Perceptions of social inclusion among secondary school teachers in Bangladesh

Social inclusion in the classroom can be a vital practice in order to ensure Education for All (EFA) . The study aimed to explore effective knowledge and practices of secondary schools teachers in various geographical regions of Bangladesh. Qualitative research was employed where researchers conducted semi-structured interviews to get insightful data on 50 teachers in secondary schools around Dhaka city, teaching grades VI to X and 10 secondary education monitoring officers. Interpretation of the obtained data was carried out using thematic analysis. Results indicated that the social inclusion practices had formal conceptual grounding among the teachers, yet they had limited knowledge of this. Consequently, the concept of social inclusion was more of a hypothetical term as it was written in documents rather than practiced in classroom. The current study underlines the importance of profession-specific professional development to improve teachers’ knowledge about social inclusion. It proposes the initiative of the pre-service as well as in-service training to allow the teachers to be respectful of learner differences. These would enhance the regulation of teaching and assessment procedures, foster the development of a positive learning environment, and ultimately lead to improved performance among students. Also, the research recommends better deployment of resources to facilitate greater inclusion in the learning process in the secondary schools in Bangladesh.