"This PhD is an endeavour to approach the development of inclusive education in a low resource context of Nepal focusing more on positive sides and possibilities", writes the PhD candidate to inn.no.
By exploring what contributes to the positive experiences of students with disabilities, how teachers are able to support them and wholistic assessment of the teacher education environment, Ram Chandra Giri identifies the enablers of inclusive education.
"The key barriers other than resources are explored as an endeavour to generate momentum within low resource situation", he says.
The thesis aims to develop and explain the concept of “enabling inclusive education” as a concept that is fostered by disability-sensitive cultures, sustaining hope and agency, normalizing diversity, advancing process oriented approaches, and challenging systemic obstacles rooted in ableism, despite the low resource context of Nepal.
"This will drive inclusive education with huge potentiality, and will also provide solid ground for culturally appropriate and alternative perspectives of taking inclusive education initiatives in Nepal" according to Giri.
The thesis recommends Mandala model of enabling inclusive education which is harmonious both with sociocultural approach, global inclusive education initiatives and the cultural context of Nepal.
Giri's thesis is titled "Stakeholders’ Experiences of Enabling Inclusive Education in Nepal". He has completed his research in the PhD programme in Educational Sciences at INN university.
The main findings of the doctoral research:
1. Teacher agency is central
- Proactive, committed teachers are crucial for educational success and positive learning experiences of students with disabilities in low‑resource settings.
- Their agency is strongly shaped by local sociocultural contexts.
2. Family and societal values matter
- Family culture and wider social attitudes can either support or constrain inclusive education practices.
3. Inclusion within traditional teaching
- Educational success for students with disabilities often happens within traditional, didactic (lecture‑based) teaching.
- These practices are influenced by national policies and aspirations to match global inclusive education agendas.
4. Key enablers of inclusion
- Broader understandings of disability.
- Shifting, more positive attitudes toward persons with disabilities.
- Growing institutional and social support for inclusive practices.
5. Key barriers to inclusion
- Positivist, narrow conceptions of knowledge (only one “right” way to know/learn).
- Systemic and cognitive rigidity (resistance to change, fixed mindsets).
- Weak critical and reflexive thinking.
- Deeply rooted ableism in systems and structures.
6. Inclusive education as a contextual process
- “Enabling inclusive education” means integrating enablers while actively working against barriers.