The concept of inclusion has emerged from the ideas of providing equal opportunities to ‘all’ children. Providing equal opportunities does not mean providing ‘similar’ things to all children. It means providing equal opportunities keeping in mind the diverse nature of their individual needs. A teacher in the classroom needs to be responsive to diverse needs of ‘all’ children. But socially and academically meaningful inclusion of children with disabilities and special needs is a challenge before our teachers in particular and govt. in general. There has been a wide spread belief that the children with disabilities and special needs can be trained and educated properly in special schools and by special educators only. But slowly and gradually, this notion changed as it has been realized that segregated education cannot develop personality of such children in a wholesome way.. Meaningful inclusion of such children in regular schools therefore depends to a large extent upon the attitude of general education teachers. But researches have shown that teachers have negative attitude towards inclusion of children with disabilities into regular classroom which can be attributed to their lack of requite skills, training and professional preparedness. The Director General of UNESCO, Matsuurra (2008)), has articulated his vision of Inclusive education in the following words: “Inclusive education is an approach that looks into how to transform educational systems and enhance educational quality at all levels and in all settings in order to respond to the diversity of learners and promote successful learning” (UNESCO, 2008). It completely dispels the commonly held notion that inclusive education concerns itself exclusively with the inclusion of children with disabilities into the general education system. In fact, it involves a process of reform and restructuring of the school as a whole in terms of curriculum, assessment, pedagogy and grouping of pupils. Although there is widespread support for inclusion at a philosophical level, there are some concerns and barriers that are not supporting the policy of full inclusion and these are - professional preparedness, attitude of general education teachers and ineffective instructional strategies. Inclusion requires teachers to accept the responsibility for creating schools in which all children can learn irrespective of any differences in their abilities. In this task, teachers are crucial because of the central role they play in promoting participation and reducing underachievement particularly among children who might be perceived as having difficulties in learning. Meaningful inclusion of such children in regular schools therefore depends to a large extent upon the professional preparedness, effective teaching strategies and supportive attitude of general education teachers. But researches have shown that teachers have negative attitude towards inclusion of children with disabilities into regular classroom which can be attributed to their lack of requite skills, training and professional preparedness. Teachers overwhelmingly believed that inclusive education is impossible unless their needs for specialist resources are addressed. The present paper reviews some of the barriers to successful inclusion and suggests the ways of overcoming them by reconsidering the roles & responsibilities of teachers. It also provides some suggestions regarding effective instructional strategies for teachers to manage inclusive classrooms effectively including requisite skills, knowledge, attitudes and beliefs so that they can support and manage the inclusive classrooms effectively.
