Peer-reviewed article
Unpacking the Possible: A Qualitative Case Study of Inclusive Teacher Practice in India
Anjali J. Forber‐Pratt, Tanushree Sarkar ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative case study examines how teachers in an inclusive school in Kolkata, India support girls with disabilities. Rather than focusing on teacher deficits, the research documents teachers' own perspectives on their inclusive practices through interviews, observations and document analysis. The study shows that teachers demonstrate resilience in promoting inclusion when supported by school leadership and a school environment that challenges community stigma about disability. The research highlights inclusive education as an iterative process shaped by institutional context rather than individual teacher attitudes alone.
Key points
- Teachers' inclusive practices are described as an iterative process supported by feedback and input from school leadership
- The school serves as a space of familial bonding that allows teachers to challenge views about the educability of girls with disabilities
- Teachers demonstrate resilience in their teaching and conceptualisation of inclusion despite community stigma against disability
- Existing quantitative research on teacher attitudes in India promotes a deficit view; this study instead focuses on what is possible in inclusive education
- Non-institutionalised, inclusive, community-based care for individuals with disabilities is rare in India
Limitations
This is a single intrinsic case study of one school in Kolkata, so findings cannot be generalised to other settings or contexts in India. The study captures teacher perspectives at one point in time and does not measure outcomes for girls with disabilities or track changes over time.
Abstract
Research on teachers and inclusive education in India has largely been conducted using standardised, quantitative measures of teacher attitudes, efficacy and behaviour. There is little focus on teachers’ perspectives on their practice. Such findings promote a deficit view of teachers, recommending interventions to ‘correct’ teacher attitudes and behaviour, with little attention to institutional and policy contexts within which the teachers operate. The existing studies focus on what is absent or lacking, rather than what is possible. The present study attempts to offer a perspective of what is possible in inclusive education in the Indian context. The purpose of this intrinsic case study research is to better understand the inclusion of girls with disabilities in Kolkata, India, at a home and school for orphan girls. Non-institutionalised, inclusive, community-based care is rare in India, specifically for individuals with disabilities. The overall case study involved interviews ( N = 32) with students, teachers and staff, observations and document analysis, and this focuses on the n = 7 teacher interviews. All transcripts were analysed using structural and in vivo codes. These findings are centred on teacher voices and perspectives – identifying best practices, dilemmas and challenges. However, teacher perspectives are discussed within a larger school and institutional context. An important feature is the description of teachers’ inclusive practice as an iterative process, supported by feedback and input from the school leader. The findings highlight how the school provides and serves as a space of familial bonding, allowing teachers to challenge the views of educability, within the backdrop of a community that stigmatises disability. It is in this way that these teacher-centred voices demonstrate resilience in their teaching and conceptualisation of inclusion and disability.