The Future of Education

This session will provide program administrators,, educators, service providers, and families with a model plan for facilitating quality inclusive early childhood school environments through a trans-disciplinary team approach. Inclusive education is defined as "a process of addressing and
responding to the diverse needs and abilities of all learners by increasing participation in learning and reducing exclusion within and from education (http://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/inclusive-education).  At the core of inclusive education is the right to education, free from discrimination. Inclusive education systems, a core part of the United Nations Fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) and the 2030 Education Agenda promotes societies that are more inclusive to "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all." (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org). Establishing global partnerships supports developing countries to improve equity and inclusion ([email protected]). Despite dramatic improvements over the past decades, progress towards achieving education for all has stagnated, and close to 260 million children and youth are still out of school Cwww.globalpartnership.org.). Children from lower socioeconomic areas, rural, and from countries affected by fragility and conflict are still more likely to be left behind.  Previous research in the field addresses teacher factors that are globally presented regarding attitudes and beliefs on inclusion based on the following: ethnicity, previous experiences, gender, age, teacher backgrounds, effective teaching practices, and background knowledge (Priyadarshini & Thangarajathi, 2017).  Emphasis for this session  is  placed  on the process of establishing a model to include a collaborative team approach with strategies that provide access, participation, and supports for children in natural and inclusive environments as recommended by Division of Early Childhood (DEC 2014). Teachers worldwide are increasingly faced with a diversity of learners and the need for curriculum instructional models that can effectively Integrate differentiation into teaching, assessment and learning (Rose & Meyer, 2002). A Universal Design for Learning (UDL) curriculum model will be included in this session to provide a framework using core principles of engaged instruction for children with widely varying strengths and needs. Additionally, implementing the Preschool Inclusion Self-Assessment Tool (Barton & Smith, 2015) to identify empirically supported qualities for inclusion programs will be presented. Leadership steps will include developing a solid school mission that supports team collaboration and transforms a system to remove barriers and provide supports that respond to all learners in a community.

Keywords: Collaboration, Inclusion, Early Childhood Programs.

References: 
[1] Barton, E.E. & B.J. Smith, 2015. MAdvancing High-Quality Preschool Inclusion: A Discussion and Recommendations for the Field." Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 35 (2): 69-78.
[2] Priyadarshini, S. & Saradha; S.Thangarajathi, 2016-2017. Effect of Selected Variables on Regular School Teachers Attitude towards Inclusive Education "Journal on Educational Psychology" 10, (3): 28-38.
[3] Rose, D. H., & A Meyer, 2002. Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/ideas/tes.