2.3: Inclusion

When we talk about inclusive early childhood education, we are talking about programs that are designed for children and families from a wide range of backgrounds. A program can serve a diverse community of families, but not be truly inclusive; you can have families from different backgrounds in your program, but do they feel welcome? Are you forcing them to adapt to a program that isn’t designed for them or that doesn’t take into consideration their social, cultural, and/or racial contexts? Designing an inclusive program translates to everything from physical space to how you interact with children and families. ^[14]

What is inclusion in the classroom and why is it important?

From the Drexel University School of Education:

"Inclusion in the classroom means that all children, no matter their racial, religious, or ethnic background, gender, learning style, or ability have equal access to educational opportunities in a learning environment where all students are equally safe, valued, and respected. Creating an inclusive classroom also means actively addressing and aiming to eliminate negative stereotypes and attitudes based on racial, ethnic, or religious background, gender, learning style, ability, or any other identifying characteristic. Students who may have experienced being seen as “other,” are welcomed as valued participants in the classroom. Inclusion in the classroom is critically important because it fosters each child’s sense of belonging, feeling of being seen and understood for who they are, and their inherent value as a human being. Inclusive classrooms empower children to grow and thrive as confident individuals, not just as students during their time in educational systems, but in life beyond school as citizens in their communities and in the world."

Inclusion as it Relates to Children with Disabilities

Inclusion in education often refers specifically to including children with physical, cognitive, behavior and learning disabilities in classrooms with their typically developing peers. Inclusion embodies the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every child and their family, regardless of ability, to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families, communities, and society. The desired results of inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning to reach their full potential. The defining features of inclusion that can be used to identify high quality early childhood programs and services are:

• Access - providing access to a wide range of learning opportunities, activities, settings, and environments
• Participation - even if environments and programs are designed to facilitate access, some children will need additional individualized accommodations and supports to participate fully in play and learning activities with peers and adults.
• Supports - an infrastructure of systems-level supports must be afforded to those providing inclusive services to children and families. ^[15]

Figure 1.5: All children need to be able to fully participate in the early childhood education environment. ^[16]

Children with disabilities and their families continue to face significant barriers to accessing inclusive high-quality early childhood programs and too many preschool children with disabilities are only offered the option of receiving special education services in settings separate from their peers without disabilities. ^[17]

Think About It… Describe your understanding of how diversity, equity, and inclusion are related.

Chapter Summary

Early childhood programs serve a diverse array of children and families. Recognizing the value of this diversity and creating relationships with families that provide the context of their culture, will allow early childhood education programs to be inclusive in a variety of different ways and provide educational equity for the children for whom they provide care and education.