Inclusive Culture In Pre-School Institutions

Abstract

special education-professional and scientific issues Abstract Inclusive education is a rational concept that refers to the overall and long-term transformation of institutional systems in society, especially in education. Along with the transformation, a number of important and unresolved issues still appear in both theory and practice, as the duty of pre-school institutions and schools is to educate every student in the mainstream education system. One of the most important aspects of inclusion is the inclusive culture. Regardless of the good inclusive policy and practice, one cannot talk about successful inclusion without a properly developed inclusive institutional culture. This paper is a contribution to the research considering the development of inclusive culture in three preschool institutions. It is based on the thinking and attitudes of the pre-school staff toward the necessity of developing and nurturing an inclusive culture. Successful inclusion of pupils with special needs in the mainstream school system cannot be conceived without an inclusive culture. Key words: inclusive education, inclusive culture, preschool institutions. Introduction Previous experiences in our country show that a very low number of children with disabilities are included in the preschool education system. Considering the fact that preschool education of children with disabilities represents the primary link to the education system and is a very important aspect of the integral rehabilitation system, paying more attention to this issue is necessary. There are three important factors for successful inclusion of children with disabilities in preschool education: inclusive culture, inclusive politics and inclusive practices. There are numerous arguments which show that inclusive culture is the most influential aspect in the process of inclusion of children with disabilities (1). According to Booth and Ainscow, the indicators for inclusive culture's development are: everyone is welcome, pupils help each other, the staff collaborates with each other, the employees and pupils have a mutual respect, there is a close collaboration between the staff and the parents/carers, all available resources are included in the educational institution. We consider that if these become part of our educational system, improvements in an inclusive culture will follow (2). The goal of this research is to determine the presence of inclusive culture in the preschool institutions by using the Index of Inclusion. The results of the research will contribute to the promotion of the general knowledge of the problem, as well as to the humanization of the conditions that are present in the preschool education for children with disabilities. They will also give support for further implementation of the inclusion process in other preschool institutions. Materials and methods The goal of the research is to determine the attitude of preschool staff toward the process of inclusion of children with disabilities. The research was conducted in 3 preschool institutions in different municipalities: Beli Mugri - Skopje (3), Detska radost - Gostivar (4) and Mladost - Tetovo (5). The entire educational staff of these preschool institutions, 78 examinees precisely, were included in the examination process grouped in the following way: * 23 examinees from the preschool institution Beli Mugri - Skopje, of which 21 teachers, 1 psychologist and 1 pedagogy. * 25 examinees from the preschool institution Detska radost - Gostivar, of which 23 teachers, 1 psychologist and 1 pedagogic. * 30 examinees from the preschool institution Mladost - Tetovo, among which 26 were teachers, 2 were social workers, 1 was pedagogic and 1 was psychologist. The research was conducted in the period between June and July, 2010. Methods: A quantitative data processing method was used with the help of numeric and percentage type, as well as the method of analysis of the results obtained from the research. …