Supporting inclusive classrooms: can Western approaches to teaching be applied within an Indian context?

Education Institutions delivering their degree programmes in the emerging economies of Asia so have concerns been expressed that these initiatives may become a form of ‘colonialism’ seen as offering ‘superior’ understanding of how universal educational challenges should be addressed. This concern quite rightly demands that future partnerships for the development of professional development courses needs should be built upon secure and established principles of equity and collaboration. Demands for a more inclusive education system, endorsed through such international agreements as the Salamanca Statement (1994), and more recently through the Millennium Development Goals have led to an increase in training programmes aimed at equipping teachers with the skills to address the needs of a diverse school population. However, in many instances this has resulted in attempts to transport a westernised approach to education to cultural contexts which differ greatly from those in which inclusive schooling has been advanced. The potential for cultural dislocation is clearly in evidence and may prove to be an inhibiting factor rather than a means of promoting the inclusion agenda.