Attitudes of early childhood education teachers towards educational inclusion and the social adjustment of students with disabilities

2021 ◽  
Vol LXXXII (4) ◽  
pp. 255-268
Author(s):  
Karolina Mudło-Głagolska
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Social Adjustment ◽  
Social Adaptation ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Cognitive Component ◽  
The Social ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

Research shows that teachers' attitudes are a decisive element of the effective inclusion of students with disabilities, thereby conducive to the social adaptation of these students. The aim of the study was to determine the relationship between teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education and the social adjustment of students with disabilities. The sample consisted of 79 teachers of early childhood education working in a mainstream school and having a student in their class with a decision on the need for special education. The study used the Multidimensional Attitudes Scale towards Inclusive Education and the Classroom Behaviour Inventory Preschool to Primary. The results obtained in the study allow the conclusion that the positive beliefs of a teacher towards inclusive education (cognitive component of attitude) are most strongly associated with the social adaptation of a student with a disability. The conducted study showed that the teacher's readiness to modify the physical environment, his communication method and the methods of assessment with regard to the student's abilities and needs is related to the social adaptation of students with disabilities in a mainstream class. These aspects seem to be essential for the optimal functioning of a student with a disability in a mainstream class. The role of teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in shaping the social adjustment of students with disabilities was emphasized.

iPods, Internet and Apps, Oh My

2013 ◽  
pp. 1650-1668
Author(s):  
Sally Blake ◽  
Denise L. Winsor ◽  
Candice Burkett ◽  
Lee Allen
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate ◽  
Developmentally Appropriate Practice ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Design And Technology ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Beliefs About Technology ◽  
Teachers Attitudes

This chapter explores perceptions about technology and young children and includes results of a survey answered by Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) and Early Childhood Education (ECE) professionals in relation to age appropriate technology for young children. Integration of technology into early childhood programs has two major obstacles: (a) teachers’ attitudes towards and beliefs about technology and (b) perceptions of what is developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) in their classrooms. The issue of what constitutes developmentally appropriate practice for young children in relation to technology in early childhood education classrooms is one that may influence technology use in educational environments. The framework for this chapter explores perceptions of early childhood and instructional technology practitioners and their views of what is and is not appropriate technology for young children.

Early Teacher Training Across European Countries

2018 ◽  
pp. 71-80
Author(s):  
Ma Isabel Amor Almedina ◽  
Rocío Serrano Rodríguez
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Education Research ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Social ◽  
Integral Development ◽  
Technological Competences

This chapter presents the evolution of Early Childhood Education in Spain from different educational laws. The progression of these is confirmed as a stage of custody and care until its consideration as an educational stage, which has their owns signs of identity and even a curriculum. Likewise, it is shown that the learning of other languages and the development of technological competences has made Pre-School Education an effective tool for linguistic and cultural diversity. This matter is caused by the social and political changes, which have had a great influence on education. Research and experience confirm that Early Childhood Education is a substantial stage in support of the integral development of children at these ages, in which their benefits are extrapolated and remain over a lifetime.

Early childhood educators’ attitudes toward science teaching in Chinese schools

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-435
Author(s):  
Pey-Tee Oon ◽  
Bi Ying Hu ◽  
Bing Wei
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Science Teaching ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Child Centered ◽  
Teachers Attitudes ◽  
The Rasch Model ◽  
Science Activities

The study looked at early childhood education teachers’ views on teaching science in China using the Preschool-Teachers’ Attitudes and Beliefs toward Science Teaching (P-TABS) instrument. A total of 245 teachers from 60 preschools in Guangdong province in China, selected through a stratified random sampling approach, participated in the current study. The instrument was validated and results were analyzed using the Rasch model. Results revealed that although the sampled teachers support child-centered learning, early childhood education teachers are somewhat uncomfortable in planning science activities that are engaging of preschoolers. The teachers report low confidence in their ability as science teachers and perceived themselves to have inadequate science knowledge. They noted a number of challenges associated with the teaching of science including the overloaded teaching commitments and the lack of resources for use in science activities.

Young Children and Inclusion

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabella Cant
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Support Teacher

Inclusive education is the focus of many thinkers, researchers, teachers, early-childhood educators, and policymakers. It is a current concern of most Western societies. The concept of inclusive education was introduced only in the 1990s, when it replaced the previous concepts of integration and mainstreaming; however, the expressed need and advocacy for inclusion go further back in history. The enormous shift is still felt by many educational institutions. The shift means that it is not the job of the child to adapt to the typical environment, but it is the complex educational ecosystem that needs to be ready for caring, educating, and ensuring success to all children, with or without diversabilities. The necessary progression is one from considering diverse groups of children in an equalizing way, to considering them in an equitable way. Inclusive early-childhood education proposes an environment catered around the unique needs of each child within the classroom. As in many other areas of education, change needs to start early, and, yet, research about the inclusion of young and very young children is not overwhelmingly prevalent. In the 2020s, inclusive practice refers to all differences, not only the ones affecting children’s physical and mental health, including race, gender, culture, ethnicity, language, socioeconomic status, age, etc. If young children grow up in homes and educational environments infused with inclusion, they may become more comfortable engaging in discourses of inequality and exclusion. If their learning environment models positive and genuine relationship building with anyone around them, regardless of their difference, children will grow up being advocates for and allies of the people whom society keeps on silencing. Early inclusion is paramount. So, what hinders the universal adoption of inclusive practices in early-childhood education? Among factors that constitute barriers of inclusion, we find politics, resources, support, teacher education, parents’ and teachers’ perceptions and needs, different philosophical interpretations of the concept of early inclusion, and many others. The current studies in the field of early-childhood inclusion show that there is an acute need for knowledge, collaboration, and support. Parents, policymakers, teachers, and other decision-making adults should start giving children agency and invite them to contribute to decisions that concern their well-being. Being inclusive in early-childhood education means to have trust in the competency of all young children, to cherish difference, to cultivate a respectful learning environment, to work with heart, to welcome and build strong relationships with families of all children, to be in touch with current research in the field of inclusive education, and to see inclusion as a feeling of belonging, being valued, and being respected. Inclusion is fluid as a river, but these are the stones that should always guide its course and flow.

Inclusion in Early Childhood: Difference, Disability, and Social Justice

Education ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Underwood ◽  
Gillian Parekh
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Childhood Studies ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
School Settings ◽  
Education And Care

Inclusive education as a model of service delivery arose out of disability activism and critiques of special education. To understand inclusive education in early childhood, however, one must also engage with broader questions of difference, diversity, and social justice as they intersect with childhood studies. To that end, this article contains references that include other critical discourses on childhood and inclusivity as well as critiques of inclusive education. Inclusive education has a much deeper body of research in formal school settings than in the early years. School-based research, however, often examines social relationships and academic achievement as outcome measures. This research has established that education situated in a child’s community and home school is generally more effective than special education settings, particularly when classroom educators have access to appropriate training, resources, policies, and leadership. Schools, of course, are part of the education landscape of the early years, but they are not inclusive of the full spectrum or early years settings. The early years literature on inclusion is different in focusing more attention on development, family, and community (as described in the General Overview of Early Childhood Inclusion). A critique of early childhood education research has focused on school readiness and rehabilitation and the efficacy of early identification and early intervention. This research is largely informed by Western medical research, but this approach has led global institutions to set out priorities for early intervention without recognizing how our worldview shapes our understanding of childhood and difference. The dominant research domain, however, has also identified that family and community contexts are important. This recognition creates a fundamental difference between inclusion research in school settings and such research in early childhood education and care. Early childhood education and care has always focused on the child and their family as the recipients of services, while educational interest in the family has been viewed as a setting in which the conditions for learning are established. Support for families is at the center of early childhood inclusive practice, both because families are largely responsible for seeking out early childhood disability services and because families are critical in children’s identity. Inclusion in schools and early childhood education and care can both be understood through theories of disability, ability, and capability. In both settings, education and care have social justice aims linked not only to developmental and academic outcomes for individual children, but also to the ways that these programs reproduce inequality. Disability as a social phenomenon has its historical roots in racist and colonial practices, understood through critical race theory, that are evident today in both early childhood and school settings. Understanding the links between disableism and other forms of discrimination and oppression is critical both for teaching for social justice broadly and for better understanding of how ability, capability, and critical disability theory and childhood studies are established through practices that begin in the early years.

scholarly journals Understanding Inclusive Early Childhood Education: A Capability Approach

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 290-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Underwood ◽  
Angela Valeo ◽  
Rebecca Wood
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Early Childhood Education ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
Capability Approach ◽  
Social Needs ◽  
Education Practice ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Capability Approach

This article explores the application of current discourse in inclusive education, particularly the capability approach and its utility in early childhood education. The article highlights the tensions between a rights-based discourse that informs inclusive education practice and the right for children to have early intervention. Structural approaches to supporting children with disabilities are examined. These structural approaches are evaluated using the framework developed using the capability approach. The article aims to ease some of the tensions that arise from differing philosophical approaches to education for young children, and to provide a framework for addressing the developmental and social needs of young children with disabilities.

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