Inclusive early childhood education: The importance of promoting children’s belonging

• Main Authors: Þrastardóttir, Guðrún Jóna, Pálmadóttir, Hrönn, Stefánsson, Kristján Ketill
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2023
• Subjects: Iceland
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/index.php/netla/article/view/3900

Introduction: Inclusion is a central part of high-quality early childhood education, which can have a positive, long-term effect on children’s development. Teacher selfefficacy for inclusive practices has been found to be an important factor in their attitudes towards inclusion. Furthermore, positive attitudes towards inclusion are essential to the successful implementation of inclusive education since attitudes can predict later behaviour. However, implementing inclusive education has been difficult in Iceland as in other countries. One reason is a lack of support towards teachers and other staff working with children. Theoretical frame and aim of this research: Bandura’s social cognitive theory provided a theoretical frame for the research. Self-efficacy is a key concept. The social cognitive theory depicts the importance of examining all factors of the interactive relationships among cognitive factors, behaviour, and the environment. Therefore, in this research, we consider the personal factors of staff, school practices and work environment to analyse which factors are most important for staff self-efficacy towards inclusion. Method: Available data from kindergarten staff surveys conducted by Skólapúlsinn in 2020 and 2021 was analysed using a multilevel model. There were 1854 participants and the sample covered a third of all kindergartens in Iceland. A part of the data analysis involved explanatory- and confirmatory factor analysis, which yielded reliable measures (Ω > .75) used in the multilevel model. Results: The final multilevel analysis model had an R2 coefficient of determination of 51%. The results showed that the staff’s self-efficacy to support children’s belonging had the strongest relationship (β = .42) with the staff’s self-efficacy for inclusion, with an effect size almost twice that of the variable with the second strongest relationship. Staff’s self-efficacy to manage children’s challenging behaviours showed a moderate relationship (β = .23) with their self-efficacy for inclusion. However, ...