The key ingredient in effective support to inclusive education is supportive relationships: Educators

Inclusive education has become a catch phrase with the launching of the universal elementary schemes in India in the form of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. But, most of inclusive education interventions have got aborted because of the fear of change at every level.

According to the educators, Jack Pearpoint & Marsha Forest, Inclusion means change!! We believe both inclusion and change are inevitable. Whether we choose to grow with and from these changes is a choice.

Here is the summary of a relevant article titled “Inclusion: It's About Change!” by Jack Pearpoint & Marsha Forest at inclusion.com.

Many people in education and human services are afraid they will fail if things change. The get struck by three fears as follows.

• Afraid of new responsibilities.

• Afraid of what they don't understand.

• Afraid of being accountable.

Though we know about cooperative learning and peer tutoring for long now, but we discard these too often in a guise to cover "I don't want to risk giving up control!". "I am afraid that people might find out that I don't know everything! I don't want to do this." I am Afraid! This is the key phrase underneath most of the kvetching and whining.

The answer is that we must ‘Face the Fear, and Do It Anyway ‘ , i.e., include everyone. This will be uncomfortable - even terrifying for a few moments, but fears pass. When we face our fears, and proceed regardless, they immediately diminish and come into perspective. Our fears are simply an obstacle to overcome. They cannot and must not be a reason to deny any person their rights.

A second learning is that people need support to get through the crisis period of change. The fascinating facts are however, that this has very little to do with budgets. The key ingredient in effective support of change is supportive relationships.

The educators conclude that Inclusion is purely and simply about CHANGE. It is frightening - and exciting. The rewards are many. It will be and is hard and often emotionally draining work. Finally we like to remember that "An injury to one is an injury to all!" and in the case of inclusion, "The benefit to one will be the benefit of all."