The planetary goal of development in 21st century is sustainability of man and environment by promoting harmony between man and man and man and environment locally, nationally and globally. India has set the national goal of becoming a developed country in the cybernetic Age by 2020. The core of human development as man is the initiation, mean and end of development.

The International commission of Education for the Twenty-First century has envisaged education as one of the principal means available to foster a deeper and more harmonious form of human development and thereby reduce poverty, exclusion, ignorance, oppression and war. It has emphasized that one of the principal functions of education is fitting humanity to take their own destiny into their own hands so that they can contribute to the progress of the society to which they live, finding development upon the responsible participation of individuals and communities’. The commission proposes to attain the goal through the Four Pillars of Education: learning to know, do, be and live together, it has underlined, no talent hidden like buried treasures in any individual remains untapped.  It is especially applicable to children with disabilities,

The success of SSA and RTE Act (2009, 2012)) in enrolling the most disadvantaged children into schools has resulted in the demand of a professional group of teacher educators, who would in turn prepare effective teachers. The last decade has seen a large number of children with disabilities accessing education and the right approach promulgated by UNCRPD as well as documents such as NCFTE (2009) have further challenged current B.Ed.Spl.Ed. programme to undergo reform in order to meet the new emerging challenges of teacher educator preparation.

Professional preparation and continuing professional development of teachers need educators who are themselves professional teachers and who have, through a process of critical scrutiny of theory, critical reflection on practice as well as doing research, deepened their understanding of the environmental factors. These factors circumscribe the context and scope of the core education processes, the nature and structure of knowledge that the learners construct and develop and the dynamics within classroom processes that support or jeopardize learning. The two year B.Ed.Spl.Ed. programme has been conceptualized to answer this need and facilitate deep understanding and critical reflection of the teaching learning processes that support inclusion of children with disabilities via both critical comprehension of theory as well as hands-on reflective practice.

While the revised B.Ed.Spl.Ed. programme will provide a strong initial foundation essential to equip new teachers with the knowledge, competencies, skills, attitudes, awareness and confidence required to teach children in general and special education classrooms, the B.Ed.Spl.Ed. programme aims to prepare professionals with the ability for curriculum and instructional planning, educational management, technology, research and human resource development. They will also be trained to foster collaborative work with key professionals including parents and other professionals as part of a trans-disciplinary team.

The information technology revolution has taken a central role in the classroom and has potential to transform aspects of the curriculum. As the curriculum and instructional designer a teacher with B.Ed.Spl.Ed. Degree should have subject knowledge, advanced pedagogical skills, reflective practice and ability to adapt instruction to the needs of each individual as well as to the needs of the group of learners as a whole. The need of the hour is to integrate these with a working knowledge of information and communication technology.

Though disability rehabilitation has grown into a well developed field in India, disability studies and research need impetus. Research enables conversion of knowledge into information that can be used by many. Objectivity and scientific thinking are essential for effective classroom practices as well as for undertaking research projects as part of their teaching career.

The knowledge of research methods and statistics is integral to any Master’s level program.       A teacher with B.Ed. Spl.Ed. Degree may become educational manager or curriculum planner or teacher educator, research remains a common thread in all or any of these roles. The research component in the B.Ed. Spl.Ed. program produces reflective practitioners, efficient managers and professionals engaged in academic pursuits.