NCERT Solutions Exploring Society: India and Beyond Chapter 12 Understanding inclusion — THINK ABOUT IT

Book page 163 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.

Imagine there is a student in your class who takes a little longer to read or write because they have a different way of learning. Sometimes during group work, others do not wait for them or forget to include them. What would you do in this situation?

Answer

Change how the group works, rather than asking the student to work faster. That is the whole difference between pitying someone and including them.

What I would do, concretely:

Give the group a job that fits. If writing is slow, they can be the one who explains the idea, draws the diagram or presents to the class — every group task has more than one kind of work in it.
Read the question aloud before the group starts writing, so nobody is left behind at the first line.
Set the pace by the group, not by the fastest person. “We’ll start when everyone has it” takes thirty seconds and changes everything.
Say something when they are skipped. “Wait — Ayesha hasn’t said her part yet.” Forgetting to include someone is usually thoughtlessness, and it is fixed by one sentence from one classmate.
Tell the teacher if the group keeps leaving them out, so the classroom arrangement itself can change.

Why this is a matter of rights, not only kindness: the chapter says the right to life “also protects children with disabilities, ensuring they receive the support they need to learn, play or participate fully in all aspects of life on an equal basis with others.” Being repeatedly skipped in group work is a barrier to participation — small, invisible, and daily, which is the hardest kind to prove and the easiest kind to stop.

Q2.

Could you support them by being patient, explaining something clearly, or making sure they get a chance to speak?

Answer

Yes — and these three are worth separating, because they solve three different problems.

Support	What barrier it removes	What it looks like in class
Being patient	Time	Waiting the extra minute instead of taking the pen from their hand; not sighing, which tells them they are a burden
Explaining clearly	Access to the idea	Saying it a second way rather than louder; using a diagram or an example; checking “shall I go over that once more?”
Making sure they get a chance to speak	Voice in the group	Going round the group in turn so the confident ones cannot take every turn; asking them directly what they think

Why the third one is the most important: patience and explanation are things done for a person; a turn to speak is participation by the person. Inclusion, as the chapter defines it, is an environment where everyone feels “welcomed, respected, valued, and included, with equal access to opportunities” — and being valued means your idea shaped the group’s answer, not just that people were nice while you waited.

Tip: notice that none of these three costs money, needs permission, or requires a rule to be changed. That is the point the chapter is making about inclusion at your age — most of it is in how classmates behave.

Q3.

What steps can you take to make your classroom more inclusive?

Answer

Work down the same three levels the chapter uses — how we behave, how the class is organised, and what the space and materials allow.

1. Behaviour

No nicknames based on body, caste, religion, language or income — and stop using them yourself first.
Speak up when someone is left out, as Sonali and Harshada did for Kruti, and then invite the person in. Stopping is only half.
Listen to a classmate’s view even when you disagree, without causing harm — the duty that matches your own freedom of speech.

2. Organisation

Rotate groups so the same students are not always left over at the end.
Rotate roles too — reader, writer, presenter, artist — so everyone gets both the easy and the visible jobs.
Plan class events at a cost everyone can meet, so no one has to opt out quietly like Mina.
Let people use the language they are comfortable in during discussion. Smt. Amita’s reading club only grew when regional-language books were added; then storytelling and puppetry from the region came in, and all children began to participate irrespective of their fluency in a particular language.

3. Space and materials

Check the physical access: is there a ramp, can a wheelchair reach the classroom, the lab and the playground? Gaganjit could not enter the exhibition hall until a ramp was built; Fig. 5.15 shows a playground redesigned so a child in a wheelchair joins the game instead of watching it.
Ask for braille books, a tactile map or large-print material where a classmate needs them — Fig. 5.4 shows a tactile map in a school for the blind facilitating the right to education.
Keep the noticeboard and the class library in more than one language.

Why it must be deliberate: the chapter’s closing list says it in one line — “Deliberate actions need to be taken to prevent discrimination and ensure inclusion.” An inclusive classroom is not what you get by simply not being unkind. It is something a class decides to build.

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