Promoting Inclusion of Students with Disabilities through Equitable Classroom Practices

Abstract

Inclusive education has been recognized globally as a right of persons with disabilities since the early 19th century. Equitable classroom practice are considered essential element to satisfy the needs of students with disabilities in regular setting. The main purpose of this study was to explore the use of equitable classroom practices to meet the diverse needs of students with disabilities by their teachers and to facilitate their inclusion at the Universities of the Punjab. A mixed –method research design was used to conduct the study. The population of the study comprised of teachers teaching in general sector Universities of the Punjab province and students with different disabilities. A total number of 58 university teachers and their 38 students with disabilities (20=visual impairment, 10 =physical impairment, 8 =hearing impairment) were selected from 7 public sector Universities through purposive sampling technique.  Only those teachers selected who were teaching to students with disabilities since last three years at least one subject. Two different types of instruments, a structured questionnaire and a semi-structured questionnaire in a flexible fashion were used for data collection. Both of the instruments got validated after piloting. Cronbach alpha was used to estimate reliability. The content and construct validity of the structured questionnaire estimated through experts related to the inclusive education. The quantitative portion of the data analyzed through IBM version 22, with the help of non-para metric statistical analysis. Qualitative data analyzed through thematic analysis. The four border themes appeared from in-depth interviews of the students. Majority of the teachers expressed knowledge to deal students with disabilities, adaptation in content, availability of aides for SWDs and lack of adapted material as main challenges to equitable classroom practices. The study recommended use of equitable classroom practices as an obligatory element for the inclusion of persons with disabilities at university level.