ABSTRACT
Teacher preparation is critical and a key for implementation of inclusive education. This we began simultaneously with the whole school approach in mind. It helped us to develop an effective partnership approach with the various actors needed for the journey. Besides the in-service training which we set up (described in the earlier chapter) we began refl ecting on the larger framework of issues within which we were to build capacity for inclusive education. We fi rst of all turned our attention to the formal training programs SSI had been delivering for a number of years-including the ‘Early Childhood’ training programs and the ‘Post-Graduate Diploma in Special Education’—to incorporate concepts and issues related to inclusive education. The fi rst course we focused on was the Early Childhood one, which targeted the need to change the Government’s ICDS pre-school program. Refresher training programs on the current orthodoxy was necessary for the lecturing faculty before any change in the existing training programs could take place. During this period we also began a new series of training programs on ‘Community Initiatives for Inclusion’ and shortterm training programs for various stakeholders in the inclusion process. In this chapter we follow the modifi cation and additions we made to existing training programs incorporating new thinking on child development and inclusive education.
