Teacher Education and Inclusion

Inclusive education is a global agenda in today’s world and yet most trained teachers still are found to feel burdened and experiencing lack of confidence while addressing issues of diversity, especially in form of challenged students in real classroom scenario.Review of related literature and researches in this area reveal that improper experience during teachers’ training or teacher development programs is responsible for the development of a negative attitude and feeling of frustration among secondary and higher secondary teachers in dealing with students with special needs. It has been found that attitude is the principal factor in addressing challenging situations like a class full of diverse needs. How far the present teacher education courses are effective in generating a positive attitude among the deputed in-service and fresher or pre-service trainees remains an area to be explored. This study has been conducted upon seven hundred trainees from both public and private teacher education institutions, as a minor research project funded by the University Grants’ Commission [UGC].