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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Broad Objectives:
1. To identify the special needs of hearing impaired children in
inclusive education.
2. To study the contribution made by the parents, teachers and special
educators towards
facilitating inclusion.
3. To bring clarity in the roles played by parents, teachers and
special educators towards
hearing impaired child’s education in inclusive
setup.
4. To study and bring in to focus the factors that influence towards
success or failure of
inclusive education.
Specific Objectives:
1. To identify special schools who are mainstreaming hearing impaired
students in to regular
schools.
2. To identify and select 35 to 40 hearing impaired students from
these schools.
3. To contact parents, teachers and special educators / speech therapist
/ resource teachers of
the selected hearing impaired children.
4. To collect data from these three sets of people through questionnaires.
5. To analyze the data collected to come to specific conclusions.
SAMPLE AND TOOLS
Three schools for Hearing Impaired were selected on the basis
of their past record in mainstreaming of hearing impaired children
in to the regular schools. One in South Mumbai, one in Central Mumbai
and one in Western Mumbai. Three sets of questionnaires* were prepared
for each child. One to be filled by the parents, one by the regular
teacher and one by the special educator / speech therapist / resource
teacher in case the child was trained by any one of them. The questions
were framed in simple language and were easy to fill. These sets
were given to the principals of special schools to be given to the
children they had already mainstreamed. The principal was also asked
to select equal number of children from pre-primary, primary and
secondary schools if possible.
The sets of questionnaires were given out to the respective children.
These were duly filled and returned to the school principals. In
some cases parents, regular schools and special educators were directly
approached to fill out the questionnaires for the children concerned.
Though in all 45 sets were distributed only 36 complete sets were
returned duly filled. In many cases, the regular school teachers
were not co-operative in filling them out. Some teachers unduly
delayed returning it, some returned the questionnaire back without
filling it and some did not return it. On the other hand some parents
and principals of special schools were extremely co-operative and
sent in the duly filled questionnaires directly. The data collected
in these questionnaires were tabulated and analyzed. (Refer to Appendix)
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The United Nations is working on a convention on the rights
of disabled people to help move disabled people from exclusion to
inclusion. Inclusive education is a right and not a privilege of
every child. Inclusive education helps to reduce isolation of disabled
children, promotes psychological acceptance by normal children and
equips disabled with the competencies required to face life with
courage and confidence. What does it take to make this possible?
What is it that makes it difficult? And what is it that contributes
towards making this task almost impossible? These are some questions
that need to be investigated. The findings could help thousands
of children who are at a disadvantage from the moment they are born.
The study could provide an insight in to various aspects of their
intellectual, emotional and social growth. It could also provide
valuable information on the roles played by key persons, namely
mother, special educator and the regular teacher and their contribution
towards success or failure of inclusive education for hearing impaired
children. The findings could guide us in taking appropriate measures
to fill in the gaps that contribute negatively towards success of
inclusive education. What the Government authorities need to do
to prevent discrimination and assure education for all. What measures
need to be taken to create awareness regarding the disability, especially
among educators and general public, thereby helping to change their
perceptions in a positive direction. School authorities could take
remedial measures and parents as well as special educators could
extend their support in a more meaningful way.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
There are limitations to this particular study due to various factors.
The sample of the study is very small. The subjects in the sample
have been selected based on single criteria of them studying in
regular schools. Only subjects mainstreamed by three schools for
hearing impaired and some individual subjects have been included
in the study. As a result a limited number of professionals providing
special services have filled in the questionnaire. The subjects
selected are only from urban area. Though an effort was made to
select the subjects from pre-primary, primary and secondary levels
of education, equal numbers of subjects were not available at each
level. Since the data collected was through questionnaire and not
personal interview there is a possibility of ambiguity due to lack
of clear understanding of the question. Many regular teachers had
taught the children for less than a year and therefore did not know
much about the child.
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