Operationalization of Inclusive Education in Early Childhood Education

• In Event: Inclusive Education in Curriculum and Contexts

Abstract

Inclusive education has been widely studied in the context of early childhood education; however, the concept has not been clearly operationalized and is still rather vague and implementation of inclusive education is still a challenge. We apply a new model for the operationalization of inclusive education. It includes the definition of inclusive education and 14 categories of characteristics on five levels: child, teacher, family, institution, and state. In this paper, we describe and operationalize the meaning of the model through practical examples in the preschool context and show the responsibility of stakeholders who are responsible for the implementation of inclusive education and its quality. These findings are valuable for supporting the implementation of inclusive education in early childhood education.

Authors

• Pille Nelis, University of Tartu

• Margus Pedaste, University of Tartu