Preschool teacher’s awareness, attitudes and challenges towards inclusive early childhood education: A qualitative study

Abstract

Education in early childhood is considered fundamental. Many developing countries reported having a low level of inclusion rate, and this level is even smaller when it comes to children with special needs. Moreover, the philosophy of inclusion and best practices for ensuring the success of inclusive education are not fully understood by preschool teachers. This study aimed at exploring how preschool teachers understand inclusive education in a system that is undergoing transition and faces significant challenges overall. It also tends to describe not only what they know but also how they feel and believe about the process of including children in the quality educational system, same for all. Another issue was also to find out what are the challenges teachers face and how do they see the future of inclusive education in early childhood. Ten experienced preschool teachers from different places of Kosovo were interviewed using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The results indicate that teachers have a common understanding of inclusion, but they lack proper skills and knowledge on adequate teaching methods to work with children with special needs. However, they see inclusion to be an essential process and an excellent opportunity for all children. They recommend investments and collaboration between all the involved partners as a key to overcoming present obstacles.

Keywords:

• inclusion
• special needs
• preschool education
• preschool teachers

JEL classification:

• I21
• I24
• I31

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

This study aimed at exploring how preschool teachers understand inclusive education in a system that is undergoing transition and faces significant challenges overall. It also tends to describe not only what they know but also how they feel and believe about the process of including children in the quality educational system, same for all. An important issue was also to find out what are the challenges that teachers face and how do they see the future of inclusion in early childhood education. Ten experienced preschool teachers selected purposefully, from different places of Kosovo were interviewed using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The results suggest that to have inclusive preschool settings, all the factors involved in children’s education and wellbeing should align their activities toward the same aim. Meaning that inclusive culture is created, inclusion is understood holistically, quality teacher education is developed, as well as positive teacher attitudes and good inclusive practices that ensure respecting child’s rights are applied.

1. Introduction

The term “children with special needs” in this article will be used as a term that includes all children, students or persons with special educational needs as a result of different linguistic, cultural, socio-economic diversity, gender, and religious background. This term also includes children with other developmental disorders of varying nature and degrees, such as mental retardation, visual impairments, hearing impairment, physical impairments, communication difficulties, or emotional and behavioural disorders. This syntagma includes all those who in any way, have difficult access to educational institutions, in the learning process or their education in general.

Education in the early years of childhood is important for all children, especially for children with special needs. This age is the critical period when the brain and intellectual, physical, emotional, and behavioural processes develop rapidly. According to Grantham-McG et al. (2007), brain development is modified by the quality of the environment.

Various scholars have considered education in early childhood to be a fundamental component in children’s’ development. The most popular theories of child development, such as those of Piaget, Erikson, or Vygotsky, promote the need for children’s interaction with the environment, with peers, or with adults (Mooney, 2013). According to Erikson, preschool children are in the third stage (Initiative vs. Guilt) when their interpersonal skills also begin to develop, and they are preoccupied with their social world. When they manage to accomplish goals that are acceptable to their peers, they develop what Erikson calls the sense of initiative. On the contrary, children develop feelings of guilt. To further elaborate, Erikson believed that this stage, occurs at “playtime” or preschool age when children learn to imagine, fantasize and expand on their abilities through active play with others; learn to collaborate with others, lead the game or follow the leader (Erikson, 1963; Perolli-Shehu, 2019a). Vygotsky states cognitive development stems from social interactions from guided learning within the zone of proximal development as children and their partner’s co-construct knowledge. For Vygotsky (1978), the environment in which children grow up will influence how they think and what they think. As Perolli- Shehu (2019b) mentioned “Social relationships and interactions, especially with peers, play a role important in the healthy development of the child, and opportunities for socialization in early childhood, present a good opportunity for children to gain maturity in the development of successful relationships and easier transition to formal systems (like schools) and future interactions” (p22-23). We can assume that children need to interact with their peers to develop better, and this fact should be even more important to children with special needs. Therefore, early childhood education and inclusion in preschool institutions is a crucial issue.

The inclusion of children in education (in preschools institutions) around the world has been considered challenging. Challenges are related to the unclear definition of the concept of “disability,” insufficient instruments to identify and assess children with special needs. Moreover, difficulties in creating an inclusive education system that will lead to professionalism, including professional education and qualified educators, adding the difficulties of different natures for physical and social accommodation of children with special needs (Sharma, 2015). Many underdeveloped and developing countries are considered to have a low percentage of involvement. The issue of inclusion is also challenging in developing countries. It also depends on the adaptation of the education systems of different countries. Based on data published by European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice (2019), several countries have targeted measures for children that may need support education and care, namely children with disabilities/difficulties, children from migrant backgrounds, and those from regional or ethnic minorities. In this regard, Croatia, Cyprus, and Albania have developed specific measures facilitating access or affordability for Roma children.

In Kosovo, according to data on education statistics for 2018/19, there are a total of 222 children with special needs, aged 2 to 6 years, included in regular kindergartens (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology [MEST], 2019). While this report purports that the data on students with special needs and the accuracy of these data is asymmetrical and complex. Not all pupils with special needs in regular classes have been assessed by professional assessment teams in municipalities or by internal institutional experts such as psychologists or pedagogues. This year (2020), MEST has approved instruments for assessing and classifying children with special needs according to their stage of disability or need, and by these instruments’ children will be advised to the inclusive classrooms while they will be taught according to the Individual Education Plan.

The inclusion of children with special needs in education worldwide is at a deficient level. However, inclusive education involves the transformation of the education system—legislation and policy, systems for financing, administration, design, delivery, and monitoring of education, and the schools are organized.

The concept of “inclusion” by different scholars around the world is defined differently. Numerous definitions of “inclusion” discuss the complexity that the concept reflects (Lindsay, 2003, 2007; P. Mitchell, 2014), which fosters disputes among researchers and practitioners (Farrell & Ainscow, 2002). Inclusion is not just a question of the right to education; it is a multidimensional concept.

Inclusion is defined as the process by which exclusion is omitting and marginalizing (Vitello & Mithaug, 1998), the process of strengthening the capacities of the education system (UNESCO, 2009), the process of school transformation and the child’s response and focus on equal access to education (Vislie, 2003) a fundamental right for all children and adults to participate fully in all aspects of life and culture (Braunsteiner & Mariano-Lapidus, 2014), a fundamental way of delivering quality education for all (Savolainen et al., 2012), an educational approach to facilitate the learning of all students indiscriminately in the same environment (Salvia et al., 2017).

The definitions for inclusion in early childhood cannot be different from the definition generally made for inclusion. Some researchers referring to inclusion in early childhood define the inclusion as follows:

“defined inclusion as programs or groups in which children with disabilities and typically developing children participate” (Odom et al., 2004, p. 18). Furthermore,” inclusion in the early years and childcare is as much concerned with the participation of practitioners as with the involvement of children and young people. Participation implies playing, learning, and working in collaboration with others. It involves making choices about and having a say in what we do. More deeply, it is about being recognized, accepted, and valued for ourselves” (Booth et al., 2006, p. 3). Moreover, “early childhood inclusion is a primary placement for special education services for a substantial number of children with disabilities” (Odom et al., 2011, p. -354). Besides, “this means early childhood inclusion is about providing rich and enabling learning educational environments that nurture and enhance developmental potentials of all children. Early childhood inclusive education is early learning programs in which children with or without disabilities from birth to eight years learn together” (Agbenyega & Klibthong, 2014, pp. 1247–1248).

The term inclusive education in early childhood in this paper refers to the inclusion of all children in classrooms or groups regardless of their ethnicity, language, faith, cultural, economic status, or any other diversity caused by different psychophysical disabilities. This means not only the physical presence or passive engagement but active participation in all activities within the group or institution in an equal way like all other children with typical development.

As with other levels of education, the inclusion of children in early childhood is the subject of debate for over three decades (Biamba, 2016; Rakap & Rakap, 2011) but now this is common practice in many developing world countries (Lai & Gill, 2013) and on the other hand, this issue remains even today a challenge for several countries (Voss & Bufkin, 2011).

Concerning the impact of inclusion after the period of preschool (primary, lower secondary, upper secondary), there is much debate on whether or not inclusive education is feasible for the implementation. However, researchers report positive effects, some negative effects and, also some neutral effects (Reich-Limbach, 2015). Whereas, at the level of early childhood, the conclusions are clearer in favour of the benefits of inclusion concerning higher levels of education. Above all, no-one should be excluded. Every child has a right to inclusive education, including children with disabilities (UNICEF, 2017).

1.1. The importance of inclusion in early childhood

Researchers report on the importance and benefits of inclusive education in early childhood (Rakap & Rakap, 2011). Inclusion is in the best interests of all children and is most effective enacted as early as possible (Henninger & Grupta, 2014. In an extensive analysis of the effects of inclusion in early childhood, the researchers, Lawrence et al. (2016) report on the positive impact on the interactions of children with and without special needs, in different aspects of child development. Therefore, research shows that children with special needs in inclusive classrooms demand more engagement (Individual Educational Plan, teacher-assistants who will help in the classroom/group, more educational materials or concretization means) than children without special needs than those in segregated classrooms (Odom et al., 2004). Children with special needs in inclusive classrooms have greater literacy benefits (2012); have more progress in social skills in inclusive classrooms than in separate classes (Holahan & Costenbader, 2000). Children without disabilities have more positive attitudes toward children with special needs compared to children who have not met or worked together with children with special needs (as cited in Lawrence et al., 2016). Generally, research shows that “ … young children with disabilities benefit from being in inclusive early care and education settings with typically developing peers. However, the extent of children’s learning and social development is likely to depend on many features of the environment (e.g. teachers’ use of effective instruction tailored to the needs of individual children with disabilities; classroom composition, and teacher-child ratios” (Lawrence et al., 2016, p. 11).

If the question is asked, should children with special needs be included in regular classes during early childhood? For Henninger and Grupta (2014), the answer is: Yes, but more work is needed to be fully and successfully included in school life, such as: developing positive social-emotional skills (including social relationships). Acquiring and using knowledge and skills (including early language/communication and early literacy skills and using appropriate behaviours to meet their own needs.

Grupta and Henninger (2014) also report that children who have multiple interactions with peers and adults throughout early childhood show a marked improvement across various areas of development. From this information alone, it seems vitally important for children to be placed in situations in which they can interact with peers and adults alike. In the conclusion of their study, they reported that there is no evidence to suggest that inclusion leads to decreased academic, social, or later life outcomes, children with disabilities benefit from being included in the general education classroom in both the short and the long term. Therefore, typically developing children must show benefits while participating in inclusive settings.

Research suggests that the education of children with special needs should be focused on regular environments/classes because inclusion is consistent with children’s right to education and less costly than special education or separate schools. However, this cannot happen without the support of national, local policies, trained staff, accessibility facilitation, flexible teaching curricula and methods, and other resources (Dimitridiadi, 2015).

To successfully implement inclusive education in early childhood, researchers highlight the importance of qualitative pre-service and in-service teacher education programs, teachers’ beliefs and positive attitudes (Galović et al., 2014; Kraskaa & Boyle, 2014; Voss & Bufkin, 2011), vocational preparations of teachers because research shows that the impact on teacher attitudes depends on adequate professional training (Lai & Gill, 2013), useful programs for the age of early childhood (Rakap & Rakap, 2011), appropriate and flexible curricula, interactive methods, proper materials, supportive techniques and technologies (Burns et al., 2012; Sucuoglu et al., 2014).

Inclusive education at any stage of the child’s development is essential, but even more important is in the period of early childhood. Hence, in the implementation of inclusive education various barriers are presented, such as barriers of structural nature, organizational, institutional, and behavioural, of attitudes, prejudices, and stereotypes, then level of understanding of policies, practices, and resources. Concerning some of these barriers, Purdue (2009), concludes that for reduction of the barriers and progress of inclusion in early childhood, it is important that inclusive environments are developed, policies on inclusion are reviewed, Teachers and early childhood settings have to be prepared to include and teach all children and it is important that appropriate recourses that meet children’s rights and needs are assured).

1.2. Preschool education for children with special needs in Kosovo

Education in early childhood of children with special needs in Kosovo is linked to the development of special education. Special education in Kosovo has a not too long history. The history of the education of children with special needs in Kosovo begins back to the 50 s when several special schools and special classrooms were established. After the year 2000, special schools have been transformed into Resource Centres, while special classes have been established in all municipalities as attached classrooms and recently also transformed into Resource Classroom. Currently, children with special needs are now involved in some resource centres, some in resource classrooms, and others in inclusive classrooms.

In Kosovo, the pre-university education system is organized into six levels or stages. Preschool age is divided into two parts, and its equivalent to ISCED 0. Children from birth to five belong to preschool education, while children 5 to 6 go to pre-primary or preparatory education as described by Kosovo Curriculum Framework (MEST, 2011).

From the statistical reports of education in Kosovo, the inclusion of children in preschool institutions is at a deficient level. The data indicate the inclusion of only 4.8% of children aged 0 to 4 years, while children 5 to 6 years are included in 90.1%. Overall, the inclusion of preschool children age 0 to 6 years, according to the report of Gjelaj et al. (2018), reaches 18.6%. Whereas in the Strategic Plan of Education in Kosovo 2017–2021, it is stated that for children with special needs, there is mobilization for greater involvement in educational institutions (MEST, 2016b).

The current education system in Kosovo for children with special needs is focused in terms of inclusiveness. In this regard, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology have drafted several laws and other documents on inclusive education that are in line with the most relevant world documents, as follows:

• Law on Pre-University Education (no. 04/L0032, MEST, 2011)—Article 39 and 40 affirming inclusive education whereby all educational institutions must accommodate all children, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social needs, linguistic or other. The principle of inclusiveness is required to be applied in the Republic of Kosovo following international norms as outlined in the Convention on Human Rights, the Salamanca Declaration, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other international conventions or recommendations;(p.25–26)

• New Kosovo Curriculum Framework (MEST, 2011)—obliges for inclusive education. First of the five basic principles of the curriculum is inclusiveness;

• Core Early Childhood Curriculum (ages 0 to 5) ensures coherence and consistency between formal levels of pre-university education based on the core principles of the Curriculum Frameworks such as The inclusiveness, which means providing opportunities for equal inclusion of all children and youth in quality education (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, 2019);

• Strategic Plan for Organizing Inclusive Education of Children with Special Educational Needs in Pre-University Education in Kosovo, (2016–2021);

In the Strategic Plan for Organizing Inclusive Education of Children with Special Educational Needs in Pre-University Education in Kosovo, (2010–2015), one of the basic objectives is the identification and early intervention and increased involvement of children with special educational needs, but reportedly lacking an integrated data collection system for children with special needs dealing not only with identification but also with early intervention and their progress.

Although the inclusion of children with special needs in preschool institutions, for now, it turns out to be very small, the design of laws, other documents, and support from international organizations have made things move positively towards inclusion. Now from the previously segregated education system, the focus is on inclusion, and this process is in the transition phase from special education to inclusive education. Education policies promote inclusion as a philosophy and strategy for the education of all children without distinction, and therefore in the definitions for inclusion we find in MEST documents, they are largely based on everyone’s right to education stemming from important documents world for inclusiveness. From the overall analysis of inclusive education in Kosovo, we have found no research that would show the effects of inclusion, the attitudes of teachers, parents, educational leaders, etc.; thus, the whole inclusive approach is credible and largely based on the right to education.

As mentioned by UNICEF (2017), in order to have a system that assures inclusion, is the following aspects should be considered: a) Commitment and investments from education ministries—it takes time and money to change systems, b) Support for teachers and students—teachers need training and guidance, and students need to be provided with services to overcome barriers to learning, c) Promotion of respect for diversity and inclusive learning—action is needed to challenge negative attitudes and prejudice against children with disabilities, d) High expectations of all students—teachers need to invest in and support all children, e) Safe and inclusive environments—children cannot learn if they are frightened either of teachers or bullying from other children, f) Partnerships between parents, organisations of people with disabilities and schools—inclusive education will benefit from the widest possible experience and knowledge, g) Systems to monitor progress—it is vital to measure whether the situation is improving and if not, what further changes are needed.

Based on the above- mentioned requirements, most of them are in the hands of teachers. Thus, it is important that teachers understand and have a positive attitude toward inclusion not only as a process but also as a working philosophy or approach. However, we are aware that not only teachers’ readiness and acceptance will bring results since this process has its challenges, especially in the countries that are undergoing transition and development, such as Kosovo is. Therefore, these are the main issues explored in this study aiming to answer the following research questions:

• 1. How do preschool teachers understand inclusive education, and how prepared are they on teaching children with special needs?

• 2. What are preschool teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion during the early years?

• 2.1. Do they believe that children with special needs develop and learn better in regular classes/groups?

• 3. Which are preschool teachers’ challenges in implementing inclusive education, and how do they see the perspective of inclusive education?

By exploring these research questions, the study explores teachers’ understanding and attitudes towards inclusive education. It generates findings to overcome the challenges in the understanding of inclusive education to support its implementation in Kosovo and somehow contribute to its development.

2. Methodology

2.1. Research design

2.1.1. Theoretical perspective

This study falls within a qualitative empirical paradigm (Cresswell, 2007). This approach will consider the context in which the process of transforming special education towards inclusive education is located (Gay et al., 2006). Thus, the aim is to apply the exploratory approach rather than the quantification of data (Devetak et al., 2010) and to explore the qualitative ways in which respondents (in this case preschool teachers) have experience and express in different ways their attitudes (Sherman & Webb, 1998). Moreover, a qualitative approach is important in special education research because it requires a more holistic analysis of the problem for policy and practice and to extract more in-depth information on individuals, programs, or strategies (Materns, 1998). For these reasons, this study uses a phenomenological model which focuses on the awareness (perceptions, experiences, and thoughts) of individual and explores findings with a holistic view Creswell, 2014) about the phenomena (Bryant, 2018).

2.2. Sample and sampling

This study builds on the experiences of 10 preschool teachers working in preschools institutions and pre-primary classes. Preschool teachers included in this research were intentionally selected. It means this sample is purposive. Purposive sampling is an informant based on their ability to elucidate a specific theme, concept, or phenomenon (Robinson, 2014). In this case, all preschool teachers have significant experience working with children with special needs, have considerable knowledge in the field of special and inclusive education, and have formal education in this area as well as other in-service professional development training in the field of inclusion. All of them have finished four years of the BA study program on preschool education, and they work with different age groups at kindergarten. They’re working experience varies from one to thirty years (Table 1).

Table 1. Overview of teacher’ demographic data

Nr	Professional Degree	Working experience (years)	Children age
3 3 4	4 years of BA degree 4 years of BA degree 4 years of BA degree	1,8,17 11, 18, 25 11, 22, 30	0 to 3 years old 3 to 6 years old 5 to 6 years old
Total 10

2.3. Instruments and data collection procedures

In-depth and semi-structured interviews were used as the main instruments in this research. The interview was developed by the researcher to elicit more comprehensive information in the process of developing questions, setting up to interview, which lasted thirty minutes to one hour with each participant (Glesne, 2016). The interview protocol consisted of six broader questions with 3 to 4 sub-questions related to the aim and research questions. All the interviews were (1) audio-recorded (2) transcribed word by word and converted into a written text, (3) coded, and (4) analysed according to the principles of the inductive data-driven approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Research participants are identified with P (Participant 1 − 10).

2.4. Data analysis

Data analysis followed the thematic order of the interview guide from the in-depth and semi-structured interviews. Data coding was performed by the authors. Data were analysed based on thematic analysis about what participant’s say, why do they say, and what do they want to say about the specific issue. After the transcription of the interview, the data were read and reread, and then the categories were identified and conceptualized. Content analysis was done by using all the text from the transcripts, and the researchers focused on the group of sentences that had similar and relevant meanings. The data were grouped into five themes, and they were divided into three sub-themes determined by the research questions and the literature review (see Table 2). Thematic analysis using an indicative coding approach allows the researcher to generate themes and descriptors (open coding) after analysing interviews as the main text of this study (Creswell, 2014; Nowell et al., 2017). All the information collected in this study is kept strictly confidential and ensures the anonymity of participants.

Table 2. Themes and subthemes from the content analysis

Categories	Themes	Description
How do teachers understand the process of inclusion (is it holistic?)	Understanding and applying	Based on human rights Based in world document (like Human Right Declaration, Children Rights Convent, Salamanca Declaration, etc.) Bases in Nacional documents (like Kosovo Curriculum Framework, Core Early Childhood Curriculum, etc.)
Pedagogical approaches and professional preparedness of teachers to work in an inclusive classroom (teaching methods, child wellbeing)		As a problematic issue Serious difficulties working with children with several impairments/disabilities (autism, Down syndrome, etc.). Lack of experience and proper information on specific working methodologies. Lack of proper previous assessment of children with special education needs (SEN) by experts. Not enough information and skills to use adequate teaching methods. Lack of concretization means to work with children with SEN.
Importance and benefits of inclusiveness	Attitudes	80% of participants have a positive attitude: Very important process (acceptance from children with typical development) Children with special needs feel accepted, and learn to accept others Opportunities for social and emotional development for all the children Feelings of empathy and altruism Developing tolerance and democracy in other children in the group Socializing with other children. Other children without SEN also benefits 20 % of participants expressed their attitudes that children with special needs cannot benefit anything in regular classes/groups The changes in children with special needs are very minimal
Problems and challenges teacher are being faced	Challenges and future perspective	Creating an inclusive culture Working with a large number of children in inclusive settings Lack of support for teachers Lack of adequate teacher training Provision of professional resources Lack of cooperation between parents and institutions Not appropriate school infrastructure Lack of financial resources
Possibilities brought from the process of inclusion and its future perspective (who benefits what?)		Everybody could benefit from an inclusive system of education. Education for all Children with special needs can be educated in regular classrooms and that this process is possible if there is: maximum engagement by each factor from the preschool teachers to the central level (MEST) support by the family and the whole society improvisations are eliminated, and local and international best practices are considered; and more financial funds are allocated.

3. Results

This study aimed at exploring how preschool teachers understand inclusive education in a system that is undergoing transition and faces significant challenges overall. It also tends to describe not only what they know but also how they feel and believe about the process of including children in the quality educational system, same for all. An important issue was also to find out what are the challenges that teachers face and how do they see the future of inclusion in early childhood education. The data, driven from the interviews, provide a narrative description of their knowledge and experience of inclusive preschool practices. The themes were determined by the research questions and literature review and the frequency of the same issues that the preschool teachers referred to.

During this process, quotations were adapted from the most relevant information, and the researcher translated the quoted sentences into English. The following table displays the coded themes from the content analysis (Table 2).

3.1. Understanding of inclusion and pedagogical approach toward children with special needs

Involved participants in this research, definitions on inclusive education mainly correlate to the right to the equal inclusion of all the children in education, regardless of their race, gender, nation, religious affiliation, or other disparities as a result of various physical, mental, emotional and social disorders. They also believe that being an inclusive school or teacher should not only involve children in the learning process but also meet the needs of children and not affect their development. In this way, participants declared that inclusive education is:

… an approach in education that is related to the development and organization of educational institutions (kindergartens, schools), which implies the inclusion of all children in the learning process by meeting the needs of children in education and without prejudice to the rights of development and education. (P-1)

… an aspect that fulfils the right to education for all without distinction. (P-2)

… the right of all children to the process of education following their abilities and needs, without distinction. (P-5)

Inclusive education means the inclusion of children with special needs in regular educational institutions. (P-6)

I understand inclusive education as the inclusion of all children with special needs in all regular schools regardless of race, gender, nation, religion. (P-7)

From the presented definitions, we conclude that although teachers understand inclusive education at a good level and with good content even comparable with definitions of researchers in this field, they mainly relate this notion to children’s right to education, which derives from relevant world documents and local legal and pedagogical documents.

On the other hand, when it comes to pedagogical approaches, for work directly with children with special needs, then this is concluded as a problematic issue. Preschool teachers report having severe difficulties in inclusive classes/groups when dealing with children with severe disorders such as children with Down syndrome, children with autism, or alike.

Thus, some of the research participants express some difficulties, as follows:

I’ve had children with Down syndrome in the group and still do not have the necessary experience to engage them in inclusive activities actively. (P-9)

I’ve had children with autism in the group, and I had to gradually learn to include them in inclusive activities. (P-3)

I have lacked the practical component on how to work with children with SEN. This made it difficult for me to work with them properly and my pedagogical approach was inefficient (P-5)

Statements of this nature show that preschool teachers aren’t well prepared for the methods, techniques, and pedagogical strategies for working with children with special needs. It turns out to be a result of the lack of adequate training during the studies (pre-service) and the lack of (in-service) proper training. It seems that teachers lack professional skills to work with children with high impairment levels. As mentioned by them in most of the cases, this has to do with Down syndrome or autism. This becomes more challenging to them when they do not have assistants support, which happens in most of the schools in Kosovo.

3.2. Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion during the early years

Participants in the research considered the inclusion process as very important and that most of them have positive attitudes about the benefits of children with special needs, including also children with typical development. However, there are teachers (two participants) who are sceptical that they can achieve better in inclusive groups.

In general, preschool teachers in this research consider inclusive education to be an essential process and strategy for several reasons:

Children feel accepted and learn to accept others. (P-8)

Opportunities for social and emotional development are created (P-10) Feelings of empathy and altruism develop. (P-9)

New skills and ability to grow. (P-1)

Promoting tolerance and democracy in other children in the group (P-2) Socializing with other children. (P-3).

Most participants state that there are benefits but also others who indicate that children with special needs benefit nothing in regular classes or groups. Two of the participants have the attitude that children with special needs cannot benefit anything in regular classes/groups or the benefits are too minimal that is not worth being included in regular classes/groups:

Children with special needs cannot benefit anything from inclusive classes/groups. (P-3);

From experience, I find that changes have been very minimal. (P-4).

On the other hand, other participants that expressed in favour of inclusive education highlight several advantages:

The inclusion is useful not only for children with special needs but inclusive education can benefit all children regardless of their diversity. They can learn from each other” (P-10). Children can develop and learn better together. (P-9)

… socialization, development of skills, and mental health progress. (P-6).

However, even those who expressed in favour of inclusive education point out that achieving these benefits, a considerable number of conditions must be met. Of all the participants involved in the research, one of them has a firm attitude. She strongly holds that it is impossible that inclusion can happen, while others who expressed in favour say that several conditions must be met. Teachers suggested:

Strong institutional support. (P-5),

Appropriate physical infrastructure. (P-5; P-6)

Implementation of Individual Plan of Education. (P-4; P-1; P-2, P-9)

Professional preparation of teachers and continuous professional development. (P-2; P-5; P-6) as well as the elimination of stigmas and prejudices from teachers, children, parents, and all community. (P-6)

Participants consider inclusion to be an important issue and that it should be supported in every respect. In addition to the above suggestions, they consider that support from professionals/experts within and outside the institution is needed, supportive teachers or assistants, and fewer children in the classroom/group would help this process.

3.3. Challenges of transition: from special education to inclusive education and the perspective

Literature review shows that applying inclusive education in practice appears to be a problem in many countries around the world. The participants involved in our research concluded that in the process of transition from special education to inclusive education and especially in the process of applying the inclusion in practice, the most varied challenges that arise could be:

Creating inclusive culture; not appropriate school infrastructure (physical environment, educational tools, vocational training of preschool teacher, syllabus); not providing the professional help and resources (psychologist, logopaedic, etc.); not providing enough financial resources; a large number of children; lack of support for teachers and assistants; difficulties in designing the individual plan of development; lack of adequate and profiled teacher training; lack of cooperation between parents and institutions at the central level; unprepared staff for such a change; lack of family support and the unwillingness of the parents of other children without special needs;(P1-P10).

Despite these challenges, participants are optimistic about the prospect of inclusive education, especially if the primary conditions are met. They suggest that:

Everyone is given an equal opportunity (P-1); there is maximum engagement by each factor from the preschool teacher to the central level (P-2); children and teachers are supported by the families and the whole society (P-5); improvisations are eliminated, and local and international best practices are considered (P-6); and, more financial funds are allocated (P-10);

Teachers believe that inclusive education is a potential story. They stated that children with special needs can be educated in regular classes and that this process is possible. They can be educated alongside others. On the contrary, inclusive education cannot have a clear perspective, then one must go back to the beginning, as one of participant says:

If there is no universal support, this work scares me; I feel powerless and unprofessional” (P-4). However, one of the optimistic teachers, said: “We are at the beginning of a full path with challenges, but this is a necessary path that will empower every individual as an equal in society” (P-1).

4. Discussion

The research shows that inclusive education is a complex concept and process. Preschool teachers understand inclusive education as a right of all children for education that derives from international documents and domestic laws. The work with children with special needs they understand as a duty and responsibility, but that is characterized by difficulties of different natures due to inadequate professional competences and support at an inadequate level. This is similar even to other research where it is reported that the education of children with special needs is consistent with children’s right to education and is less costly than the education in special schools (Dimitriadi, 2015), but that in practice it is not easy to be accomplished.

Similar to a study from Gezer and Aksoy (2019), where inclusive education is considered an essential process for the development and education of the child, our research shows that several reasons favour the inclusion of children with special needs and that children can benefit more. Only one of the participants involved in the study was against inclusion with the view that children could not achieve anything in inclusive classes/groups. On the other hand, all participants say that children can learn more together, develop better emotional and social skills, and they also benefit more in the academic aspect.

But to be realized and succeed, strong institutional support, physical infrastructure, implementation of the Individual Plan of Education, proper vocational training and continuing professional development (through in-service training), as well as work in the community to eliminate stigmas and prejudices are needed. These findings are similar to other research findings of this nature that reported that quality teacher programs are essential to forming affirmative convictions and attitudes of teachers (Kraskaa & Boyle, 2014; Lai & Gill, 2013; Voss & Bufkin, 2011). Quality early childhood age programs (Rakap & Rakap, 2011), appropriate and flexible curricula, interactive methods, proper materials, supportive techniques and technologies (Burns et al., 2012), more respect, adequate training and transition plan (Bryant, 2018), to be prepared to include and teach all children.

The inclusion of children in preschools institutions in the worldwide level is reported to be unsatisfactory, and such a condition is even in our country (Kosovo). Small percentages show the inclusion of children with special needs, and except this, there is also a lack of correct evidence (statistics). In recent years, good inclusive policies have been developed at the central level (MEST), but there is also still much to be done in the classroom. Participants involved in the research presents facing current challenges: creating an inclusive culture, reducing a large number of children in groups, adapting the physical environment, developing quality programs for the preparation of preschool teachers and providing continuous professional development, providing experts (psychologist, pedagogue, logopaedics, etc.) and providing necessary financial resources. These issues were mentioned as challenges also for other countries (Voss & Bufkin, 2011).

Research has shown that inclusion is feasible; it is good practice in many countries, even though for more than three decades, it has been and still is a matter of debates (Biamba, 2016; Rakap & Rakap, 2011).

5. Conclusion

The research results provided clear answers to the research questions. Through research, we understand the level of understanding of inclusive education of preschool teachers, difficulties in their work in the realization of inclusive education, benefits and challenges, and the rational optimization of the perspective of inclusive education. We can conclude that:

Understanding of inclusive education by preschool teachers is based on everyone’s right to education guaranteed by international conventions and domestic laws and less based on empirical arguments. Inclusive education still isn’t understood holistically but mainly as an issue of child’s rights for equality in education based on national and international references from the laws and other documents.

Research findings have shown that inclusive education is considered important for the development and education of the children in early childhood; that from inclusion benefits children with special needs in many components of their development, such as academic, emotional, social and even intellectual development. Still, it presents severe difficulties in the pedagogical approach, especially in working with children with disorders or severe impairments. Inclusive education needs to meet a range of conditions starting from the need for the continuous professional development of preschool teachers; quality training programs; flexible education programs; implementation of the Individual Education Plan; convenient physical and social environment; availability of teacher assistants; financial resources and strong institutional support, support from the family itself and the society as a whole. Research findings have also highlighted many challenges for realization on inclusive education that are related to providing the above-mentioned conditions. Research also showed the optimism of preschool teachers about the potential success of inclusive education.

The study emerges a path through nine main components that are crucial on implementing inclusive education in a society undergoing through social, economic and cultural changes as well as hole society transition as Kosovo and other similar states may be (Figure 1.) This model clarifies and suggests a path of inclusive education journey starting from respecting child rights and equality to all the children, offering them the same opportunity to be educated in the nearest school of their community up to good practices of inclusive education.

Figure 1. Path Analysis Model of Nine Components for Implementing Inclusive Education.

Inclusive education as a concept and as a strategy asks readiness of involvement of all the relevant educational factors. Creating an inclusive culture and holistic understanding can’t be achieved in a short period. This means that cooperation is needed as going through a path modeled from previous experiences, research, and practices worldwide. The process that is followed with quality teacher preparation with building strong believes and positive attitudes toward inclusive education and by supporting and monitoring teachers to implement appropriate programs, methods, and assessment up to providing good practices and equality in education for all. Ensuring inclusive education in the stage of early years means laying secure foundations for the next stages of education.

Limitations: This study is based on the experience of preschool teachers who have completed adequate education studies and who have specific experience with children with special needs in inclusive classes/groups. However, we need to mention that including children in the regular classroom is a new concept for most of the teachers in Kosovo, especially when we talk about preschool settings. In the future, we plan to conduct another quantitative research to include a higher number of preschool teachers to test hypotheses and compare variables related to experience, formal level of education, the type of professional training (in-service) etc.

Future study would aim to give some contribution and help to realize at least three from seventeen planed Goals of Sustainable Development from the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. Considering the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries—developed and developing—in a global partnership, (1)good health and wellbeing, (2) quality education, and (3)reduced inequalities will be main SDGs that the study will be focused on.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Naser Zabeli

Dr.sc. Naser Zabeli (in this photo), currently holds the position of Associate Professor in Inclusive Education and Effective Teaching and Learning in the Department of Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education, University of Pristina in Kosovo. His research interests are in inclusive education and ontemporary teaching. He is also Head of Pedagogy Department.

Majlinda Gjelaj

Dr.sc. Majlinda Gjelaj- is professor assistant in the Department of Pedagogy in the Faculty of Education in University of Prishtina. She has finished her PhD studies in Pedagogy in the Department of Education and Psychology at University of Tirana in Albania in the field of preschool education. Her main research interests are in preschool education and inclusive education as well. She is currently teaching subjects on preschool education, assessment in education and technology integration in teaching.