Developing Inclusive Practices: Case Study of the Model of Inclusion, Management and Leadership in a School in Bengaluru, India

Policies advocating inclusive education (IE) have been adopted and implemented in many countries, including India. Literature from India in the area of inclusion and children with special needs (CWSN) has reported primarily on legislation, teacher attitudes and training, and challenges to IE. Few studies have reported pedagogical practices in schools and their practical implementation, or have described specific situations within Indian schools. This research investigated the inclusion of CWSN including those with learning difficulties (LD); social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD); attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) within one case study school; this was an urban private school (referred to as MPES) in Bengaluru, Karnataka. An interpretive approach was used to investigate the meaning of inclusion and SEN in practice at MPES, the model of inclusion (MoI) followed, implementation processes in the school and the roles and understandings of the key individuals who contribute to this process. A case study approach was developed and informed by questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observations as data collection tools. The sample population consisted of the principal and vice-principals; teachers including mainstream-teachers, coordinators, special-educators and counsellors; and children with and without SEN. Data from 120 questionnaires, 66 interviews and 16 sessions of observation were thematically analysed. The findings revealed that MPES follows a multilevel MoI that included main-classrooms and pull-out rooms thus ensuring a continuum of services. Teachers used labels and terms such as ‘hyper child’, ‘slow child’ and ‘autistic’, most of them in an uninformed way whereby this labelling was not based on a formal diagnosis of disability. The school valued the achievement of all learners, and paid attention to both academic and social outcomes as expressed by teachers’ and students’ statements on their sense of belonging and in ensuring that all children participated in the class and in extra-curricular activities. While teachers valued academic achievement of CWSN, it was accompanied with a lowering of expectations. A number of provisions in the school such as common extra-curricular activities, emphasis on the identification of SEN, processes of recommending children to pull-out rooms and accommodations for CWSN in the main-classroom and assessments support MPES in moving towards its goal of inclusion. While teachers highlighted progress towards inclusion, they also identified barriers such as inadequate teacher training, limited resources, and insufficient collaboration between mainstream-teachers and the special education (SpEd) team. MPES has a robust leadership with the principal seen as a person of action, who also demonstrates a shared vision and has a dynamic working style. Leadership styles that included authoritative, transformational and distributed contributed to the strong positive culture at MPES. Recommendations include the introduction of a system of labelling that is not stigmatizing, but is factual and useful for lesson-planning and interacting with CWSN. The school would benefit from strengthening its provisions to include collaborative teaching and differential assessments that are ongoing. Continued professional development that connects teachers’ practices with pedagogy and moves towards shared belief and collective agency are also recommended. Students’ voices and active involvement of students is an area that needs impetus in the process of inclusion. The results and specific recommendations of this case study research may not be generalizable. However, aspects such as learnings from the MoI, focus on processes, acknowledgment by various stakeholders that inclusion is a dynamic process, and leadership aspects including multiple types of leadership may be borrowed by other Indian schools also committed to inclusion.