Enabling all children to belong, be engaged and to learn

Abstract

Quality in early childhood education is a prominent concern for policymakers and has recently become a priority for many international and European organisations. Given these international concerns, the European Agency undertook a three-year project (2015–2017) entitled Inclusive Early Childhood Education (IECE). It aimed to identify, analyse and subsequently promote the main characteristics of quality inclusive early childhood education for all children from three years of age to the start of primary education. This provided an opportunity to examine more closely how, within an inclusive perspective, IECE provisions across Europe are addressing the quality principles already identified by the European Commission (2014) and the OECD (2015). There are indications, among other things, that it has generally not been possible to develop activities in preschools in Iceland that suit a diverse group of children and that too much emphasis has been placed on diagnoses as a prerequisite for support for children with special needs. In this project, the aim was to identify, analyse and promote the main quality of inclusive education for young children. The key question asked was: What are the main characteristics in the learning environment for young children in a preschool of diversity? The project builds on the concept of a school of diversity that refers to a diverse culture, behaviour, language and religion, and focuses on the diversity of students and schools, rather than segregating learning, teaching, schools or students. The project was grounded in the relevant research and policy literature, data collected through observations of example IECE settings (altogether nine cases) in eight European countries, descriptions of examples from practitioners across Europe, and questionnaires on national developments in IECE in all European Agency member countries. Sixty-two IECE country experts from across Europe contributed to the project. They participated in data collection and analysis, in observations and discussions during the case study visits to different countries, and in other project meetings. These led to the project’s final insights and contributions to IECE. The analysis of the project data strongly suggests that, from an inclusion perspective, the most important outcome of quality provision is to enable all children to actively participate in IECE. In this way, all children – including those vulnerable to exclusion – are equally valued, supported and enabled to progress along with their peers. The findings of the project give various indications on how to develop inclusive preschool work and what needs to be considered. First, there is good access to preschool for all children, especially vulnerable groups, such as children with disabilities, children living in poverty and children of foreign origin. Emphasis is on well-educated staff who have good access to lifelong learning. Professional management is important and that managers receive appropriate support. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on positive relationships with the family and it is viewed as an active partner. The preschool curriculum is f lexible and child-oriented, and the children’s education and preschool activities are evaluated on a regular basis. Finally, preschool public funding is important to ensure good access for all children. The findings of the project were applied in two ways: A model of a preschool ecosystem of diversity was developed which identifies the factors considered to contribute to an environment that supports the preschool children’s diversity. Secondly, guidelines with questions about the learning environment in the preschool of diversity were developed, which preschool teachers and other staff can use to examine and ref lect on whether the environment of the preschool, both subjective and objective, takes into account the diversity of the children in the group. The findings of the project can be used by policymakers, researchers and administrators, teachers and preschool staff in their efforts to increase the quality of preschool activities for all children.