Developing Competencies through Teacher-in-Service Programme for Inclusive Education in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper considered developing competencies through teacher-in- service programme for inclusive education in Nigeria; and discussed salient issues such as concept of inclusive education, learners targeted by inclusive education, having children with special needs in inclusive classrooms, competencies expected of regular teachers to teach in inclusive classrooms, and teacher-in-service programme for teaching in inclusive classrooms. -The paper revealed that teacher in-service programme is meant for developing knowledge and skills that are likely to bring about desired improvements and enhance ‘competence-on-the-job’ of the teacher for whom it has been provided; and that the introduction of inclusive education has posed much responsibility on the regular teachers who were not originally trained to teach children with special needs in inclusive classrooms. Therefore, these teachers need to be retrained on the rudiments of teaching children with special needs in inclusive settings through in-service training programme. In doing this, regular classroom teachers will no doubt become competent inclusive teachers.