Correct Answer - Option 4 : Both I and II
Integrated education refers to a set-up where children with mental retardation study along with non-disabled children in regular schools.
- To make this possible, the school must also have teachers/educators who are specially trained in working with and teaching disabled children. Such specialist teachers are referred to as special or resource teachers.
- Thus, integrated education is not merely a matter of placing a disabled child in a regular classroom.
- The child must receive "appropriate education". As you know,"appropriate" means individualized, need-based instruction. The child needs assistance and support services in the form of special educational materials as well as guidance and instruction by a resource teacher.
There are various models providing support for
integrated education:-
- Resource model
- Itinerant model
- Combined model
- Cooperative model
Self -contained category and resource room are popular models for the use of integrated education in India:-
- Resource model or resource room:-
- In this case, usually, 8-10 visually impaired children are enrolled in the regular school, which has a specialist resource teacher appointed in the school itself to meet their educational needs.
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The resource teacher is available for helping the visually impaired child in acquiring plus curriculum (skills such as braille reading and writing, orientation and mobility skills, etc., which are especially needed by children with visual impairment) and also for assisting the regular classroom teacher in providing need-based non-visual experiences to visually impaired children for understanding the various concepts being taught.
2. Cooperative model or self-contained category:-
- This model adopts the 'self-contained classroom' approach. This is an educational plan in which the children are enrolled with a specialist teacher for the visually impaired in a special room of a regular school, from where they go to the regular classrooms only for a portion of the day.
- The child is integrated into the regular class mostly for the social experience and not for studying academic subjects.
- The cooperative model is like conducting a special school in a regular school, whereas the resource model focuses attention on the child's involvement to a maximum possible extent in the regular classroom.
Options in Integrated Education:-
- Education in the regular classroom.
- Education in the Regular Classroom with Part-time Withdrawal
from the Class for Special Attention.
- Special class in the regular classroom.
Hence, we can conclude that both of the above models are the popular model for the use of integrated education in India
Itinerant model:- In this model of integrated education, the special educator is not appointed full-time in the school. Rather, the special educator visits the schools to provide instruction to students and to give support and guidance to class teachers and parents. Thus, In the traveling (itinerant), resource teacher serves three to four schools in an area. This model is cost-effective and also helpful in situations where a resource teacher cannot be appointed.
Combined Model:- The above two options, (i.e., the resource and the itinerant model) may be combined, which would mean that the specialist teacher works as a full-time resource teacher in one school during the forenoon session, and serves as a visiting teacher to two or three schools in the afternoon session.
