8 research outputs found
Inclusive early childhood education : literature review
This literature review on Early Childhood Education (ECE)/Inclusive Early Childhood
Education (IECE) is part of the ‘Inclusive Early Childhood Education’ project, conducted by
the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. The project’s overall goal
is to identify and analyse the factors that enable quality and effective pre-primary
programmes for all children in inclusive early years settings.
This review shows that international organisations and the European Union (EU) regard
high-quality ECE/IECE as an essential foundation for lifelong learning. It is indispensable
for success in modern knowledge-based economies. Participation in high-quality pre-
primary education has long-lasting positive effects on children’s development and the
benefits are greater for children from a disadvantaged background (Frawley, 2014). In
many cases, the early childhood stage is critical because many children’s different needs
are detected once they become part of the education system. Therefore, one EU
benchmark in the strategic framework for European co-operation in education and
training (ET 2020) is that at least 95% of children between the age of four and compulsory
school age should participate in ECE.
At the same time, there are concerns about the accessibility and quality of ECE/IECE
provisions. Despite its importance – especially considering the latest data about provisions
for children with special educational needs (SEN) and/or at risk of social exclusion
(e.g. due to poverty) in Europe from birth to seven years – the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2004) reports that only one quarter of children
with SEN are included in mainstream early education settings.
This literature review aims to:
• collect information about at-risk children and/or children with SEN in Europe at the
pre-primary education level;
• describe where those children are located during the pre-primary stages;
• explore which resources are allocated to meet their needs;
• describe the main characteristics of the educational contexts where these children
are included.
This document summarises major research and policy documents to analyse Early
Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services and programmes implemented for at-risk
children and/or those with SEN.
Chapter 2 introduces the definitions of the concepts that are the focus of study. Chapter 3
summarises the main documents published by international organisations and reviews the
main EU policy developments related to ECE/IECE which define the context in this area.
Chapter 4 reviews the latest literature describing the benefits of ECE/IECE for at-risk
children and children with SEN. Chapters 5 to 10 describe relevant academic research,
aiming to identify the main factors that are important in early years programmes. The key research is framed within the five principles identified by the European Commission’s
Thematic Working Group on ECEC (2014), namely:
• Access/transition procedures
• Workforce
• Curriculum/content
• Governance/funding
• Monitoring/evaluation.peer-reviewe
Inclusive early childhood education : an analysis of 32 European examples
This report is part of the three-year Inclusive Early Childhood Education (IECE)
project run by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (the
Agency) from 2015 to 2017. The project aims to identify, analyse and subsequently
promote the main characteristics of quality inclusive pre-primary education for all
children from three years of age to the start of primary education.
This report presents the results of a qualitative analysis of 32 descriptions of
examples of IECE provisions across Europe. The descriptions were submitted to the
project in August 2015. The findings represent European practitioners’ perceptions
of and practices for IECE.
An inductive thematic data analysis method was used, in that themes or issues were
initially derived from reading the descriptions. This inductive process was, however,
also intertwined with relevant theory, particularly the Agency’s ‘ultimate vision for
inclusive education systems’ that:
... ensure that all learners of any age are provided with meaningful, high‐quality
educational opportunities in their local community, alongside their friends and
peers(European Agency, 2015, p. 1).
In total, 25 subthemes were identified. These were organised into a new Ecosystem
Model of Inclusive Early Childhood Education, which is also presented in a
comprehensive diagram (Figure 1). Two major perspectives previously used in
describing the quality of ECE settings inspired this new model. These are the
Outcome-Process-Structure model and the Ecological Systems model. The
subthemes were subsequently grouped into five main themes:
• Theme 1: The first main and central theme is ‘Child belongingness, engagement
and learning’, often generally understood as active participation. This
participation is regarded as both the main outcome and process of IECE.
• Theme 2: Five major processesinvolving the child’s direct experience in the IECE
setting enable this central outcome and process. These processes are:
− Positive interaction with adults and peers
− Involvement in play and other daily activities
− A child-centred approach
− Personalised assessment for learning
− Accommodations, adaptations and support.
• Theme 3: These processes are in turn supported by structural factors, consisting
of the physical, social, cultural and educational environment. These factors may operate at different ecological levels. Some operate within the ECE setting and
include:
− A warm welcome for every child and family
− Family involvement within the ECE setting.
− A holistic curriculum designed for all children’s needs
− An environment designed for all children
− Staff who are appropriately qualified for IECE
− A culturally-responsive social and physical environment
− Inclusive leadership committed to respect and engagement for all
individuals
− Collaboration and shared responsibility among all stakeholders.
• Theme 4: Inclusive processes experienced by the child are also influenced by
more distant structural factors in the community surrounding the ECE setting.
These include:
− Collaboration between the ECE setting and the children’s families
− Relevant in-service training for ECE staff
− Wider community commitment and support for serving all children
− Inter-disciplinary and inter-agency co-operation of services from outside
the ECE setting that serve the children in the pre-school
− Organising smooth transitions between home and the ECE setting.
• Theme 5: Finally, the analysis found a number of structural factors operating at
the macro-system level. These factors were not in direct contact with the ECE
setting. However, they still influenced inclusive processes in the setting. They
are:
− A rights-based approach to ECE
− Provision of mainstream ECE access for all
− Setting up regional/national standards for a holistic IECE curriculum
− Availability of initial education for teachers and other staff for IECE
− Good governance and funding systems for IECE
− Procedures for regular monitoring and evaluation.
This overview of the ecosystem of outcomes, processes and structures for IECE is
presented in the Results chapter. Five evidence-based chapters, dedicated to each of the five main themes, follow this. Each chapter presents a brief description of
each of the outcome, process or structural factors within each main theme. These
are accompanied by one to five quotations from each of the 32 example
descriptions. The quotations illustrate and provide concrete evidence of what
constitutes quality outcomes, processes and structures that are prevalent across
Europe.
The quotations were chosen both to reflect the different types of IECE concepts and
practices, and to reflect the variety of countries and cultures where they occur. They
are intended to stimulate inclusive developments in research, policy and practice in
Europe and internationally.
Finally, the Conclusion highlights the added value that this analysis contributes to
IECE research, policy and practice. Four new insights are addressed:
1. The development of the new Ecosystem Model of IECE, inspired by two
previous major models, should clarify the understanding of the issues related
to quality ECE.
2. The analysis shows how, within an inclusive perspective, IECE’s primary goal is
best conceived as that of ensuring quality outcomes for all children in terms of
participation. This is described here as belongingness, engagement and
learning.
3. The analysis shines a new light on the major processes in which children are
directly involved and which mostinfluence each child’s participation and
learning. These need to be a major focus of any intervention to improve ECE
quality.
4. The analysis clarifies the structural factors needed to support the development
of more inclusive ECE settings. It also shows how these factors are related to
local and national policies and practices. Situating the structures at the ECE
setting, community and regional/national levels isimportant in levering them
to bring about the changes needed to enable each child to participate and
learn.peer-reviewe
Inclusive early childhood education new insights and tools – contributions from a European study
Quality in early childhood education is a prominent concern for policy-makers, and has
recently become a priority concern for many international and European organisations.
These include the OECD, UNESCO, UNICEF, the European Commission, Eurydice and the
European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, among others.
Over the past three years (2015–2017), the European Agency for Special Needs and
Inclusive Education (the Agency) has examined the latest policy documents and relevant
research in this field. This has been a springboard for exploring the main characteristics of
quality inclusive early childhood education (IECE) for all children from three years of age to
the start of primary education.
The project data from across Europe has provided an opportunity to closely examine how,
within the inclusion perspective, early childhood education provisions are addressing the
quality principles set out by the European Commission and the OECD.
Sixty-four inclusive early childhood education experts from across Europe contributed to
the project. They participated in data collection and analysis through descriptions of
example provisions, as well as observations and discussions during field work and case
study visits.
This report first sets out the main policy and practice developments towards inclusive
early childhood education, with particular reference to European policy issues
(Chapters 2–3).
It then presents the project’s three new contributions towards improving quality inclusive
early childhood education (Chapters 4–6). These are:
1. A clear rationale for and an analysis of the implications of adopting an inclusive
vision and goals as the main standards of inclusive early childhood policy and
provision. The project found that high-quality services that benefited all children
were guided by an inclusive vision and worked towards inclusive goals. As their
primary outcome, they sought to ensure each child’s belongingness, engagement
and learning. This reflects the changes in early childhood intervention in recent decades. The focus has shifted from ‘working with the child’ towards a holistic
approach that creates an inclusive environment for all children’s engagement and
learning. The report thus refers to quality early childhood education (ECE) as
‘inclusive early childhood education’ (IECE). It only uses the terms ‘early childhood
education’ (ECE) or ‘early childhood education and care’ (ECEC) when referring to
the literature.
2. A new Self-Reflection Tool for improving inclusive early childhood education
settings. This enables practitioners to review their service’s quality in terms of the
inclusiveness of the physical, social and other learning environments it offers to
children and families. The tool has been validated by project experts and additional
ecological studies. It is ready for use by practitioners in inclusive early childhood
education settings in different education systems and countries across Europe and
beyond.
3. A new Ecosystem Model of Inclusive Early Childhood Education for policy-makers
and other stakeholders wishing to collaborate towards effective action in this field.
This model can support policy-makers and practitioners to collaborate in planning,
reviewing and improving quality IECE services. The model is founded on the project
data. It is inspired by three major frameworks for quality IECE, namely:
(1) The structure-process-outcome framework used by European and international
policy-makers (European Commission, 2014; OECD, 2015; European Agency,
2009)
(2) The ecological systems framework (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006)
(3) The inclusive education perspective (European Agency, 2015).
It incorporates all the principles of the EU and OECD frameworks for quality early
childhood education. However, it enhances their applicability by locating them at
different ecological levels (inclusive early childhood education setting,
home/community and regional/national levels).
Finally, the report gives an account of the lessons learned during the three-year project
and the resulting recommendations (Chapter 7). These are presented within the
framework of the new Ecosystem Model of IECE. They are mainly directed at policy-
makers, but they also point to the implications for practitioners. Indeed, they are
formulated in terms of how policy-makers can support practitioners to ensure quality
provisions.peer-reviewe
Inclusive early childhood education environment self-reflection tool
This Self-Reflection Tool was developed as part of the Inclusive Early Childhood Education
(IECE) project, conducted by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive
Education from 2015 to 2017 (www.european-agency.org/agency-projects/inclusive-early-
childhood-education). The project’s overall goal was to identify, analyse and subsequently
promote the main characteristics of quality IECE for all children. To that end, a need was
detected for a tool that all professionals and staff could use to reflect on their setting’s
inclusiveness, focusing on the social, learning and physical environment. This tool is
intended to help improve settings’ inclusiveness.peer-reviewe
Learners’ Voices in Inclusive Education Policy Debates
Although the idea of including learners in policy-making is gaining ground, their voices still seem to be marginalised. This article focuses on the issue of learners’ voices in inclusive education policy debates. It begins by discussing main policy developments, arguments and key issues around learner voice and participation. It then draws on different aspects of work by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education (the Agency) that has directly involved young people in exchanges with policy-makers and decision-makers responsible for developing and implementing policy for inclusive education. This includes four European “Hearings” (in 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015), involving over 300 young people. It also includes workshops with learners in Cyprus and Poland as part of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support Programme activities. In the Agency’s work, learners with a range of learning needs from across Europe shared their views on their right to education (access), their rights in education (learning and participation) and their rights in wider society (achievement). Key messages from learners included the importance of barrier-free schools, raising awareness, changing attitudes and combating stereotypes to support their longer-term social inclusion and ensure they are able to become full citizens in their local communities. Building on these messages, the article concludes with some important considerations for future work and recommends positioning learners as key agents in policy debates for inclusive education
An adapted ecosystem model for inclusive early childhood education : a qualitative cross European study
Early intervention for children vulnerable to exclusion is currently focused on the child?s effective inclusion in mainstream early childhood education. There is thus a search for developing a shared understanding of what constitutes quality inclusive preschool provision. This was the aim of a qualitative 3-year (2015?17) study of inclusive settings for children from 3 years to compulsory education across European countries, conducted by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education. Data consisted of practitioner descriptions of 32 example inclusive preschools from 28 European countries, and more detailed data collected during short visits to eight of the example settings. Qualitative, thematic analysis identified 25 subthemes representing the perceived constituents of inclusive early childhood education provision. These were organised within a framework that intertwined the structure-process-outcome model with the ecological systems model. The resulting adapted ecosystem model for inclusive early childhood education comprises five dimensions: (1) the inclusive education outcomes, (2) processes, and (3) structural factors within the micro environment of the preschool; and the wider (4) inclusive structural factors at community, and (5) at national levels. The framework can be useful for practitioners as well as researchers and policy makers seeking to improve inclusive early childhood education provision