Inclusivity in early childhood education is a significant topic that should be attracting major discussions and conversations in the education sector. Childhood education forms the foundation for success of young children by shaping their future. All children irrespective of their differences such as age, ethnicity, disability, or social status have a right to access quality education. Diversity among young learners in the education sector is proving to be a cause of social injustice as far as the inclusivity is concerned. There have been numerous reported cases of teachers, or the education sector in general treating children based on their social status, disability status, or their abilities,
(Sumsion 2011, 28-45). The inclusivity practice aims to promote social justice by advocating for the inclusion of all children regardless of their diversity in the education system. Inclusion education has become a contemporary educational approach recognized globally even by the United Nations. There are various theories that support inclusive education such as behaviorism, constructivism, and cognitivism theory. This paper seeks to discuss how constructivism theory can be used in inclusive education to help parents, children, teachers, and schools achieve quality education.
Constructivism theory could be used to understand inclusive practices in education. This theory discusses a variety of aspects that education stakeholders might use to put inclusive education into practice. According to constructivism, students should be encouraged to develop their own knowledge and learning, (Teplytskyi et al, 2019, 45-99). It focuses on key practices including observation, interpretation, and adaptation to help learners understand the importance of social dimension during the learning process. Teachers are considered only as facilitators because heir work is to provide essential information and activities and let students learn on their own. Therefore, this approach is crucial for understanding inclusivity in early childhood education
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because it considers the learning needs of all students. It encourages all the students to given an opportunity to develop their learning g skills regardless of their learning abilities, physical disabilities, or social status, (Neutzling et al, 2019, 756-776). Since constructive learning recognizes the differences in learning needs of children, it offers a variety of educational services to meet the learning requirement of all students including those with special needs. Parents are encouraged to work with teachers by providing all the necessary information regarding the special
needs of their children so that teachers might know what approach suits them best, (Wheeler 2019, 22-41). The advantage of this approach is that it tailors the learning process according to the student’s needs and requirements, and as a result it includes all the learners. In order to effectively integrate constructivism in inclusive education, a few questions need to be answered regarding conversations with parents, children, and other reflective practitioners on understanding inclusive practice in teaching. These questions are important to initiate conversations with each group to discuss how to support inclusive practice for different children. They will form the basis for identifying problems and suggesting the best solutions to address such problematic areas. Each group is affected differently concerning inclusivity in education. Children are the core concern and inclusive practices affect them directly. For instance, children with special needs might fail to access the same services as their counterparts in the same field. Therefore, it is
important to raise questions that directly affects them to determine their stand regarding the topic. Furthermore, such questions help to find ways they can work with other stakeholders including parents, teachers, and the school to promote inclusivity in education. Some of the questions include; 1) Do you find the whole learning process as enjoyable or irritating? Are you close with your teacher? How is your social life at school?
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Parents are responsible for their children’s’ life including education. Therefore, raising questions regarding their views on the issue of inclusive practices in schools is important because it also directly affects them. Inclusivity, especially on parents of special children is essential. Such parents should be involved in the learning process as much as possible. They are the ones who understand how special their children are and thus engaging them in the whole process matters a lot. Furthermore, they present some of the challenges related to raising children with special needs that teachers might learn from when engaging them. Some of the key parent concerns include; Do you
feel involved in your child’s learning process at school? Do you feel or see any progress in your child’s learning? What are some of the challenges you face concerning your child’s special needs? Finally, the other crucial parties oncerned with inclusivity in learning process include the teachers, other reflective practioners, and the school administration. Asking questions will help identify and develop some of the best models, frameworks, and structures for optimizing
inclusivity in schools. For instance, it will help determine what kind of support is required to help slow learners gain just as much as other students. The key questions include; What kind of models do you use to engage your learners? Does the school administration support inclusive practices? How can we improve inclusivity in learning?
Questions with children
Do you find the whole learning process as enjoyable or irritating?
I am asking this question because, according to constructivism, learning should be student- centered. Therefore, all the learning activities have to revolve around the students’ needs and requirements, (Yagata 2019, 6-22). Teachers are only facilitators who provide the right information and environment to facilitate children to learn on their own. Therefore, this question
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is crucial for understanding how the children feel regarding the whole process. In constructive learning, students are divided into groups depending on their requirements. The teachers then align their teaching to meet these needs and requirement of each group, (Sumsion 2011, 28-45). Thus, it is important that learners enjoy the whole process to facilitate growth, development, and learning. Students should be encouraged to focus on their areas of interest so that they find learning a fascinating experience worth exploring. For instance, encourage students to work on projects of their areas of interest and engage them actively regarding exciting ideas about the project. Ensure
that all the students get involved in the learning process equally to avoid things such as social stigma. Encourage students to love, care, and look out for one another whether they are in school or not.
Are you close with your teacher?
I am asking this question because in constructive learning student-teacher relationship is significant. Once you understand how close students are with their teachers it becomes easy to determine how involved and included they are in the learning process. Teachers need to be close with all students irrespective of their diversity. Whether they are physical challenged, slow- learners, or have other special needs all students need their teachers’ special attention. Teachers should create a health relationship with their students by providing all the necessary needs and a
conducive learning environment to encourage and engage the students in many different ways, (Teplytskyi et al, 2019, 45-99). Teachers and students can work on projects and assignments together from time to time to improve their relationship. Also, find interesting hobbies such as singing and adventure to help bond with students at different levels. This gives all students courage, feeling of belonging, as well as making them feel free to raise any challenges affecting them.
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How is your social life at school?
I am asking this question to ensure that no student is left out because of their social relationship with other students, or teachers. Social life is key among children especially those with special needs as it determines their interaction with others and the learning process as a whole. Many learners with special needs might chose to avoid crucial activities due to factors such as discrimination, social stigma, and intimidation. Therefore, working on their social life is essential to facilitate interactions among learners, or teachers. Constructivism advocates that students learn
a lot from active interactions whether it is with their friends or teachers, (Yagata 2019, 6-22). Parents and teachers should ensure that all students are treated fairly and no one feel left out. Check on the students to see if there are any issues affecting them. Create an environment that encourages them to engage with other students and teachers especially on matters related to education.
Questions with parents
Do you feel involved in your child’s learning process at school? I am asking this question to determine the parents’ involvement in their children’s education life. Inclusive practice does not only require children’s participation but parents’ involvement as well. Parents have to always be present anytime the teacher or student needs their attention. Parents are the ones who know their children better especially in case of any special needs. Therefore, sharing
all the necessary information regarding the condition of their children with teachers is essential.
Teachers can use this information when teaching to optimize the learning of such students by
knowing which models fits best for them. Furthermore, parents can engage their children at
personal level to check on their progress in school. They should such opportunities to learn about
how their children interact with others, the challenges they face, as well as any specific issue
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touching their conditions , in case of special children. By doing so, they help to promote inclusivity
in education because this information is used by teachers to address the needs of the children. Thus, if every parent get involved in their children learning as much as possible it facilitates inclusion of children in the learning process.
Do you feel or see any progress in your child’s learning? This question is specific to parents of special children to understand how they feel about the education system. The idea is to determine their views regarding inclusive practices in the current education system. Find out if the parents are comfortable or satisfied with the efforts by teachers and school administration towards realizing inclusivity in learning. Although students might be
showing progress at school by passing their exams, they me be facing other challenges that only parents can identify, (Yagata 2019, 6-22). If parents do not see any progress with their children, the matter should be addressed together with the teachers and school administration. In some cases, parents can choose to transfer their children to other schools they feel the children will progress. Children progress in learning is key because it is the only determinant that they are gaining and the system is working. Parents should look closely for signs such as social stigma in case the special students are discriminated or intimidated by their friends or teachers. Report such cases to
teachers and school administration to find a solution. What are some of the challenges you face concerning your child’s special needs? I am asking this question because it will help identify some of the challenges that parents of special children face. The information will be used to find ways of addressing such challenges in regards
to inclusivity at school. Special children require special attention and this becomes a source of different challenges when raising them. Thisinformation will help familiarize teachers with special
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students to help them understand their specific needs. Some of the challenges include, for example, having to speak at least twice to slow learners or students with hearing problems. When a teacher is able to access such information, it becomes easy to attend to the needs of each individual student as required. As a result, inclusivity is optimized as every student gains fairly by collaborating with the framework put in place. Questions with teachers, colleagues, and school administration. What kind of models do you use to engage your learners? I am asking this question to determine the best teaching models to use in order to optimize inclusivity. As mentioned earlier, constructivism is student-centered. Therefore, the best way to include all students is developing a model that focusses on the ndividual needs of each student, (Neutzling et al, 2019, 756-776). Teachers should ensure that students rare categorized according to their needs and requirements for instance, slow learners could not be in the same group as fast
learners. Then, ensure that learners are actively involved in the whole process by engaging them using projects, assignments, and discussions. Create a democratic environment to encourage students to raise their views regarding certain issues and topics in the class without fear of intimidation or failure. By having all these procedures in place, teachers or the school as whole should ensure that the education system provides a variety of learning styles, needs, and services that meet the needs of all learners including those with special needs. For instance, recognize the
slow learners by taking them on every step at the speed they will fully understand the topic. Does the school administration support inclusive practices? I am asking this question to determine how different schools encourage inclusivity in education.
Although teachers are the core factors on the inclusivity conversation, schools plays a major role
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in determine the level of inclusive practices. The school administration should strive to ensure that they provide all the essential services, environment, and requirements to meet inclusivity in education, (Wheeler 2019, 22-41). For instance, there should be sufficient classes to accommodate all the categories of students with special needs. More so, design the school timetable and schedule of activities in a manner that encourage all the learners, teachers, as well as parents to participate in the learning process. Schools can benchmark from other schools with better structures and framework that allow inclusive practices in education. Students with special needs might require
advanced structures and frameworks during learning that vary from one category of students to another. In order to optimize inclusivity in education, every school need to meet all the essential requirements.
How can we improve inclusivity in learning?
I am asking this question to find some of the ways that might be used to improve inclusivity in schools. There are many inclusive practices and they vary from one school, or social set-up to another. It is necessary to determine the best ways help achieve optimal inclusivity in education. This requires extensive research and collaboration between teachers, parents, and the school administration to determine what works best for their respective set-ups, (Wheeler 2019, 22-41). Study the available structures, models, and frameworks to determine where or how to improve
them. For instance, determine if the number students in each category should be reduced or increased. If there is no framework in place, create one that not only assures but also encourages inclusivity in the learning process among all students. Finally, collaborate with the relevant government institutions to formulate regulations and amendments that would ensure every school achieves inclusivity in their learning process.
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Reference
Sumsion, J. and Wong, S., 2011. Interrogating ‘belonging’in belonging, being and becoming: The early years learning framework for Australia. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 12(1), pp.28-45.
Teplytskyi, O., Teplytskyi, I., Semerikov, S. and Soloviev, V., 2019. Training future teachers in natural sciences and mathematics by means of computer simulation: a social constructivist approach. arXiv preprint arXiv:1907.09726.
Neutzling, M., Pratt, E. and Parker, M., 2019. Perceptions of learning to teach in a constructivist environment. Physical Educator, 76(3), pp.756-776.
Yagata, S., 2019. Inclusive Education and Communication Impairment in Early Childhood: A Perspective from Japan. Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education, 13(3).
Wheeler, A., 2019. A situated ethical analysis of child inclusive practices in five Relationships Australia NSW Family Relationship Centres. A thesis in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. School of Social Sciences. Sydney: The University of of New South Wells, (s 30).
