What is Dhwani? How will it drive classrooms inclusive?
Dhwani (sound/voice) is a teacher’s resource tool-kit built by practitioners with decades of experience driving inclusion in the classrooms. Powered by Bachpan Manao at Ek Step Foundation, Dhwani is an attempt towards celebrating all childhoods and making classrooms really inclusive- defined simply as making every child feel they belong in the classroom. Dhwani is a resource that is published as a digital public good, under Creative Commons License with the focus on providing every teacher a useful companion on their journey- whether from International private schools to public government schools. You can find the digital copy of Dhwani here.
Context: The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act’16 in India requires the appropriate government to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy the right to equality, life with dignity and respect for their integrity equally with others. The National Education Policy further emphasizes the need for inclusion in classrooms for children with disabilities. Given how This makes inclusion mandatory in Indian schools and the journey is hardest for preschool teachers
Goal: Given this backdrop, we wanted to create a resource which not only equips the teachers to deal with everyday scenarios of having diverse learners in their classrooms, but also inspires them to realize the power they hold in their hands, and not think of it as yet another activity that burdens them.
Team and Process: Given this audacious goal, we had our Inclusion Parent Champion, Shwetha Srivathsan, special educator and mother to our celebrated non-speaking autistic , award-winning author Aditi, whose latest book hit Amazon No.1 in the US, painstakingly work with various teachers who have practiced inclusion in diverse school set ups for decades- from International Schools that cater to the privileged to organizations that work with government schools that provide free education to India’s most impoverished students to many in between that have a mix of students to veteran leaders driving montessori format education.
A few key principles adopted for the manual are:
1) start by making the teacher feel she is valued with a focus on her well-being and her journey of emotions in this path for inclusion
2) iterate that the role of the teacher is not to diagnose or hand out labels but to observe and try to work through interventions which will help the diverse learner achieve their goals and
3) the power of documenting progress.
Our effort has been powered by Ek Step Foundation of India’s most well known philanthropist Nandan Nilekani which runs DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) is an initiative by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, designed to provide a digital platform for teachers, students, and parents that supports more than 1.5 million schools across all states and union territories and is available in 36 Indian languages.
Outcome: We are very happy to attach Dhwani (meaning sound in most Indian languages) which is a compilation of voices of practitioners from the Indian education industry who have packed their hits and misses, their good days and bad, as everyday scenarios and strategies for teachers of today. Please find attached a copy here. With lots of photos and quotes from practitioners added, the book intends to be a ready companion or friend for our teachers that understands them and their dilemma in running a classroom with diverse learning needs and equips them with the experience of others
Beyond the book: Dhwani is not just a book. It is a movement to hear the voices of teachers and practioners who actually drive inclusion on the ground. As with any movement, it cannot be driven by a handful of practitioners who contributed to the first edition but find or develop more and more practioners who influence other teachers around them to take up this beautiful goal. Our team of practioners do provide workshops to schools to enable a deeper understanding and more importantly a commitment towards this goal. Investing in teachers’ training is essential to the professional development of teachers. Also our team of practitioners spend significant time and effort in curating these. Hence the paid workshop available both online and offline to ensure no unpaid labour for the amazing women driving this movement. Please reach out to ntd@bookosmia.com or +91 76191 27444 . You can also copy in the curator of Dhwani shwetha.srivathsan@gmail.com
Impact: We
recently
launched
Dhwani at our NeuroUnity event, sponsored by India Autism Center and fully run by our neurodiverse friends- from emceeing to managing registrations to performing to catering for the 120+ people who attended it. The feedback for Dhwani has been incredible and given the partners involved, we are happy to create it as the first resource which teachers from various setups will be using. Published with a Creatives Commons License, the resource is for every school teacher to enhance and adapt further to their context. Sharing some from partners who will help us implement below.
Feedback: Delighted to see this warm feedback from industry leads who not only appreciated Dhwani but also readily provided inputs from their years of experience in this field.
“This manual is an invitation to see beyond the labels, beyond the struggles, and into the incredible hearts and minds of children who experience the world differently. Some children learn through movement, some through music, some through deep focus, and some through a million distractions. You, dear teacher, hold the power to unlock this learning “- Deepika Mogilishetty, Chief of Policy & Partnerships, EkStep Foundation
“The caregiver and classroom resource created by Bookosmia is definitely going to be a game changer for creating inclusive classrooms, classrooms which will benefit not just those with disabilities but all children to feel accepted and thrive. We are extremely happy to have contributed to creating this resource and hope teachers across the country can benefit from it.”- Sonali Saini, Founder, Sol’s Arc
“As a mother to an autistic child, I have personally experienced the challenges of finding environments where our children are truly seen, understood, and supported. While I firmly believe that special needs schools are the right choice for my child today, I dream of a future where inclusive classrooms are not the exception but the norm. Supporting this resource book is my small step toward that vision—where every teacher is empowered, and every child, regardless of their neurotype, has a place in the classroom.”- Mugdha Kalra, Award-winning Media Professional, Autism Activist , Special Needs Mom and BBC 100 Women’21, Co-founder Not That Different @Bookosmia
