Inclusive education entails providing meaningful education to all students in the best possible environment. This ensures quality regardless of capability, language, ethnicity, culture, family background, age, or any disabilities. Individual differences, as well as unique strengths and limitations, are at the heart of inclusive education.
Learning how to interact and collaborate with people who are different from us is an important life skill that is as important to our journey as academics. Because inclusive classrooms involve everyone, all experiences, cultural knowledge, and personalities can contribute to the development of non-formal forms of education. These areas are not intended to discourage anyone, but rather to allow everyone to learn from one another. An inclusive learning environment provides numerous advantages and life lessons, including:
Identifying strengths/ weaknesses: Students in inclusive schools learn that everyone has his/her own strengths and weaknesses. They learn to appreciate these differences and how to collaborate and understand everyone’s contribution to society.
Acceptance and open-mindedness: Inclusive learning teaches kids the importance of another human being, no matter what the physical and mental differences. Being exposed to a diverse range of opinions, thoughts, and backgrounds helps students be more open-minded and open to current ideas and take in different viewpoints.
Greater sensitivity: It teaches students to practice patience; understand what empathy means and how words can hurt. It can also help prevent them from developing prejudices.
Beyond the classroom
The concept of inclusion in education is not limited to classrooms or school grounds. The goal is to change one’s attitude toward life. Small changes in a classroom can help to emphasise the inclusive nature. For example, activities like sharing food boxes at lunch can get things started. Including relevant examples in lesson plans can help to broaden the scope of the instruction. Another method is to incorporate analogies and stories from various cultures and to assign assignments that help students connect with others. To promote cultural awareness, the subject should be linked to real-world issues.
With globalisation on the rise, people need to work across different ecosystems. Students exposed to inclusive learning and diversity in the classroom will find it easier to live and work in such a society.
