By Mrs Archana Rao and Mrs Joyce D’Mello Fernandes for BISMumbai

On 14 June 2022, Don Bosco, Nerul, organised an educative and interactive seminar for the Pre-primary and the Primary section (classes I – VIII) teachers. The topic of the seminar was ‘Inclusive Education’.

This session began with a formal introduction by Headmistress of Primary Section Ms Jyotsna D’Souza of the resource person Ms Alisha Lalljee who has a Master’s degree in Psychology and Special Education, and works as a Counsellor and Special Educator. Ms Dsouza explained how Don Bosco, Nerul, has provision to address the learning needs of all children with a specific focus on those who are vulnerable to exclusion.

Ms Alisha gave an insight into the philosophy of inclusive education, types of learning disabilities (LD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Down Syndrome (DS), phobias and traumas found in children. She conducted an interactive session on case studies in classes from Pre-primary to Primary section.

The Secondary and Senior Secondary teachers of Don Bosco Senior Secondary School, Nerul, participated in two workshops on 14 June 2022. Both workshops were conducted by Mr Jeevan D’Cunha, the Director for People, Learning and Capability Development at Global Education Solutions.

In the first workshop on ‘Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom’, Mr D’Cunha stressed the need for differentiated instruction as every student in a classroom is different, comes from diverse backgrounds and has varying needs. He elicited responses on the differences between traditional and differentiated classrooms. In the second workshop on ‘Design Thinking in Today’s Classroom’, Mr D’Cunha set the ball rolling by placing a simple problem in front of the participants which involved coming up with a solution to the problem by asking the right questions and thinking out of the box. The teachers were challenged to recognize that they are all designers, and had the ability to inspire students to dare to ask the right questions and thus become ‘thought leaders’.

When asked about the main takeaways from the session a few teachers said: “Today onwards, I will see problems as opportunities for design in disguise”; “education cannot be static”; “as teachers we can and will design the change”.