Page 49 - Sportability

FROM DATA TO EMPATHY:

THE HUMAN SIDE OF

INCLUSIVE RESEARCH

NEHA WADHWA
Department of Education, University of Delhi

The Intersection of Personal and
Professional
As a researcher, I am often in spaces of quiet with me. During a writing exercise one morning, while
contemplation, poring over data, writing, and I was observing, I saw Jaspreet visibly struggling to
analyzing—yet working with children with disabilities keep up with the rest of the class. Her fingers moved
reminds me of why I have chosen academia. Today, as I slowly across the page, her letters shaky and uneven.
sit down to write, I find myself reflecting on the deeply But she kept going, focused on finishing the task at her
intertwined nature of my personal and professional own pace. Unfortunately, her teacher, frustrated by
life. My work as a researcher, especially working with Jaspreet’s slow progress, did not see the effort behind
children with disability, has always been more than her work. Instead, she stood over Jaspreet’s desk, her
just a job—it’s a mission, a calling rooted in my own voice sharp and impatient.
lived experiences. The interactions with children with
disability, their teachers and parents take me back to “Dangar ki tarah likhti hai or chalti bhi waise hi hai,”
1
my childhood, and it is this connection that makes my the teacher said, shaking her head. (You’re writing
research both profoundly rewarding and emotionally like an animal, and you walk the same way!) Why can’t
challenging. you hurry up and do it properly?” The class started
laughing; I looked at Jaspreet, who seemed clueless
When I first began working with children with and embarrassed. It was a moment that broke my
disabilities, I didn’t fully grasp how much of myself I heart. I wanted to intervene to stop the teacher from
would see in them. There is a constant battle to prove causing any more pain, but I also knew that my role as
themselves to their parents, teachers, and the world, a researcher required me to observe and understand
who are not ready to see them beyond those pre- the dynamics in the classroom. Still, it took everything
determined standards of body and intellectual capacity. in me not to speak up, not to wrap my arms around
I recognize in them the same resilience I had to muster, Jaspreet and tell her that she was doing her best, that
and it’s this shared journey that makes my work feel so she didn’t deserve this treatment. Somewhere, I also
personal. knew this feeling of being labelled and singled out, not
for your abilities but for your perceived shortcomings.
Two particular encounters from this experience stayed Therefore, it is crucial to work with teachers to create
with me: a young girl, Jaspreet, who was studying in an attitudinal shift. Teachers are often the first point
class 3 and had a locomotor disability that affected of contact for children in formal education, and their
her writing speed and coordination. At first, she was perceptions and attitudes can significantly shape a
reluctant to engage, but as I began to sit on the bench child’s self-esteem and future. When a teacher holds
next to her, a bond of trust began to form as I shared biases, stereotypes, or low expectations, it can have
my own stories of overcoming the challenges of writing lasting negative effects on the child’s academic and
slowly. She began to open up and started interacting emotional development.

1 This field work was conducted as part of M.Ed dissertation at Children like Jaspreet are particularly vulnerable to
University of Delhi where I tried to draw a trajectory of children with these attitudes. They look to their teachers for guidance,
disability studying in an inclusive educational settings. The field work
was conducted in a mainstream school located in West Delhi. validation, and encouragement. When they are met with

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