Zooming In and Out: Exploring Teacher Competencies in Inclusive Early Childhood Classrooms

ABSTRACT

This study explored issues of social inclusion for young children with disabilities through a systematic reanalysis of six preschool case studies focusing on strategies that teachers used in daily practice. Our analysis process entailed a reexamination of classroom observations and teacher inquiry data, focusing back and forth between the “micro” issues of everyday practice and the “macro” issues of inclusion as social justice. Through this process, the authors articulated a set of six overarching teacher competencies and their connection to “big ideas” about inclusion. The findings speak to a growing need within educational settings to move beyond narrow conceptions of ability and disability to take a transformative stance that supports diversity and community for all learners.

KEYWORDS:

• Case studies
• children with disabilities
• diversity
• early care and education
• early childhood special education
• early childhood teachers