Understanding inclusion in early childhood care and education: A participatory action learning and action research study

Abstract

Background: Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) refers to the care and education of children from birth to age four. There is a scarcity of research on inclusion in this marginalised sector in many developing countries, including South Africa.Aim: This article reports on a virtual learning participatory workshop on understanding inclusion with six ECCE teachers and two ECD practitioner trainers.Setting: Due to the social distancing necessitated by the Corona Virus pandemic, all interactions were facilitated through the WhatsApp platform. Methods:The study employed a participatory action learning and action research (PALAR) design that focuses on collaborative and contextually relevant learning and research. Data were generated in two iterative cycles using a baseline questionnaire, photovoice, reflective journals and purposeful conversations.Results: Cycle one found that some of the participants' understanding of inclusion needed to be challenged. Their understandings of inclusion centred on discourses of disability with a narrow view of inclusion. This action learning set (ALS) mainly regarded inclusion to be a product rather than a process and claimed that segregation had some advantages. Some of the members of the ALS also misconstrued inclusion for micro-exclusive practices of assimilation and integration. Cycle two was planned to address these misunderstandings. Cycle two revealed that becoming inclusive means revisiting dominant ideologies about inclusion and a critical awareness of micro-exclusive practices. Conclusion: This research serves to challenge dominant beliefs of what inclusion is.The knowledge presented here could be cascaded to other ECCE centres in the South African context. With a scarcity of research on inclusion in ECCE, this study may provide a point of departure for future research.

Reimagining Inclusion in Early Childhood Care and Education: A Posthuman Perspective

“…In this way, during the action step, areas of need were identified and discussed collaboratively in the group. Because this paper reports on part of a larger study on inclusion (Mahadew, 2022), only three prominent concerns, namely, understandings of diversity, the need for collectivism, and the need to promote the agency of the child are discussed in this article. During the action stage, the participants were presented with the above prominent concerns, and collaborative discussions enabled further learning.…”

“…This study thus aims to explore inclusion by adopting a posthumanist perspective in the early learning environment. The research reported here is part of a larger study on inclusion in early childhood care and education (Mahadew, 2022) that has been revisited through a posthumanist lens. This study is informed by the following questions:…”

Participatory Action Research Challenges Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Review and Comparison across Two European Projects

“…Other authors opted to use social messaging applications instead of videoconferencing platforms, such as WhatsApp (Available at: https://www.whatsapp. com/, accessed on 8 December 2022), due to their widespread popularity and ease of access [33,34]. These applications can be more practical for informal communication than videoconferencing apps, and they also allow users to share documents such as surveys and task lists.…”