Session Information
04 SES 03C, Children's Rights and Inclusion
Paper Session
Time:
2008-09-10
14:00-15:30
Room:
AK2 138
Chair:
Liz Todd
Contribution
In special education discussion has been going on for more than a decade on inclusive education. There have been different kinds of opinions and it is clear that not all special educators or special education scholars have the same opinion of it. There has been emotional tuning around this concept, also in research. There has also been critic about special education science among special education researchers (Kauffman 1999; Rhodes 1995, 2000; Heshusius 2003). In Finland special education and early childhood education have historically their own paths in research and education. But nowadays in academic discussion with the new concept early childhood special education we are attempting to integrate these two branches of knowledge. Research of special education has focused mostly on basic education, and ECE has not directed research to children with special needs. So there is a certain need to discuss seriously about inclusion in the early years of childhood. The challenge of inclusion is in its multileveledness. There are many different elements that should come true if we can really speak about inclusion in ECE. Bricker (1995; 2000) and Jones (2000) write that the basic element lies in services that are meant to all children near their homes. Every child has access to the nearest day-care centre. This is the ground. After this some other elements should come true: attitudes (emotional and cognitive) among professionals, common curriculum and resources for a child who has special needs and also consultation to personnel. The idea of inclusive curriculum is to promote friendship and involvement with peers, to create possibilities for participation. In my paper I shall examine how inclusive our day-care system and ECE are. I am doing a review of Finnish early childhood special education researches from past ten years period.
Method
Rewieving studies made in Finland 1997 - 2007
Expected Outcomes
The sturcture is inclusive but inside this services there are major weaknesses.
References
Bricker, D.1995. The Challenge of Inclusion. Journal of Early Intervention 19(3), 179-194. Bricker, D. 2000. Inclusion: How the Scene Has Changed. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education 20 (1), 14-19. Heshusius, L. (2003) Special education knowledges: The inevitable struggle with the ”self”, in D. Gallagher (Ed) Challenging orthodoxy in special education: Dissenting voices (Denver, Love Publishing Company). Jones, C. 2000. Supporting Inclusion in the early years (Maidenhead: Open University Press). Rhodes, W. 1995. Liberatory pedagogy and special education, Journal of Learning Disabilities, 28(8), 458-462.
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