Abstract
This is a case study of the Vasant Valley School, its educational philosophy, the philosophy of the special section and how the two are synergistic.
The constitution of the multi-disciplinary team of professionals will be explained together with the rationale for having each discipline represented on the team. The diverse needs of the children in the Special Section will be explained.
Strategies for collaboration between different professionals, to deliver services and implement changing and adapted school curriculum, in inclusive set-ups will be discussed. Professional collaboration in teacher education for preparing the right professional for Inclusive Education Systems, their delivery and evolution will be discussed.
An experience towards creating support systems for implementing the philosophy of Inclusion… in a developing country where there us little recognition, acceptance or resources for educating children with special needs will be shared.
Evaluation and promotion of the Inclusion through the changing role of the various professionals will be the group discussion for the forum.
INTRODUCTION
Given the enormous differences in traditions, attitudes, cultures and resources, changes in professional roles are taking place at snail mail pace. The medical community in India, with its compartmentalised and hierarchical mode of thought is unaware of the social model of rehabilitation -Inclusion.
Trained mainly on clinical role modelling, the medical mode continues to dominate the functioning of therapists and rehabilitation professionals on the one hand, and lack of awareness about rehabilitation professionals contributions and roles towards holistic development, continues to limit services in educational systems, on the other.
A central feature about rehabilitation is that it continues to take place in mutually exclusive environments that is, in hospitals, segregated special schools and disability specific non-government organisations. Regular mainstream schools in India have very little to offer. Since there is no platform of dialogue between the various professionals, multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary teams are almost non existent in schools.
Bridging the gap between education, health care and complete habilitation is the responsibility of committed professionals. Activities such as sensitising and awareness building workshops, communicating for change and liasing with principals, parents, teachers, doctors and therapists are time consuming and require substantial resources. The idea and philosophy of inclusive education puts an end to a medical model of rehabilitation, and opens the doors to developing a truly integrated responsible and mature society.
Over the past 25 years or so, parents and other concerned groups in India have devoted considerable energy to understanding the implications of segregated and differential education for children with special needs and it is now recognised that Inclusive Education makes best sense. Especially so in a society that values literacy and nurtures children.
However, the reality remains that conventional education systems are too rigid to reach children who because of gender disability, ethnicity or poverty have least access to education. It is no coincidence then that on an average nearly half the children in the 47 least developed countries (including India) do not have access to primary education.
The Salamanca Declaration and Framework for Action in 1994 sets education as a human right. This has urged many countries including India, to frame an Equal Opportunity Act, to adopt as a matter of law or policy the principles of Inclusive Education, for enrolling all children in regular schools unless there are compelling reasons for doing otherwise.
The full inclusion of all children can come about only as a result of a reform of the school and the educational system. Only when educationists view an individual as a holistically developing mind- body- spirit continuum, will they recognise the need for INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAMS WITHIN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. Though iInclusive education has serious implications for teacher development programmes, the regular classroom teacher cannot be expected to play god.
Integration of professional services (rehabilitation, medical and educational) in the development and education of individuals with challenges is necessary if the teachers dilemma is to be solved. An implementing agency moderating between policy and delivery of educational services-The INTERDISCIPLINARY Team- is the need of the hour.
Overview of history of the development of educational services for children with special needs.
Globally, education for children with special needs has evolved through the stage of benign neglect and ostrasization, the stage of pity and compassion based on religious consideration to reduce misery leading to care in homes for the destitute, care and help in hospitals and special schools and finally to education in regular schools.
In different regions of India, we are vacillating between all the various stages. There is a serious regional imbalance in education and rehabilitation facilities for the disables. Transition from the Special School stage to education in general schools, still in its infancy, started with the transfer of the scheme of Integrated Education for Disabled Children from the Department of Welfare to the Department of Education in 1982.
Special Schools continue to be isolated, leading to under utilisation of resources on the one hand, and general schools starved of professional expertise on the other. Limited number of special schools and slow preparation of general schools to meet special needs has resulted in dismally low participation of disabled children in education.
Education for a few can no longer be a valid policy and without policy direction for including all children, Education for All remains an inadequate and incomplete statement.
Curricula changes, manpower training, resource support, environment modifications and planning for sustaining the inclusion process must start now. Paradigms of integration suitable for the condition in India have to be developed.
For successful intervention interdisciplinary team interactions are the norm. Educational integration of children with special needs involves a collaborated and mutual process during which professional's develop the curricular plans together. Hence it is the combined vision, evaluation and co-ordinated plan that provides for the holistic development of the child in inclusive educational setting.
TEAM INTERVENTIONS
The success of any program depends largely upon the integration of the child's individual program components into a comprehensive system carried out by a co-operative team of professionals. Teamwork is critical because of the interrelated nature of the problems of the developing child and the need for skills and resources from many professionals to meet the needs of both child and family. This inter-professional collaboration can work in a variety of configurations. The following are described multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary and Trans disciplinary briefly
Multidisciplinary This approach evolved from the medical model in which multiple professionals evaluated the child and made recommendations. In this type of approach, several professionals may be directly or indirectly involved with the child and family, but do not necessarily consult or interact with each other. Often, services are provided through several locations, and at a time usually convenient for the professional. Generally one person, such as the parent or physician, acts as case manager. Within the Indian context it is a hierarchical process rather than lateral, with the Pediatrician, being the first contact person with advisory and referral authority.
Interdisciplinary
The interdisciplinary approach to treatment is a more cooperative and interactive approach consisting of a team composed of professionals from several disciplines involved with the child, usually at the same location. Implementation is specific to each discipline and may be executed outside the environment in which the child is expected to perform.
Each member of an interdisciplinary team is accountable to the team as a whole. To ensure the success of this approach, the team members must respect each other's roles and not enter into a "power play" for control.. This type of intervention is frequently seen in Special Schools and most Non Government Organisations working with children with special needs. Parallels may be drawn for sustainable Inclusive education in regular schools as this could support the class room teachers efforts in many ways.
However it rests upon the level of awareness, willingness to change and financial resources of the educational systems. Thus though a medical model of intervention is fragmented and incomplete in isolation, so is the educational philosophy of Inclusion without its immeadiate and ongoing support.
Transdisciplinary
In the transdisciplinary approach various disciplines interact as a team but one member is usually designated to provide direct intervention with other team members who act as consultants. Role release occurs when one professional relinquishes some of his or her functions to another professional. All team members contribute to assessment, program planning and intervention, but the designated person is empowered by the team to perform functions that are normally outside the bounds of his or her profession. This approach is "indirect, integrated and decentralised;" it limits the number of people carrying out a program but makes use of the expertise of a variety of professionals. This approach is in use in community based programmes, specially seen in government endeavours.
There are however several obstacles to the transdisciplinary approach. These obstacles include differing value systems, issues of professional and legal liability, variable background, education of designated service providers, and inconsistent mastery of skills practised through role release.
Regardless of which approach is used, effective teamwork does not come easily. It requires a flexible administration based on a sound philosophical framework and honest, hard work on the part of each team member.
Parents an essential part of the team
Literature and professional experience, includes much evidence to support parent involvement as a predictor of child development. It is therefore natural to include parents as integral members of their child's treatment team. Parents are the persons most familiar with their child and are valuable as members of the assessment and evaluation teams.
VASANT VALLEY CENTRE
To achieve the Vision of Education For All, of an enriching educational experience, the Vasant Valley centre was set up under the aegis of India Today, through the Education Today Trust - a foundation committed to excellence. The centre seeks to provide a platform for interaction and exchange between people involved with education. It is a resource centre for Government and private school teachers, teacher education and development, community development, leadership and for ensuring universal access to quality education. A few of the centres' activities are listed:
At the Vasant Valley Special Section the commitment towards making each child a contributing member of society is being fulfilled by the multidisciplinary team of professionals constituting Special Educators, Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists and Psychologists. The Director of the school and the regular teachers are fully integrated into the planning and execution of programmes of the children of special section, as are the school pediatrician and the parents.
The team provides services to twenty-five children between the ages of five and twelve years. The children will graduate from the school at age 16. Children follow the timetable of the main school and attend academic sessions with regular children according to their age and ability. All non-academic sessions are inclusive.
Therapy is provided daily in all the other time slots available. All children have individualized Educational Plans based upon long-term goals, short-term goals and objectives. All special section activities are in tandem with the main school.
Families are involved with the planning of the long term goals of their child, and are encouraged to set up support groups amongst themselves. Perceived limitations from parents and teachers are consciously removed encouraging higher expectations from the children at all levels.
The children are an integral part of their respective grades - but with special needs. Further, transition plans for vocational training through liasing with already existing vocational training centres are in place.
The curriculum includes the following:
Curriculum planning is critical for children with special needs to avoid a fragmented education program. One approach to describing curriculum for students in special education is to anchor it in general education curriculum, which functions as a frame of reference. The basic academic competencies-reading, written expression, speaking, communication and listening skills and mathematics form the core of the curriculum for special needs students, as they do for general education.
The multidisciplinary team, depending on each child's special requirements makes modifications and adaptations to this core. Sensory motor retraining, maturation, development and socialization, speech, language and communication and a programme of self help skills development including activities of daily living are necessary additions to the core, which is implemented not only by the teachers but also by various professionals in the multidisciplinary team.
At the Vasant Valley Special Section the following are in practice:
A. Identical Curriculum Students participate in the regular curriculum needing no more help with the subject matter than any other student does
B. Parallel Curriculum Many students in the special section have learning problems, mental retardation or perceptual problems. The teacher decides either to reduce the complexity level for special needs children, or select a similar but different objective.
C. Functional Curriculum When handicapping conditions are such as to interfere substantially with learning sub-skills even at a reduced level, the students benefit from a practical academic curriculum. For example, the basic skills- reading, writing, mathematics-are taught in a functional aspect that relates to their immediate use.
D. Life Management Curriculum Life management curriculum has perhaps the greatest significance for special needs children. Life management or life skill preparation helps develop the skills required to participate in everyday situations. It complements the teaching of basic academic skills. Life management curriculum options involve the following areas:
E. Disability - specific curriculum Each learning, sensory and physical disability requires certain disability specific interventions. For example, sign language for the hearing impaired, Braille and mobility training for the visually impaired. Instruction of such skills involves time, specificity and intensity equal to studying any other subjects in the curriculum.
It is thus obvious that a classroom teacher would be overwhelmed if he/she were to manage a multilevel and varied class of fifty or more children, single handed.
TEACHER TRAINING FOR INCLUSION
The need for developing teachers trained to include the excluded within the regular classroom is an important concern at the Vasant Valley School. Thus a Postgraduate Diploma on " MAINSTREAM EDUCATION AND THE SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD" has been developed. The quality of the teaching staff and the way in which they are used determine as much as anything how successful a school will be in educating students with disabilities. Since the children require individualised programmes of work and modified teaching approaches, rather than a totally separate curriculum, this must be underpinned by corresponding changes to the schools academic organisation. Timetabling, student grouping and arrangements for specialist teaching provide the framework within which teachers deliver the curriculum. The course in teacher development aims at the ability of the teacher to provide the above effectively.
PROGRAMME PHILOSOPHY
The conceptual framework of the programme includes 5 modules of training based on:
Evaluation of programmes such as the one in Vasant Valley rests solely on the successful integration of its students into the community as independent, skilled young adults with dignity, pride and a happy life.
Inclusion is not only the purview of the educational system and the responsibility of the classroom teacher alone. A large number of professionals with long term commitments to the evolving child are essential for formulating plans and implementing them for the complete inclusion of the individual. If the import of inclusion of different professionals with varied perspectives to offer is undermined, true inclusion will remain in print alone!
It does take a village to raise a child.
Socio-cultural perceptions of roles of professionals in rehab and teaching
Comparison of medical and educational systems
| Hospital | School | |
| Function | Saving lives, curing and healing | Instruction, develpment preparation for life |
| Type of system | Relativley closed | Relativley open |
| Contact with system | Intermittent, need based, individual choose when to enter system | Constant, continues to age 16+ |
| Barriers to interaction | Medical mystique, inaccessible records 'jargon' | Negative feedback / poor parent teacher interaction |
| Delivery of service | Cooperative team headed by physician | Individual professional or collaborative |
OT CONCERNS IN SCHOOL SYSTEM
EVALUATION AND INTERVENTION AREAS AND TECHNIQUE
1 General and referral information and Evaluation
2 Psyco-social skills
3 Developmental skills
4 Daily living skills
5 Cognitive skills
6 Neuromotor and sensorymotor skills
7 Prevention required
8 Recommendations
9 Individualised Educational Plan
TEAM CONFIGURATIONS
MULTIDISCIPLINARY
PHYSICIAN
SPECIALIST
THERAPISTS
PSYCHOLOGISTS
EDUCTIONISTS
SPECIAL SCHOOLS/FACILITIES
INTERDISCIPLINARY
TRANSDISCPLINARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) Ainscow, Mel 1991, towards effective school for all. In Graham Upton (education), staff training special educational needs: Inventory strategies and models of delivery, London: Foulton.
2) Alur Mithu, foreword: Network Seminar on Inclusive Education 1996.
3) American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 1998 June, Volume-X. OT in the school systems.
4) Carol Bellamy, Executive Director, United Nations children's fund- The state of the worlds children, 1999.
5) Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, June 1995. Achievements under education for all. A Status Paper Towards Meeting a Commitment.
6) Jupp, Ken mainstream education for children with severe learning disabilities, Every one belongs, Human Horizon series.
7) NCERT school Education in the 1990's Problems and Prospective. Report of the national seminar held on 18th to 19th September.
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