Seema Nath

Biography

Seema Nath is a disability inclusive education practitioner and researcher with an intersectional lens and with experience in the education sector. Currently, she is Director and Co-Head, School Services at Ummeed Child Development Center in Mumbai, India and a Visiting Faculty for Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, for their Diploma programmes. She has a keen interest in supporting the adoption and sustainability of inclusive education in schools, strength-based approach to teacher professional development and public private partnerships in the Indian education system. In her role as a researcher and practitioner she is interested in using participatory methods and facilitates contextual approaches to project and programmatic decision making.

She holds a PhD in Education and MPhil in Social and Developmental Psychology from the University of Cambridge, UK. Her doctoral research focused on the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream education settings and development of inclusive education systems with a focus on curriculum and pedagogical processes in the Indian public school context. Her previous training in developmental psychology with a focus on autism along with experience in the international development arena places her at the intersection of mental health, inclusion, and wellbeing for children with disabilities. Her interests include research, strategic planning for implementation, programme design, project management and education policy.

Earlier she worked with Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai, a part of Columbia University, New York and Feedback Infrastructure, Gurgaon, Haryana.

Publications

Articles and papers

  • Nanda, M., Patel, J., Nath, S., & Ravindranath, S. (2025). Happiness in education from the lens of children: Photovoice of students in government-run schools in India. Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy, 5, 100103.
  • Ramesh, M., Nath, S., & Diksha, M. (2024). A sure way to help teachers be more inclusive – 360. 360info, Monash University.
  • Nath, S. (2023). Pathways to make ECE in India inclusive and equitable for children with disabilities (pp. 27 – 29). Samuhik Pahal, 3(12). Wipro Foundation.
  • Nath, S. (2023). Role of school leadership in developing and sustaining inclusive education (pp. 9 – 12). Samuhik Pahal, 3(9). Wipro Foundation.
  • Nath, S. (2021). Practising inclusive education in an Indian context: Taking the agenda forward. DOI Link
  • Kidwai, H., Burnette, D., Rao, S., Nath, S., Bajaj, M., & Bajpai, N. (2013). In-service teacher training for public primary schools in rural India: Findings from Morigaon (Assam) and Medak (Andhra Pradesh) (Working Paper No. 12). Columbia University. Academic Commons
  • Kidwai, H., Burnette, D., Rao, S., Nath, S., Bajaj, M., & Bajpai, N. (2013). The policy and practice of public primary curriculum in India: A study of textbooks in public primary schools of Morigaon (Assam) and Medak (Andhra Pradesh) (Working Paper No. 11). Columbia University. Academic Commons
  • Nath, S. (2012). Autism spectrum disorder and memory (Unpublished MPhil dissertation). University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  • Nath, S. (2012). Autism spectrum disorder and memory. In Proceedings of the Murray Edwards Graduates Symposium. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
  • Nath, S. (2009). The effect of the level of awareness regarding HIV/AIDS on stigmatization of patients with HIV/AIDS. In Proceedings of the Bombay Psychological Association Conference. Mumbai, India.

Refereed conference presentations

  • Comparative & International Education Society. Nath S., Patel, J., & Nanda, M.. Unpacking Teacher Agency in an Indian context: A Mixed-Methods Exploration through the PRABHAV Study. March 2025, USA.
  • SELebrating Inclusion Summit 2024; Ummeed Child Development Centre. Nanda, M., Nath, S., & Patel, J.. Research on Embracing Happiness: Capturing Experiences of Happiness Curricula. June, 2024, India. https://​youtu​.be/​9​O​8​E​8​o​3​k​n​_​w​?​t​=​11557
  • Sarkar, T and Nath, S (2023). Opportunities and dilemmas of being inclusion change makers in India. Selected for full paper presentation at CIES Conference to be held in February 2023 Washington DC, USA
  • Nath S (2021). Scrutinizing beyond the deficit discourse: understanding the implementation of inclusive education – A case study from India. Selected for full paper presentation at CIES Conference to be held in April 2021 Seattle, USA
  • Nath S (2020). Inclusive and equitable education for people with disabilities: Insights from an Indian case study. Poster presentation at Pathways to inclusive and equitable quality education for people with disabilities — Cross context conversations and mutual learning conference held in February 2020. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
  • Nath S. (2019). Rapporteur, Inclusive Education Systems: futures, fallacies, and finance. UKFIET Conference held in September 2019. Oxford, UK
  • Nath S. (2019). Using play for inclusive teaching and learning. Poster presentation at Learning to Play and Playing to Learn Conference organised by the LEGO Foundation held in June 2019, Cambridge, UK
  • Nath S. (2019). Incorporating children’s voices to understand inclusive education in Indian schools. Full paper presented at CIES Conference held in April 2019 San Francisco, USA

  • Nath S. (2018). Including children’s opinions of their teaching and learning — Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) in the context of inclusive education for children with disabilities. Full paper presented at BAICE Conference held in September 2018 York, UK

    Talks and panel discussions

  • Azim Premji University (22 Dec 2022). Enacting the NEP – becoming Inclusive Educators: A Panel Discussion (https://​www​.youtube​.com/​l​i​v​e​/​6​c​m​c​E​1​B​R​B​r​s​?​f​e​a​t​u​r​e​=​share)
  • Ware, H and Nath, S (May 2021). Workshop on ethics in disability research. University of Cambridge. UK
  • Nath S (2020). Inclusive education in India — Designing a model of inclusion for all in mainstream classrooms. ​“Inclusion in the International Context” — Seminar Series. Department of Empirical Education, University of Konstanz, Germany. (24th June 2020)
  • Nath S (2020). Tales of Inclusive Education from Indian Classrooms with Diverse Learners. ​“Researching education in different educational spaces: different perspectives”. Hughes Hall Education Talk series (4th March 2020)
  • Nath S. (2019). An overview of inclusive education in India — Elementary education and Polices. ​“Inclusion in the International Context” — Seminar Series. Department of Empirical Education, University of Konstanz, Germany. (17th December 2019)
  • Nath S. (2019). Panellist on Early Career Professional event focussing on inclusive education systems. Sponsored by UKFIET and Cambridge Education in London, UK (19th June, 2019)
  • Nath S. (2018). Inclusive Education: Inclusive Experiences for the Children too? Cambridge University Commonwealth Scholars (CUCS) Annual Scholar’s Seminar at St John’s College, University of Cambridge (5th December 2018)
  • Nath S. (2018). Panellist on Getting representation right: The complicated reality of fieldwork in the Ethical Representation of Debates in Research Conference at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK (16th November 2018)

Blogs