Abstract
Research has indicated inclusive schools are the cornerstones to reducing and eliminating discrimination among the different social and economic hierarchies in a society. The objective of inclusion is to develop a unified school system that can serve all sorts of people together (Lipsky & Garter, 1998). (Thousand et. al., 2007) emphasize, “Quality inclusion is not merely determined by student placement, but rather is based on creating an environment that supports and includes all learners”. Teachers play a significant role in the lives of children, and the influence of teachers increases with the increasing amount of time children spend in formal education settings (Baker et al., 2008; Hamre and Pianta, 2001; Silver et al., 2010). Researches (Hamre and Pianta, 2001; Zhang and Sun, 2011) indicate that teachers also provide, like parents, similar emotional support and guidance to young children during their early years of schooling.
This study focused on children with disabilities’ (CWD) inclusive schooling experiences through the lens of parents: quality over the transition from home into school and the strengths and difficulties faced by children with disabilities (CWD), their parents, and the teachers in government schools of Delhi. The sample for the study consisted of children with disabilities who were categorized as children with mental health problems and had varying disabilities. Hence, the study sample consisted of children with visual impairment (VI), low-vision (LV), orthopedically handicapped (OH), hearing impaired (HI), and mental retardation (MR). It is a qualitative study using the narrative approach. Findings of the study indicate that teachers have a careless and negligent attitude towards CWD, and the transition of CWD from home into inclusive schools is fraught with challenges.
Keywords: children with disabilities (CWD), special education teachers (SETt), inclusive schools, transition of CWD, student-teacher relationship
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