Copyright by Nithya Soundara Raghavan 2014
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Copyright by Nithya Soundara Raghavan 2014 The Dissertation Committee for Nithya Soundara Raghavan Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Inclusion of Students with Disabilities: A Case Study of A Private, Primary School in an Urban City in Southern India Committee: Sylvia F. Thompson, Supervisor Mark F. O’Reilly Audrey M. Sorrells James R. Patton Denise V. De La Garza Peter M. Ward Inclusion of Students with Disabilities: A Case Study of a Private, Primary School in an Urban City in Southern India by Nithya Soundara Raghavan, B.Sc., B.Ed., M.Ed. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2014 Dedication For Amma and Appa & Sundar Acknowledgements I received a lot of support and encouragement from many people during my eight years as a graduate student. I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Sylvia Thompson for her constant guidance from developing a proposal to completing my dissertation study. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee of Dr. Mark O’Reilly, Dr. Audrey Sorrells, Dr. James Patton, Dr. Peter Ward and Dr. Denise De La Garza for their feedback and insights in developing and implementing my study. Dr. Shernaz Garcia and Dr. Herbert Reith- I want to thank you for your guidance in developing my research proposal. Dr. Cheryl Wilkinson, I want to thank you for always encouraging and supporting me; for being my advisor and helping me during my initial days as a new international graduate student. Dr. Garcia, you were my first point of contact with the department, and you have always been there to help me. I remember coming to you for so many things- both professional and personal, and you always provided sound advice and helped me cope through some difficult times. I also want to extend special thanks to Dr. Rupert Snell and Shri. Jishnu Shankar. I thoroughly enjoyed working with you in all different projects and it took a great deal of stress away from worrying about funding my studies! Rupert ji, thank you for so many things- for helping me stay employed during my studies and for your kind support through stressful times. You were so easily approachable and always willing to listen. I am also especially grateful for your help in reading my chapters, and at short notice! Special thanks to the principal, teachers, students and parents who agreed to participate in my study. Your open and simple nature, as well as hard work in running the v school is very much appreciated. I am especially grateful for opening your doors to me, and allowing me to be part of your school and classrooms. I want to express my love and deepest gratitude to my parents for their encouragement over the years—your hard work and dedication are always a source of inspiration to me. You have supported and helped me through my doctoral program. My dear husband Sundar, you are always loving, understanding, positive; and you believed in me- your motivation, support and patience helped me a lot in realizing my dream of completing a Ph.D. Madhu and Deepa, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay with you during my data collection. I also want to express my gratitude to my parents-in-law for their encouragement, especially during the final stages of my dissertation. I also want to extend my thanks to Stephanie, Gina and Gwen in the department of special education for all their help in administrative matters. Rads, Binz and Woori – thank you for being such wonderful friends and colleagues. Shilpa, from your timely help in submitting my paperwork, to the little chats we had now and then—I’m always grateful for your kindness. vi Inclusion of Students with Disabilities: A Case Study of a Private, Primary School in an Urban City in Southern India Nithya Soundara Raghavan, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2014 Supervisor: Sylvia F. Thompson Significant changes have been observed in educational reforms in the Indian subcontinent over the last two decades. During this time period, educational policies began to be influenced by international developments in education (Hodkinson & Devarakonda, 2011). According to Singal (2006a), the Indian government endorsed the objective of the Salamanca Declaration (UNESCO, 1994), which was to ensure policy changes to “promote the approach of inclusive education, namely enabling schools to serve all children, particularly those with special educational needs”. This time period also marked the beginning of the usage of the term “inclusive education” in educational policies in India; however, a guideline to defining inclusion and actual implementation of inclusion in schools has not yet been realized (Singal & Rouse, 2003). There are few schools implementing inclusion in India; many practices are reflective of those developed and used in schools in developed countries. Inclusive practices developed in schools in Western countries may not suit the needs of schools in the Indian context. This case study was designed to explore how one primary school in India adapted and implemented inclusion. The perceptions and experiences of the principal, teachers and parents regarding inclusion were also explored in the context of inclusive practices of the school. Multiple sources of data collection including in-depth interviews, observations, document vii review and focus group were used to answer research questions. Data analyses were used to identify themes and categories to answer research questions using techniques identified by Glaser and Strauss (1967). Findings are presented as follows: (1) an introduction to the school, (2) implementation of inclusion in India, and (3) knowledge and perceptions of stakeholders regarding inclusion. Findings indicate that the school practiced a social model of inclusion to suit their needs and based on the availability of resources. Parents of children with disabilities played an important role in implementing inclusion. Goals for inclusion, school and classroom practices, as well as participants’ perceptions regarding inclusion were consistent with their experiences and implementation of social inclusion. Participants’ had mostly positive perceptions, but expressed some limitations about inclusion. Implications for future research, practice and policy are also discussed. viii Table of Contents ! Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................ 1! Context ........................................................................................................... 3! Special education services ..................................................................... 7! Study Overview .............................................................................................. 8! Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................ 11! Education in India ......................................................................................... 11 The pre-independence era in Indian Education ................................... 11 The post-independence era in Indian Education ................................. 13! Special Education in India ............................................................................ 15 Legislation and policy in special education ......................................... 16! Inclusion in India .......................................................................................... 20 Perceptions of teachers regarding inclusion in India ........................... 26! Inclusion in the United States: From Segregation to Inclusion .................... 28 Legal mandates .................................................................................... 29! Research Regarding Inclusive Education in the United States ..................... 30 Inclusion and its impact on academic achievement and social outcomes ............................................................................. 31 Instruction in inclusive classrooms ..................................................... 39 Inclusive education practices and its impact on general and special education teachers ................................................ 41 Perceptions of inclusion ...................................................................... 42 Chapter 3: Methodology ........................................................................................ 46 Research design ............................................................................................ 49 Sampling ....................................................................................................... 50 Study site ............................................................................................. 50 School information ..................................................................... 51 ix Selection of participants ...................................................................... 52 The principal ............................................................................... 52 Teacher participants .................................................................... 53 Parent participants ...................................................................... 59 Data Collection ............................................................................................. 60 Measures .............................................................................................