Educational approaches and measures for meeting the diverse needs can involve special education, integrated education, inclusive education, and remedial education. At the classroom level, inclusive education requires small group instruction, centers tailored to different ability levels, blending basic and specialized lessons, rotating lessons between groups and teachers, and providing materials at various difficulty levels. It also important to consider the needs of students at the societal, education system, school, and classroom levels to facilitate inclusive practices. In India, services currently include special education classrooms, integrated education blending academic and vocational training, and efforts toward more inclusive education accepting of all students and abilities.

1. Educational approaches and measures for
meeting the diverse needs
Diversity: This term means the variations and differences
found among any group of children or adults.

2. The major issue underlying inclusion is the acceptance of diversity. We all need to
learn that diversity is an asset not a liability. The concept of diversity encompasses
acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique and
recognizing our individual difference as reality and diverse abilities as one of the
dimensions of human diversity. It is the exploration of these differences in a safe,
positive and nurturing environment. It is about understanding each other and moving
beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity
contained within individual. The pedagogic treatment should be as per the individual
needs their personal learning styles and environmental consequences they are facing.

3. Each pupil is different in terms of learning ability, academic standards, classroom
learning and academic performance, and each has his own in learning. The aim of
Remedial teaching is to provide learning support to pupils who lag far behind their
counterparts in school performance. By adapting school curricula and teaching strategies,
teachers can provide learning activities and practical experiences to students according to
their abilities and needs. They can also design individualized educational programmes
with intensive remedial support to help pupils consolidate their basic knowledge in
different subjects, master the learning methods, strengthen their confidence and enhance
the effectiveness of learning.
Throughout the teaching process, teachers should provide systematic training to
develop pupils' generic skills, including interpersonal relationship, communication,
problem solving, self-management, Self-learning, independent thinking, creativity and the
use of information technology. Such training can lay the foundation for pupils' lifelong
learning, help them develop positive attitudes and values, as well as prepare them for
future studies and career.
Educational approaches and measures for meeting the diverse needs-
concept of remedial education

4. Pupils under remedial teaching usually have one or more than one of the
following learning difficulties:
 poor memory
 short attention span and are easily distracted by other things
 relatively poor comprehensive power
 lack of learning motivation
 lack of self confidence
 and relatively low self expectation
 weak in problem solving Power
 fail to grasp information effectively and mix things up easily

5.  have difficulty in understanding new/abstract concepts
 fail to transfer knowledge to the related learning areas appropriately
 need more time to complete assignments or tasks
Apart from various learning difficulties, pupils may have different
abilities and styles of learning. Some are better in visual learning while
others are more competent in audio learning. Certain pupils have to learn
through sense of touch or practical experiences. Remedial teachers,
therefore, should design diversified teaching activities and adopt various
teaching methods to help students develop their potential and remove the
obstacles in learning.

6. Teaching preparation
Before preparing for their lessons, remedial teachers should identify pupils'
diverse learning needs as soon as possible so that they may design appropriate
teaching plans to facilitate pupils' effective learning.
Devise various learning activities
Since pupils have different characteristics in learning, teachers must devise
different learning activities with the same teaching objective to develop pupils'
varied abilities and skills in problem solving. It is more effective for teachers to
adopt a series of relevant and simple teaching activities than assigning one long
teaching activity since pupils may acquire the required knowledge and skills
through diversified activities.
Design meaningful learning situations
Remedial teachers should specifically design meaningful learning situations,
language environments(especially for English subject), games or activities so as
to provide personal learning experiences for pupils and stimulate their interest
and initiative in learning.

7. Teaching approaches
Teachers should give concrete examples before proceeding to abstract
concepts by way of simple and easy steps at a pace in line with the learning
abilities of students. Teachers may teach new concepts from different
perspectives by various approaches so that pupils can grasp the ideas
through meaningful and repeated illustrations. Teachers should encourage
pupils' active participation by more frequent use of teaching aids, games and
activities. They can also make use of information technology and all the
teaching resources available to help pupils understand the main points.
Provide clear instructions
Pupils with learning difficulties are less competent in understanding written
language. Therefore, remedial teachers should give pupils short and clear
instructions to avoid confusion. They must explain clearly the arrangement
of each learning activity. If necessary, they may ask pupils to repeat the steps
of activities so that every pupil may understand the instructions.

8. Summarize the main points
At the course of teaching, teachers should always sum up the main points in
teaching and write the key phrases on the board to enhance pupils' audio
and visual memories. Teachers can guide their pupils to link up the
knowledge they learn from class with their life experiences so as to enhance
the effectiveness of learning. Besides, guiding pupils to repeat the main
points in verbal or written form is also an effective way of learning.
Enhance learning interest and motivation
Suffering from frequent frustrations in their work, pupils with learning
difficulties may gradually lose their interest in learning. Therefore, teachers
should adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils. With less pupils in
the IRTP, teachers can design interesting activities coupled with reward
scheme to stimulate pupils' interest. It is most important to help pupils
overcome their learning difficulties so that they may gain a sense of
achievement and recover their confidence and interest in learning.

9. Educational approaches and measures for meeting the diverse needs-
Special Education
Special education classes provide a unique service to physically or mentally
challenged students. The ideal special education classroom provides quality instruction to
students with disabilities. While the push in education these days seems to be toward
online education and the inclusion of special education students within mainstream
classrooms, special education classes are still needed for more severely disabled students.
The purpose of the special education classroom setting is to provide more intensive,
individualized attention to the students who most need it.
However, even in special education classroom settings there can be a wide a range
of skill levels and abilities. How can teachers provide quality instruction to all students?
Here are some strategies that special education teachers can use to benefit all of their

10. 1. Form small groups
Forming small groups of two or three students within the class grouped according to
their level can help with personalizing the teaching while not sacrificing class instruction
time.
2. Create classroom centers
Classroom centers are another effective way students can be grouped. Each center
would specialize in one area or level. The centers would be self-contained in terms of
instructions and all lesson materials.
3. Blend ‘the Basics’ with more specialized instruction
Still another way of instructing multiple levels of students is to teach general concepts to
the whole group while pairing it with individual instruction.

11. 4. Rotate lessons
Lessons within the different groups or centers could be rotated so that on any given day
the teacher could introduce new material to one group, while only having to check in on
others who are doing more independent activities. The teacher assistant could also be of
service within such a lesson cycle.
5. Try thematic instruction
Thematic instruction is where a single theme is tied into multiple subject areas. This
method of teaching has been shown to be very effective in special education classrooms.
6. Provide different levels of books and materials
Since there will be a variety of proficiency levels in the classroom, be sure to have
different levels of textbooks and other teaching materials available for each subject.
Having a range of levels on hand will ensure that each student can learn at the
appropriate level. This minimizes frustration and maximizes confidence and forward
momentum in the student.

12. Educational approaches and measures for meeting the diverse needs-
Integrated Education
Integrated education is usually bringing together, in one combined
process, more than one element, subject, method or stream in the
educational process. If we mix teaching history and geography, chemistry
and biology, formal and informal education, or theoretical and practical
education we are implementing integrated education.
In the same manner holistic education may also be delivered as an
integrated education. For example moral education can be delivered by
integrating it into various parts of the curriculum such as literature, history,
social studies, civics, sport, home economics and life sciences.

13. 1. Integration of school subjects
Combining and integrating school subjects will reduce the number of subjects to be
included in the curriculum. For example one subject to be called “Our Environment”
could be a combination of physical, political and economic geography together with
environmental protection and some aspects of civics. Another subject to be called “Our
Health” could be a combination of biology, hygiene, nutrition, and some aspect of moral
education.
2. Integration of at-school education with self-learning at home
Modern educational technology is gradually making it possible to learn some subjects
through various “distance education” or self-learning methods. This approach if properly
devised and coordinated will reduce the burden of classroom teaching.

14. 3. Integrating school- education with out-of-school education
There are various opportunities at home and in the community that can provide
certain knowledge and skills that are normally offered by the school. Public libraries,
summer jobs, assuming some responsibilities at home, services offered by public
agencies and institutions can be enlisted to cover a portion of what is now expected to be
included in school curriculum. This will be a kind of integration of formal and non-formal
education.
4. Integrating education and learning with recreational and entertainment activities
Computer games, television programs, educational video and DVD, some sport
activities, summer camps, boy and girl scouts, are but a few examples of how education
can be integrated with recreation and entertainment.

15. 5. Integrating academic and vocational education
Dividing the education process into two separate streams by separating ordinary
secondary level education from vocational training, has resulted in bringing up two
groups of individuals, thus dividing the society into tow camps: in one camp are those
who utilize their hands namely their physical abilities and in the other camp are those
who are expected to use their heads namely intellectual capabilities.

16. A succinct definition of inclusive education is provided by Lipsky
& Gartner (1996, 1999), who described it as students with disabilities
having full membership in age-appropriate classes in their
neighbourhood schools, with appropriate supplementary aids and
support services. To Antia et al. (2002), inclusion denotes a student
with a disability unconditionally belonging to and having full
membership of a regular classroom in a regular school and its
community.
Educational approaches and measures for meeting the diverse needs-
Inclusive Education

17. They contrasted this with ‘integration’, or ‘mainstreaming’, both of
which imply that the student with a disability has the status of a visitor,
with only conditional access to a regular classroom, but primary
membership of a special class or resource room.
In their review of 28 European countries, Meijer et al. (2003)
described three different approaches to including pupils with special
educational needs: one-track (including almost all pupils in the
mainstream), multi-track (a variety of services between mainstream and
special needs education), and two-track (two distinct educational
systems).

18. In recent years, the concept of inclusive education has been
broadened to encompass not only students with disabilities, but also
all students who may be disadvantaged. Earlier, Skrtic et al. (1996)
had argued that inclusive education goes far beyond physical
placement of students with disabilities in general classrooms, but
should involve schools meeting the needs of all their students within
common, but fluid, environments and activities.

19. This broadened conceptualisation of inclusive education was
recently articulated in the meeting at the forty-eighth session of the
UNESCO International Conference on Education, held in Geneva in
November 2008, where it was acknowledged that ‘inclusive
education is an ongoing process aimed at offering quality education
for all while respecting diversity and the different needs and abilities,
characteristics and learning expectations of the students and
communities, eliminating all forms of discrimination’ (UNESCO,
2009, p.126).

20. In implementing inclusive education, attention should be paid to three levels: the broad society and
education system, the school and the classroom.
Societal and education system level. At this level, factors such as the following have been identified as
playing important roles:
(a) the policy context of the wider community,
(b) collaboration between government agencies and between them and non-government organisations, and
(c) collaboration among educators, parents, peers, other school personnel, and community agency
personnel.
To bring about inclusion, according to Oliver (1996), changes must take place at all levels of society.
These include differences becoming positively valued, education systems becoming morally committed to
the integration of all children into a single education system, schools becoming welcoming environments,
teachers becoming committed to working with all children, curricula becoming freed of ‘disablist’ content,
and disabled people being given skills to enter the labour market.

21. School level. At this level, the key question is what evidence is there that mainstream
schools can act in ways that enable them to respond to student diversity to facilitate
participation by all students in the cultures, curricula and communities of those schools?
After extensively reviewing the literature on this topic, Dyson et al. (2003) were able to
find only six studies that provided trustworthy evidence relevant to this question. In
determining the extent to which schools facilitate (or inhibit) inclusion, two school-level
themes ran through these studies: the importance of school culture (e.g., the values and
attitudes held by staff) and leadership and decision-making. School leadership was also
emphasised by Ainscow (1995), Schaffner & Buswell (1996) and Stanovich & Jordan
(1998).

22. Classroom level. Of course, the success or otherwise of inclusive education critically
depends on what takes place minute-by-minute in regular classrooms. Inclusive education
does not mean the coexistence of one programme for a student with special educational
needs and another for the other students. Rather, it implies changing the programme and
teaching approaches for all students in a class.
Inclusive education also requires close collaboration between regular class teachers and
a range of other people, including specialist teachers, teaching assistants, therapists,
and parents. Features of consultation models that have been advocated include
(a) the regular classroom teacher having primary responsibility for students’ overall
programmes,
(b)equal professional status of the regular teacher and the specialist teacher,
(c) the involvement of parents in decision-making and planning

24. Brief account of existing special,
integrated and inclusive education
services in India.