Analysis of Inclusive Education Perception among In-Service Early Childhood Teachers Using Inclusive Indicators

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of inclusive education perceptions among in-service kindergarten teachers, contextualized within the context of inclusive education in China. In the 1980s, the Ministry of Education in China initiated the ‘Learning in Regular Classrooms’ campaign, advocating for the integration of special needs children into mainstream classrooms — an instrumental stride toward inclusive education. With the growing emphasis on inclusivity, the preschool education in China has progressively moving forward to embrace this paradigm. In this study, a survey was conducted with 30 in-service early childhood teachers in China, seeking to comprehensively assess their perceptions towards inclusive indicators within the broader framework of inclusive education. Through a meticulous analysis of the inclusive education indicators exhibited by 30 in-service kindergarten teachers, the research utilizes Booth's questionnaire as a validated instrument to gauge the nuanced facets of inclusive education implementation. The findings illuminate diverse performances among in-service kindergarten teachers, unravelling variations across three pivotal dimensions of inclusive education.