Agree or disagree? A comparison of the staff’s and parents’ perceptions of important factors and goal fulfilment for an inclusive preschool in Sweden.

Abstract

ABSTRACT A Swedish preschool must be adapted to all children, regardless of ethnicity, religion or disability. Inclusion and the children’s sense of participation are essential keywords in this work. The present analysis was based on two studies in which the staff’s and parents’ perceptions of significant factors and goal fulfilment for inclusive preschools in Sweden were analysed. The results of this comparison showed, among other things, that there was an engaging and open-minded discussion climate among the staff and parents regarding inclusion. The staff and parents highly valued the quality of the inclusion work; the parents more so than the staff. Most of the staff and parents thought it was possible to create a sense of belonging among the children in preschool.