A 3-year project on Inclusive Early Childhood Education run by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, and in which Professor Paul Bartolo was part of the core team as Project Advisor, has just published its findings in Inclusive Early Childhood Education: New Insights and Tools – Contributions from a European Study.
The project builds on evidence that quality early childhood education can significantly enhance the lifelong learning and future active citizenship of all children. This has made quality provision a priority concern of policy-makers and international and European organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the European Commission. The project aimed to identify, analyse and subsequently promote the main characteristics of quality inclusive early childhood education (IECE) for all children from three years of age to the start of primary education. Sixty-four inclusive early childhood education experts from across Europe contributed to the project. They participated in data collection and analysis through descriptions of example provisions, as well as observations and discussions during field work and case study visits.
The project conceptualised quality early childhood education through a combination of three theoretical frameworks, namely the structure-process-outcome model, the ecological systems model, and the inclusive education framework. The use of this combined framework in the analysis of cross European data led to the development of three new insights and tools for improving quality inclusive early childhood education: (1) How quality IECE settings adopt an inclusive vision and goals as the main standards of IECE policy and provision; (2) The development and use by practitioners of a Self-Reflection Tool for improving the inclusiveness of IECE settings; and (3) the adaptation of an Ecosystem Model for quality IECE. Relevant recommendations for research, policy and practice towards better quality early childhood education are derived from the study. Other data and publications of the project on IECE are available online.
Prof. Bartolo is an academic member of staff within the Faculty for Social Wellbeing.