Best Practices in Inclusive Education in a Mumbai School

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Samindara Hardikar - Sawant

Co-Founder of Disha Counseling Center, India

: Int J Ment Health Psychiatry

Abstract

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This case study presents an overview of the inclusion policy and practices in a Mumbai based school. Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School (BSMS) is an ICSE school based in the western suburbs of Mumbai. It has been one of the few schools in the city to include children with special needs into its classrooms. Following this practice of inclusive education for the last eighteen years, the school has been an inspiration and example to many schools across the city. The present paper aims to document how inclusion is weaved into the very fabric of everyday school life, and highlights the best practices followed by the institution. The study details how inclusion is implemented and ensured at every level of the school hierarchy and concludes by discussing specific challenges faced in the inclusion of children with autism and the way forward.

Biography

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Samindara Hardikar-Sawant is practicing psychologist and psychotherapist based in Mumbai. She is Co-Founder of Disha Counseling Center, which is a mental health center located in central Mumbai, dedicated to comprehensive mental health interventions. She is also Resource Room Head at Bhaktivedanta Swami Mission School, and has spearheaded the inclusive education and mental health programe in the school since the last 22 years. While she works with all age groups, her primary research interest has been in the area of inclusive education, with a special focus on ADHD and the impact of school interventions on management of ADHD. She is currently a Ph.D. research scholar at the JJT University.