Primary education, the first stage of schooling, is intended to be free and compulsory for all children. It is a high priority in the context of development and is the focus of both the Education for All initiative proposed by UNESCO and the second of the Millennium Development Goals. Primary education should be inclusive. Children with disabilities, like other children, need to be included in local primary schools so that they have the opportunity to access quality education in the community. This is supported by article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
This keylist features resources that support inclusive primary education. We welcome your feedback: please send comments or suggested additions to firstname.lastname@example.org.
Books, reports, etc
This study assesses whether universal primary completion can be achieved by 2015, the target date set by the Millennium Development Goals. This study focuses on the following two data gaps in many developing countries: the education policies that in many countries are needed for faster progress and the incremental financing required to support this progress. This study is useful for anyone interested in universal primary completion
This guide was developed to facilitate and support inclusive education. It presents strategies and learning activities to facilitate curriculum differentiation, and offers suggestions, strategies, and learning activities to teachers to use in classrooms. This guide is useful to anyone interested in using curriculum differentiation to respond to students’ diversity
"This guide is based on the experience of the CRS/Vietnam Inclusive Education program and offers practical suggestions for including children with disabilities in any and all types of education programming"
"This guide aims to help CRS and partner education programs prepare teachers to implement successful models of inclusive education at the school level. It builds upon the previous publication while focusing more specifically on issues relating to teacher training and human resource development. Though the Vietnamese experience may not be universally applicable in all country contexts, it is hoped that the examples provided will serve as a reference of core themes that can be tailored to suit individual country needs"
This practical guide "suggests ways of working together in schools and teacher networks. Through the use of reflection and dialogue, the materials ask teachers to analyze their own teaching context and try out new teaching strategies...(it provides) teachers with opportunities to examine the ideas and examples, discuss them with colleagues and others, and guides them through adapting tasks, practices, and materials that may be used effectively in their own context"
This paper summarises education information disaggregated by age, gender and impairment gathered on children with disabilities in 268 schools in four districts in Mashonaland West Province (MWP), Zimbabwe, and outlines results from a survey given to parents, caregivers and teachers on knowledge, attitudes and practices. Findings highlighted a lack of training in inclusive education and the major barriers identified were a lack of assistive devices; distance to school and lack of transportation; cost; and human resource allocation. This research forms part of a three-year project led by Leonard Cheshire Disability Zimbabwe Trust to promote the provision of inclusive primary education for children with disabilities in that province and these findings provide the programme team with the possibility of adapting interventions and measuring changes over the duration of the project
Working Paper 26
Children with learning difficulties are frequently denied access to inclusive education. This booklet informs teachers about the learning profile of children with Down's syndrome and good practice in their education. It is adaptable for use in countries of the South
These materials are an in-service teaching training course for mainstream primary school teachers. They cover types of disability, disabled children's rights and advice on how to include disabled children in the classroom. This course is based on the UNESCO ‘Children with Special Needs Teacher Education Resource Pack’, and materials developed by the Spastic’s Society of Tamil Nadu in India, Voluntary Service Overseas and Kampuchean Action for Primary Education, which have been simplified and adapted. While prepared for use in Cambodia, this resource offers useful, easy to adapt materials to other contexts
"This HEART Topic Guide brings together evidence on what works in inclusive learning for children aged 3 to 12 years with disabilities and/or difficulties in learning in low and middle income countries, and explores the role of inclusive approaches in contributing to inclusive societies and ultimately inclusive growth. The Topic Guide addresses some of the contested and debated issues around terminology, labelling, and segregated, integrated and inclusive schooling; reviews the limited evidence that exists from low and middle income countries around the outcomes of inclusive learning; and identifies future research directions"
Note: This resource is available in both pdf and online formats
This paper provides detail about the context and scale of the challenges of the global shortage of inclusive teachers for children with disabilities. It then outlines five broad issues that need addressing if we are to prepare, recruit and support enough teachers, with appropriate skills, to educate every child, including those with disabilities
This guide discusses the challenge of how teachers and policy-makers can promote the inclusion of children with different needs in the classroom. It implies a shift in the role of education towards addressing the needs of the individual rather than making the individual meet a set of required standards
This updated toolkit consists of 10 booklets each containing tools and activities for self-study to start creating an inclusive, learning-friendly environment (ILFE). Some activities ask readers to reflect on what their school is doing now in terms of creating on ILFE, others guide readers in improving their skills as teachers in diverse classrooms.
The toolkit includes three specialist booklets focusing on including learners with disabilities, positive discipline, and teaching large classes.
The toolkit aims to assist teachers to acknowledge the diverse range of backgrounds amongst students and to build on the strengths of the children. It can be adjusted to the specific needs of each school, classroom and child and should not be read as a 'recipe book'.
The booklets are easy to read and contain tables, illustrations, checklists and examples to illustrate the application of inclusive schools.
Specialized booklet 1: Positive discipline in the inclusive, learning-friendly classroom : a guide for teachers and teacher educators
Specialized booklet 2: Practical tips for teaching large classes: a teacher's guide
Specialized booklet 3: Teaching children with disabilities in inclusive settings
Booklet 1: Becoming an inclusive, learning-friendly environment (ILFE)
Booklet 2: Working with families and communities to create an ILFE
Booklet 3: Getting all children in school and learning
Booklet 4: Creating inclusive, learning-friendly classrooms
Booklet 5: Managing inclusive, learning-friendly classrooms
Booklet 6: Creating a healthy and protective ILFE
This website presents a collection of teacher resources that addresses disability awareness. The units highlight the story of a teenager named Nodira who shares her experience living with a disability. The lesson plans, videos, multimedia and stories in this collection illustrate the challenges of children with disabilities face, as well as how children are being supported
This extensive website focusing on inclusive education is regularly updated, primarily with publications written by people working and living in the South. The website’s resources database covers a wide range of themes including: action research and image-based methodologies, early childhood, emergencies, deafness, gender, parents, policy, teacher education, among others. The website also contains EENET’s newsletters, plus event and job vacancy announcements.
The website is also available from EENET as a CD-ROM