Consider this: You’re planning the following experiences for children at your service – group time, a healthy eating activity and an outing to a nearby playground.

How does your service ensure all children, including children who experience disability or face other barriers to inclusion, are genuinely included and can participate fully in each of these activities?

Understanding inclusion in ECEC

“Inclusion in early childhood education and care is about ensuring that all children are provided with equitable opportunities to participate, learn and thrive in a supportive environment,” Kathy said.

Valuing and respecting children’s dignity, contributions and different ways of being and doing are key to this.

Kathy explained that recognising some children are more likely to be excluded than others and actively working to identify and respond to exclusion is critical.

“We always have to ask ourselves – who's here and who's missing?” she said. “Who are we planning for and who are we making policies for? Who are recognising when we talk about ‘all children’ and who are we forgetting?”

“When we forget or exclude one child, inclusion goes out the door with them.”

Barriers to inclusion

Identifying barriers that children with disability or additional needs may experience is key to preventing and responding to exclusion in your service.

Kathy shared some common barriers to inclusion, including:

• ableist attitudes – disrespectful beliefs, bias and feelings that undermine the value of children who experience disability or face other barriers to inclusion
• systemic ableism – such as practices and policies that inadvertently create a ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality, and the assumption children who experience disability or face other barriers to inclusion need to be ‘fixed’ or ‘fit’ into existing systems or settings
• insufficient resources and support – such as professional development for early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals, funding supports and inadequate access to assistive technologies
• inaccessible design – learning environments or experiences that aren’t designed or set up with inclusivity and universal access in mind or aren’t adaptable to meet all children’s needs.

Inclusion in practice

Inclusion is not a one-size-fits-all approach and will look different in every ECEC context, Kathy explained. Here are some examples of what you might observe when inclusion is embedded in all aspects of a service:

• flexibility is key – being inclusive of children in all their diversities means educators need to be flexible and responsive to their individual needs
• difference is welcomed – no child is the same, so inclusion means children won’t necessarily be doing the same thing, the same way, at the same time and that’s okay
• representation matters – all children and families feel valued and represented in the service environment, materials and equipment available, and learning experiences
• children are viewed as competent – always presume every child has the ability to participate and learn when provided with appropriate support and opportunities, and maintain high expectations for learning and development
• strong educator-family partnerships – educators develop strong relationships with families and involve them in the planning and implementation of inclusive practices
• an ongoing commitment to inclusion – inclusion is an ongoing process that requires commitment, reflection and action to recognise and address barriers, while celebrating diversity in all its forms
• warm and welcoming environment – this should be a universal characteristic of all inclusive ECEC settings, Kathy noted.

The importance of inclusive education

As ECEC professionals, it is essential to apply an equity and inclusion lens to everything you do. Inclusion should underpin all aspects of your service, including your culture, policy development, planning your educational program and interactions with children.

“Inclusion isn't a privilege,” Kathy emphasised.

“It’s not an optional act of kindness. It is a fundamental human right.

“We sometimes, generally unintentionally, slip into this space where we think inclusive education is an ‘added extra’. We really need to recognise it's an integral part of quality education and care and must be from the get-go.”

Kathy shared that research has shown that inclusive practice has far-reaching benefits for ECEC communities: “Inclusive education is about everyone and is good for everyone.”

Upholding children’s rights and dignity

Inclusive education has clear, significant benefits for children who experience disability or face other barriers to inclusion while attending ECEC and beyond as they continue on their learning journeys.

Reflecting on her research with children and families, Kathy shared: "Families emphasise when their children are genuinely included, this creates the possibility for their children to participate fully, develop friendships and to access equitable opportunities to learn and grow alongside their peers. Being genuinely included not only supports an individual child's growth but also promotes broader understandings and acceptance of human diversity."

Inclusive education can hold even greater importance for families of children who are labelled as having severe multiple or profound disabilities, Kathy shared.

“These families face the highest risk of their children being segregated or excluded, which leads to the families’ isolation and – really, really painfully for families – may lead to a sense their child's value as a human is questioned,” she said.

“Inclusive education challenges this exclusion and affirms each child's value and potential and promotes a sense of belonging and positive identity development for children and for their families.”

High-quality education for all

Research shows inclusive education enhances all children’s learning and benefits their social, behavioural, academic, cognitive, emotional and physical development.

“We know that even as young as 2 and 3 years of age, children can demonstrate an awareness of and engagement with prejudice, bias and discrimination,” Kathy said.

“Working together with children in ECEC gives us that chance to build those notions of fairness and unfairness and embracing human diversity as a wonderful thing. We can also actively support children to engage in an anti-bias and justice-orientated lens.”

This, Kathy reflected, contributes to working toward a more inclusive world for everyone.

Reflecting on reasonable adjustments

Kathy explained that reasonable adjustments are modifications to the environment, the curriculum, materials, activities or experiences, for example, to ensure that children can equitably participate in all aspects of the ECEC program. This may include:

• providing assistive technologies, such as mobility aids, visual supports, screen readers and adapted grips

• adaptive learning materials, such as adaptive scissors and easy-to-grip brushes

• modifying the physical space, such as moving items to ensure the area is accessible for all children, adjusting the height of equipment and providing quiet areas to accommodate children’s sensory needs
  

• being flexible with time and routines, including planning for transitions and engaging with children and their families before certain activities or experiences to support their learning and wellbeing.

ECEC services are legally required to make reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, unless the provider can demonstrate that making the adjustment would impose ‘unjustifiable hardship’.