1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:06,000 Inclusive practice in early childhood development and education 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,760 The importance of early childhood development and education 3 00:00:23,700 --> 00:00:29,060 Early childhood development and education are very important. 4 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:34,000 Children are learning even before they are born. 5 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:48,000 The way we support children’s development and learning during their early years influences their later learning and development. 6 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:57,000 Parents and caregivers want to give children the best start in life. 7 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:05,000 They want to make sure children have opportunities to develop, learn and reach their full potential. 8 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:13,000 They need support with this. 9 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:25,200 Early childhood development and education settings play an important role in maximising these opportunities. 10 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:33,480 Around the world, countries have made commitments – like the Sustainable Development Goals 11 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:39,680 the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of the Child 12 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:47,600 to ensure that early childhood development and education provision is available and inclusive for every girl and boy. 13 00:01:51,000 --> 00:02:01,000 All young learners – girls and boys, whatever their race, language, religion, disability refugee or other status 14 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:06,000 should be able to learn together in their local community. 15 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:15,000 There are many different types of early childhood development, care and education provision. Different names are used. 16 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:22,960 In your community you may be familiar with ‘kindergarten’, ‘nursery’, ‘playgroup’, ‘pre-school’ 17 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:30,600 ‘early learning centre’, ‘daycare’, ‘childcare’ or another name. 18 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:39,480 Whatever we call them, all settings must be inclusive. 19 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:51,440 In this video you will experience some simple ways in which early childhood educators 20 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:59,140 in any setting, can improve their day-to-day practice and become more inclusive. 21 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:16,400 What should inclusive early childhood development and education be like? 22 00:03:21,500 --> 00:03:30,000 Inclusive early childhood development and education enables all children to learn alongside their peers – from a young age. 23 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:35,000 This means they learn to welcome and value diversity from their earliest years, 24 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:41,000 which in turn helps to lay the foundation for an inclusive society. 25 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:51,200 This is why it is important that early childhood educators understand and embrace diversity. 26 00:03:51,700 --> 00:04:00,200 Young children benefit in so many ways from the experience of learning together in diverse groups. 27 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:12,200 It is certainly enriching for children to be in a group. When they are in the group, they draw so much energy from each other. 28 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:24,200 They complement each other and become whole like pieces of a puzzle that come together to become a new picture. 29 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:44,900 Our family are so happy with the preschool. Lee-Ann is very happy. 30 00:04:44,900 --> 00:04:55,900 She has friends now and can play with other children rather than being at home every day. 31 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:10,900 I like morning meetings as an activity, and we try to conduct them regularly. 32 00:05:10,900 --> 00:05:22,900 The idea of the morning meeting is to help each child in the circle to feel free, valued, important and welcome. 33 00:05:32,900 --> 00:05:44,900 Good quality, inclusive early childhood development and education has play at the heart of everything. 34 00:05:52,440 --> 00:06:00,000 We learn by playing with the kids. If you want to teach the kids, you have to know how to play with them. 35 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 They learn by playing. 36 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,600 Playing is the most effective way for young children to develop and learn. 37 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,720 That is why it is very important that early childhood educators 38 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:18,420 know how to guide and facilitate learning and skills development through play. 39 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:28,500 Kindergarten is all about playing. We teach children through play. 40 00:06:28,500 --> 00:06:34,200 And even though they play, they still learn. 41 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:42,800 When playing children interact with each other, they experiment. Through play they learn about the world. 42 00:06:42,800 --> 00:06:47,450 And a teacher acts as a partner in the play. 43 00:06:50,250 --> 00:06:56,280 While playing they get together they get to know each other very well, they learn to socialise. 44 00:06:56,280 --> 00:07:07,000 Physically they become much stronger. Playing is the best way for them to be physically fit. 45 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:12,640 That’s why it’s so important to give them time to play. As they play together they communicate 46 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:20,000 They socialise, they learn to do things in groups, they learn to do things together. 47 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:28,920 To share, which is very important for them as they grow up. 48 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:41,520 Inclusive early development and education experiences – centred around play 49 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:49,520 build the foundation for a lifelong enjoyment of learning. 50 00:07:55,100 --> 00:08:05,000 When you teach the little one, you just lay a foundation. So you can’t just build a house with no foundation. 51 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:13,520 Making connections between home, life, the community and learning 52 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:24,000 is another important way that inclusive early childhood educators help to build a child’s desire for learning. 53 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:30,600 Early childhood educators focus on children’s interests to nurture their creativity and curiosity 54 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:38,520 skills that will help the children as they grow. 55 00:08:54,520 --> 00:09:00,220 Early childhood educators also support the physical and emotional wellbeing 56 00:09:00,220 --> 00:09:07,000 and the health and safety of all young children in their care. 57 00:09:16,390 --> 00:09:26,500 What should early childhood development and education not be like? 58 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:32,800 Early childhood education is actually more than just preparation phase for the primary school. 59 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:40,600 We can see that in some contexts that early childhood education does not promote diversity 60 00:09:40,600 --> 00:09:50,840 it does not centre around fun and play, it does not lay the foundation for enjoying learning. 61 00:09:50,840 --> 00:10:00,000 This may not benefit the chance to develop emotional resilience or develop lifelong love for learning. 62 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:08,960 Children may be taught in large groups using teaching and learning approaches intended for much older children. 63 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:19,360 Some early childhood education programmes try to prepare children for school by teaching school level reading and maths. 64 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:25,260 Parents may want this for their children but it’s not appropriate for the age group 65 00:10:25,260 --> 00:10:34,480 and can mean that children miss out on really important age appropriate learning and development through play and exploration for example. 66 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:39,440 These are the core skills that prepare them for school life. 67 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:48,400 There is evidence that starting academic [learning] early does not give the children an advantage. 68 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:54,200 It’s not actually inclusive because it imposes rigid developmental expectations 69 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:59,200 onto young learners who are very diverse. 70 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:05,480 So if we want to ensure inclusive education in early childhood education 71 00:11:05,480 --> 00:11:11,000 we need to avoid the instructional nature of these settings. 72 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:18,480 We’ve got to avoid turning early education settings into formal schools. 73 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:46,480 WHAT CAN YOU DO? 74 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:52,980 Work with other educators on inclusive education 75 00:11:54,980 --> 00:12:02,600 Every early childhood educator needs to learn about inclusion principles and practices. 76 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:07,920 This might be achieved through attending training workshops or through self-study programmes 77 00:12:07,980 --> 00:12:12,720 maybe watching films like this one! 78 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:20,280 You can also learn a lot about inclusion from your colleagues. 79 00:12:22,380 --> 00:12:32,200 When a new educator comes to work at our kindergarten, we make them understand that learning cannot be boring. 80 00:12:32,200 --> 00:12:41,000 For example, if they are teaching about a tree, they cannot just stand near the tree and read a lecture about it. 81 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:47,840 Instead, kids should interact with the tree; measure it, play games with the tree leaves. 82 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,650 All learning happens through play. 83 00:12:51,650 --> 00:13:03,650 This way it is easier for both children and teachers, and it is more interesting than listening to long explanations. 84 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,960 You may have a colleague in your setting who has experience with children from particular backgrounds 85 00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:19,100 or with teaching children with specific disabilities. 86 00:13:19,100 --> 00:13:26,560 You can ask them for ideas and advice on how you can better support the learners in your class or group. 87 00:13:26,560 --> 00:13:34,200 But do not expect colleagues with specialist expertise to take responsibility for teaching your learners. 88 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:40,500 It is still your responsibility to help all your learners develop and learn. 89 00:13:45,580 --> 00:13:53,000 When you work with other educators as a team, you can share concerns, ideas and experiences. 90 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:57,640 This can help you respond more appropriately to any difficulties 91 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:03,540 you experience supporting children’s learning and development. 92 00:14:11,940 --> 00:14:19,240 We meet often to discuss objectives and draft individual development plans for each child. 93 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:27,440 We set goals for each child and every three months, or even more often, we meet to discuss progress towards goals 94 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:34,000 whether we have used the right teaching and learning methods to support the child’s development. 95 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:39,940 Sometimes the goal was wrong, and we have to adapt it. 96 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:58,840 Usually, an early childhood development and education setting is less formal than a primary or secondary school. 97 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:04,160 This gives you, and the educators you work with, more opportunities to be flexible 98 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:11,060 with how you organise and facilitate learning, and how to address inclusion challenges. 99 00:15:11,060 --> 00:15:16,800 For example, you can use team-teaching, so that you work together with colleagues 100 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:22,280 to plan and facilitate learning activities. 101 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:33,320 And you can bring different groups of learners together for different activities. 102 00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:41,440 Here, learners from a pre-school and from a secondary school are participating in activities together 103 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:47,320 having fun and learning from each other. 104 00:15:58,720 --> 00:16:08,040 Understand each child’s development and needs 105 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:22,880 Inclusive early childhood educators need a basic understanding of children’s social, physical, intellectual 106 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:27,880 communication and emotional development. 107 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:36,000 Every child develops at a unique pace, so regular observations of each learner should be carried out. 108 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:41,800 You need to observe young children to understand and monitor their individual development 109 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:46,000 interests, strengths, and needs. 110 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:52,240 This should not involve measuring one young child against another. 111 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:59,680 I monitor children to assess what they know and how they are getting on. 112 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:04,680 When we start using a new teaching method, we observe the classroom dynamics 113 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:11,000 and whether the children like and learn better with the new approach. 114 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:21,500 We also observe so that we can identify children’s creative and other abilities. 115 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:37,000 You need to notice if a child is developing certain skills more slowly, more quickly or differently than expected. 116 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:42,960 You can then adapt teaching and learning approaches for the child. 117 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:49,080 You might ask the child’s parents or caregivers, and other educators with more specialist experience 118 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:54,730 to help you with adapting teaching and learning activities for the child. 119 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:04,280 Providing effective early support to a child can help prevent a developmental delay 120 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:08,500 from becoming more pronounced over time. 121 00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:15,480 You can help identify when young learners need support with rehabilitation or health matters. 122 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:21,960 You definitely do not need to be a medical expert, but you can work with other service providers 123 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:27,760 to jointly understand and address the child’s needs. 124 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:44,680 I’m with Lee-Ann’s mother today to see the progress. First of all we identified the child and assessed the child 125 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:51,680 their health and their physical [abilities/needs] also.From there we work with a team from Cape Town. 126 00:18:51,680 --> 00:19:01,700 They make the wheelchair. After that we fit [it for] the child. Now the child is at the school 127 00:19:30,500 --> 00:19:35,900 There are simple things you can do to observe children’s development. 128 00:19:35,900 --> 00:19:43,280 You can watch children’s actions, expressions, gestures and behaviours. 129 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:52,500 Listen to their language and communication skills when they are talking and interacting with each other. 130 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:59,500 Watch them on their own, in pairs and in groups. 131 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:18,200 Watch the children doing a range of activities that show you their social, physical, intellectual, communication, and emotional skills. 132 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:28,440 You can take notice of what seems to interest or bore the children 133 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:35,700 Watch how they interact with adults or older children. 134 00:20:37,280 --> 00:21:47,200 And join in with their play or conversations. 135 00:21:52,700 --> 00:22:00,480 You need to make lots of connections between the learning you facilitate and the children’s lives and homes. 136 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:13,200 Draw on the customs, languages, games, events, people and objects that the young children are familiar with at home. 137 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:19,680 To do this, work closely with parents and caregivers. They are the experts. 138 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:26,360 They know their own child better than anyone else. 139 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,720 They can tell you what the child is familiar with at home. 140 00:22:35,720 --> 00:22:44,520 You and they can share insights into the child’s interests, achievements and challenges. 141 00:22:49,840 --> 00:23:00,000 I am pleased about how the relationships between the kindergarten team and myself as a parent have developed. 142 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:06,280 I share with them about what happens at home, how Illia is doing, and, in turn 143 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:11,720 the teachers tell me about his day, what he has learned, what we should focus on 144 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:18,360 and we support the development of the child together. 145 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:37,880 Of course, some parents ask for advice, for example, “what can I do at home to help my child in a certain area?” 146 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:49,300 We discuss and spell everything out: what to do, how to organise their activities at home, how to introduce the child to something. 147 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:55,160 You and your colleagues can encourage parents and caregivers to play an active role 148 00:23:55,160 --> 00:24:00,000 in their child’s development and learning by making the education setting an inclusive 149 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:05,600 and welcoming place for the parents and caregivers. 150 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:14,000 You can provide opportunities for them to get involved in activities, learning and discussions in the setting. 151 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:19,000 It is also important that you are pro-active and reach out to families. 152 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:27,200 You or your colleagues may need to make home visits to better understand what is helping or hindering a child’s development 153 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:36,080 and learning at home, or what is preventing them from attending or participating in your class or group. 154 00:24:49,500 --> 00:24:54,080 There are different life situations, different families. 155 00:24:54,080 --> 00:25:01,300 Everyone comes to the kindergarten with their own problem or joy in the morning. 156 00:25:01,300 --> 00:25:10,120 We always find a common tongue: parents, children and us working together as a team. 157 00:25:10,120 --> 00:25:18,200 Sometimes you may need to work with caregivers who are not children’s family members, to find out about their lives at home. 158 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:25,250 Children who do not live with their families may face additional barriers to inclusion in education. 159 00:25:25,250 --> 00:25:36,880 I work here in Nqaba Yethu children’s home as a manager for the home. We have 15 children. We take all kinds of children. 160 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:43,680 We try and bring them together and make them have a home. Most of the children that we have here 161 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:48,680 they have to start at pre-school level which is very important for every child 162 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:56,680 We try to go to the school regularly, just to be in contact with the teacher and understand what is wrong. 163 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,480 Maybe sometimes it’s taking a bit longer for the child [to learn] 164 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:10,080 which means for you there is something more you have to do with the child regarding his school work. 165 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:25,400 Organise a welcoming, stimulating learning environment 166 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:32,040 Inclusive early childhood development and education settings need to be welcoming 167 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:37,040 fun, and promote interest and enjoyment in learning. 168 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:44,040 As an inclusive early childhood educator, there are lots of things you can do to achieve this. 169 00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:54,540 For example: Organise the space so that different areas are used for different activities. 170 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:03,560 During the day, children can move around freely and engage in activities in various areas. 171 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:12,100 They work sitting at their desks or can sit on the mat or in the nature corner. 172 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:24,760 Use outside spaces for learning through play, and for children to relax and have fun. 173 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:35,300 Create an area where you keep a selection of play and learning materials. 174 00:27:35,300 --> 00:27:38,900 Keep all the materials well organised. 175 00:27:38,900 --> 00:27:48,600 Being organised helps children to become independent, feel reassured, and learn where they can find or put things. 176 00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:55,440 Provide different seating arrangements, so that children can choose to sit on the floor or at a table 177 00:27:55,440 --> 00:28:03,880 or maybe sit on chairs in groups with their friends, whatever is most accessible or comfortable for them. 178 00:28:05,900 --> 00:28:11,960 Sometimes, early childhood development and education sessions take place in temporary settings 179 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:21,110 like community meeting rooms, or in temporary structures like tents in refugee camps. 180 00:28:21,110 --> 00:28:33,110 But you can still find ways to create an inclusive, fun, stimulating, colourful environment for children for each session. 181 00:28:33,410 --> 00:28:41,200 Plan the day and differentiate learning sessions and activities 182 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:47,200 Young children find routine important. 183 00:28:47,200 --> 00:28:55,280 Having a certain amount of predictability in the day helps them feel secure. 184 00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:03,280 As an inclusive early childhood educator, you need to be well-organised so that the sessions 185 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:11,350 and environment do not feel chaotic or confusing for your learners. 186 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:19,520 A strict timetable is not necessary or appropriate. 187 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:26,900 But you can plan times when learners will be inside and outside, and their eating times. 188 00:29:26,900 --> 00:29:35,850 And you can make sure throughout the day they have opportunities to engage in different types of play. 189 00:29:35,850 --> 00:29:47,000 In our kindergarten, as probably in any other preschool, there is a certain daily routine. After exercises, they have breakfast. 190 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:54,800 After breakfast, there are learning sessions. The learning sessions are varied and diverse; we try to make them fun. 191 00:29:54,800 --> 00:30:01,800 We use many teaching aids to make them interesting for the children. 192 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:14,340 You also need to have clear expectations for the children, so they know what they are allowed and not allowed to do. 193 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,840 Make sure all sessions are centred around play. 194 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:28,600 Give children the chance to choose what activities they want to do or what materials they want to use or play with. 195 00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:38,480 When children have opportunities to do play-based activities involving things that interest them, they will be more engaged. 196 00:30:40,500 --> 00:30:49,340 Such activities can also support them to develop specific skills, like counting. 197 00:30:49,340 --> 00:30:54,040 We know that children learn differently. 198 00:30:54,040 --> 00:31:03,000 Some learn more when you sing, when you are using the songs, or the rhymes, some learn more when they see something. 199 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:08,560 Others learn more when they play something with their hands. 200 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:20,560 That’s why we make sure that everything is being done so that we can reach each child in his or her differences. 201 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:33,080 Of course we use differentiated approaches. 202 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:39,880 When the teacher prepares a learning session, they must take into account that there is a child with special needs 203 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:46,380 and the learning process must be adapted to the needs of the child. 204 00:31:49,580 --> 00:31:56,280 Give children the chance to choose the pace of activities – whether they want to do something fast and active 205 00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:02,480 or slow and relaxing; whether they want to be quiet or make a noise. 206 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:12,900 Let them complete what they are doing – don’t rush them to move onto another activity. 207 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:28,920 When children have a chance to choose the nature and pace of play-based learning activities, the activities are more accessible and suit their needs and abilities. 208 00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:35,320 Sometimes you may want to encourage children to become more lively or to calm down. 209 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:42,000 Activities involving music and movement can be useful for this. 210 00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:55,360 You need to make sure that children are active participants in every session. 211 00:32:56,100 --> 00:33:06,000 Use real world objects to stimulate learning 212 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:20,000 Young children learn better when there is an obvious connection between what they are learning and real life. 213 00:33:22,700 --> 00:33:28,600 We try to ensure outdoor learning opportunities. 214 00:33:28,600 --> 00:33:36,240 We have a very nice outdoor area with different plants and trees, giving children different learning options. 215 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:48,150 We provide the means for learning. We have a nature trail where children can learn by stopping at different places and doing various tasks 216 00:33:48,150 --> 00:33:59,040 like games, entertainment, experiments, observations, treasure hunts, or some creative assignments. 217 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:10,000 This way, they move along the trail and learn about various natural phenomena and objects. 218 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:25,480 We use some of the items we collect outside or anything that is rubbish. In preschool you make it good to work with it. 219 00:34:27,720 --> 00:34:37,590 Here in the preschool we do not have learning materials but I go around collecting whatever I can find outside 220 00:34:37,590 --> 00:34:44,560 and we use it to make toys and then we play with the toys we have made. 221 00:34:44,560 --> 00:34:51,800 We collect stones and when the children play with them it helps them to learn numbers. 222 00:34:51,800 --> 00:35:04,800 In the preschool, when we play outside, we use old tyres. The children love to push and roll them. 223 00:35:10,240 --> 00:35:26,800 As an inclusive early childhood educator, you need to provide children with real life objects to use throughout the day. 224 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:47,800 Using objects like this can help young children to learn about colours, shapes, textures, smells, sounds, and weights. 225 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:59,080 Multi-sensory objects may be particularly useful for learners who have difficulty seeing or hearing. 226 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:06,400 Touching and manipulating objects as part of a learning activity can also help children who need more support 227 00:36:06,400 --> 00:36:14,900 with fine motor skills, or who have difficulty understanding or remembering things. 228 00:36:17,900 --> 00:36:33,900 Using these simple ideas, early childhood educators can work to become more inclusive and supportive of the learning and development of all children