. Chapter 2 Inclusion
• “Education is the single greatest tool for achieving
social justice and equality. Inclusive and equitable
education - while indeed an essential goal in its own
right - is also critical to achieving an inclusive and
equitable society in which every citizen has the
opportunity to dream, thrive, and contribute to the
nation. The education system must aim to benefit India
’s children so that no child loses any opportunity to
learn and excel because of circumstances of birth or
background. This Policy reaffirms that bridging the
social category gaps in access, participation, and
learning outcomes in school education”
• [NEP 2020, 6.1

6. “Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups (SEDGs)
1 3
2
4
5
Gender
identities
Socio-
culturali
dentities
Geographi
cal
identities Mental/p
hysical
disabilitie
s
Socio-
economicc
onditions

7. “recognizing, identifying, and fostering
the unique capabilities of each student,
by sensitizing teachers as well as
parents to promote each student’s
holistic development in both academic
and non-academic spheres”
Principle of
the policy

8. Road blocks
poverty
Social
bias
Exclusionary
curricula
Inclusive
education
Equitable
education

9. consequences
Urban poor
Child
trafficking
begging

10. struggle to achieve
learning outcome
i
•Lack of adequate support
ii
•nutrition
iii
•Access to learning resources

11. The experience of
inclusion is critical to
develop confidence and
mutual cooperation
among all students.
Every child must
experience a sense
of belonging and
togetherness with
the others in their
peer-group, where
differences are
embraced with
respect and
dignity.
• NEP 2020 also recognises the
existing programmatic
interventions that are in place,
like providing scholarships,
monetary incentives to parents
to send children to school, and
bicycles for students who face
issues with transport. The
extension of these mechanisms
would be to practice inclusion
and equity through everyday
school process that would instill
hope and bring change for those
who continue to experience
various forms of bias and
discrimination.

12. Section 2.1
Inclusion in the
School Physical
Environment

13. Eliminating the reasons for drop-outs
infrastruc
tural
• access to all the essential facilities required for learning
• includes ramps and barrier-free passages inside the school for People
with Disabilities, and Children with Special Needs (CWSN).
sanitation
• Schools must have well-maintained functional and safe toilets that are
suitable for CWSN, separate toilets for boys and girls where the toilets
for girls have a supply of menstrual hygiene products and dustbins for
their safe and hygienic disposal
General
facilities
• . All common spaces and common property on the school campus that
are meant for students and Teachers could be made accessible to all
students and Teachers without discrimination. For example, furniture,
stationery, plates used for meals, and glasses used for drinking water

14. Section 2.2 Inclusion Addressed through Curriculum and
Textbooks
• Students learn best when they can connect their own
lives and personal experiences with the content that
is used in learning resources. This could be in terms
of language and vocabulary used in the textbooks.
• NEP also recommends that curriculums should be free of all
forms of bias and stereotypes and ‘more material will be
included that is relevant and relatable to all communities.’
Students of all backgrounds would feel included and build
confidence when the examples they read about are close to
home, giving them a sense of belonging, familiarity/
‘apnapan’ with the expressions and cultures that are being
represented.

15. • Visual images have a powerful impact on young minds in
shaping attitudes and behaviour. It is therefore extremely
important that all backgrounds, genders, and abilities are
represented in a manner that upholds their dignity and
empowers them.
• Images and illustrations that are custom designed for
illustrating concepts and stories could focus on visualising
the values, behaviours and equitable social constructs
that are envisioned through the curriculum, e.g.,
depicting a picture of a playground where children of
different backgrounds, abilities, and genders are playing
together.

16. crux
Visual
arts
Mother
tongue
Tribal
languages
dialects
Constructive
content

17. Section 2.3
inclusion addressed through pedagogy
• Efforts need to be initiated to recognise and address
discrimination and bias that occurs in the classroom
Discrimin
ation
Formal
setting
Informal
setting
Teachers also need to ensure that children belonging to different
genders, socio-economic groups, and with differential abilities
interact with one another and develop meaningful bonds.

18. • Discrimination and
exclusion practiced by
teachers
Pre-service and in-service
training programmes could
address such issues and
help teachers become
aware of the biases and
stereotypes that they may
have, and how these are
getting reinforced through
their classroom practices.

19. • It starts with the belief that some students cannot learn because of their
background, or ability and are labelled discriminatorily. During classroom
discussions, many children get excluded when the Teacher focuses their
attention primarily on those who are quicker to respond, or students who
are more vocal. On the other hand, when a Teacher asks all children to
first think about what they want to say and practice it in their mind before
raising their hands or responding, it would give many others a chance to
take their time to respond.
• In addition to this, a Teacher could also keep a track of how many
student’s voices they have heard during the course of one lesson, or over
a period of a week. This would give them insights into the students who
are not able to participate actively or are having difficulty in expressing
themselves and as a result, get excluded. Once a Teacher has this insight,
they could work out strategies to encourage the quieter children to
participate and share their views; and help them feel included.

20. • Learning materials and resources used in the classroom
could also be designed to cater to the needs of diverse
learners, particularly CWSN, children with specific
learning disabilities, and to suit multiple learning paces.
Early identification and assessment of students who
need special attention is a key factor in addressing
inclusion. Children who exhibit difficulties with learning
may require focused one-to-one attention or possess
strengths that are not recognised. Teachers could take
cognizance of the various reasons for the student’s
difficulties and have a compassionate approach while
setting learning expectations or planning specific
learning activities for them.
• Similar approach in physical education

21. assessment
• It is important for school teams to assess if their approaches and methods are
being inclusive, and not merely assume that they are. This can be done by
frequently making space for discussions with students after the learning activities,
for which the triggers could be like:
• a. Did everyone get a chance to participate in the activity?
• b. Did the teams/groups have representation of all genders that
are present in the classroom?
• c. Did anyone experience any discomfort during the
class/activity?
• d. Did anyone feel that they were treated unfairly during the
class/activity?
Such discussions can provide a space for all children to express the difficulties they
experience and draw support from others. This also generates love, empathy,
and care towards all. As with all school practices, inclusion and equity towards
all needs to be a collective responsibility that is modelled by
Teachers, Principal and all adult staff members, for students to
observe and learn from