Abstract
Findings from child development research support inclusive practice in early childhood education to enable full participation of all children in learning activities and build their core capabilities for life. However, the implementation of inclusive practices in early childhood is often constrained by boundary-crossing barriers. This paper reports a quantitative study that investigated and analysed the inclusive practice experiences of 344 pre-school teachers across the six regions of Thailand. The study identified positive experiences of inclusive practices linked to effective collaboration with minimal barriers related to time, increased workload and lack of resources to help teachers cater to the needs of all children. The findings offer direction for developing teachers as leaders to work effectively across professional boundaries so that Thailand can achieve the goals of inclusive education for all children.
Highlights
This paper explored professional experiences of early childhood teachers in six regions in Thailand
While most teachers agree that their education background had prepared them to effectively teach students with disabilities (M=3.84, SD=.76), generally, teachers felt strongly that they need more training in order to support all children to learn in inclusive early childhood settings (M=4.14, SD=.74)
The purpose of this study is to present the experiences of early childhood teachers on their inclusive practice taking a leadership angle
Summary
This paper explored professional experiences of early childhood teachers in six regions in Thailand. Our definition of early childhood inclusive education is the degree to which the quality of the early education program orchestrated through effective leadership can enable individual children to belong, feel safe and supported to utilize early childhood education to develop core capabilities for life (Klibthong & Agbenyega, 2018). This definition places inclusive education in the context of policy, pedagogical and administrative leadership. In the pursuit of educational equity and inclusion, the nature of leadership drives support systems and practices to ensure all children thrive in their learning (Liasidou & Antoniou, 2015)
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