CONCLUSIONES ESPECÍFICAS

It should be noted that support from parents is an important and common resource for programs. While parents of the children with special needs are a vital source of support, information, and direct assistance, the involvement and support of parents of other children may also be very helpful.

6.6 SUMMING UP

This chapter has provided an over- view of how inclusion is practiced and experienced in the 136 centres in our sample. Looking through the window of centres, we captured

information about the nature and extent of inclusion, the kinds of activities and staff involvement in activities that are important ad- juncts to support positive experi- ences for the children enrolled, and the availability of resources to sup- port inclusion. Data from a recent national sample of centres extend our analysis and allows us to un- derstand some of the important barriers to inclusive early child- hood education and care for chil- dren with special needs in Canada. Most importantly, we hope readers have begun to develop a sense of child care programs as organiza- tions, with resources within them (directors, staff and sometimes spe- cialized resource teachers or sup-

port workers) that can be utilized to promote optimal development and provide support to a wide range of young children and their fami- lies, to the extent they are able to do so. These centres operate within both a community context and a policy and funding context that can either promote or constrain their efforts to provide effective, inclusive and high quality care. In the following chapters we exam- ine the experiences and attitudes of ECEs and in-house resource teachers and the directors them- selves. Understanding the centres in which they operate provides the framework for interpreting their responses.

END NOTES

1 _{Irwin, S.H. & Lero, D.S. (1997). In our way: Child care barriers to full workforce participation}

experienced by parents of children with special needs — and potential remedies. NS: Breton Books.

2 _{Roeher Institute (2000). Finding a way in: Parents on social assistance with disabled children.}

INCLUSION

AS

EXPERIENCED

BY CHILD CARE STAFF

7.1 INTRODUCTION

As described in the literature re- view provided in Chapter 3, staff attitudes, experiences, and train- ing have been identified as critical factors affecting the extent to which inclusion is undertaken or resisted in early childhood programs, as well as the extent to which it is likely to be effective and sustained over time. To date, few studies have treated staff’s experiences with in- clusion as a central focus of inves- tigation, despite the fact that this reflection-on-action (Wein, 1998)1

provides a critical window, both for viewing and understanding the ecology of inclusion and for devel- oping additional training and sup- ports for early childhood staff in in- clusive programs.

Our perspective is that under - standing inclusion as experienced by front-line staff is a critical is- sue. Experiences on the front line, both successful and unsuccessful ones in the eyes of staff, with or without adequate resources and supports, go on to affect a staff at- titudes and ongoing commitment to inclusion, as well as her sense of confidence and competence in working with children with special needs. In turn, the experiences of front-line staff with children, with

parents, with co-workers in the centre, and with external resource personnel are likely to affect both the individual staff and her centre in ways that make that centre a more or less hospitable climate in which effective inclusion can flourish.

This chapter provides information obtained from early childhood edu- cators and in-house resource teachers in centres that have at least a six-year history of includ- ing children with special needs. We first describe these staff in terms of their education, experience, and general attitudes and beliefs about inclusion at the time data were col- lected. We then turn to an in-depth examination of what staff told us about their most successful and less successful experiences with inclusion in their centres in the last two years.

This part of our study provides de- tailed information about staff‘s ex- periences, and about the factors that helped support them when they were successful or that might have been helpful to them. We also learned about sources of frustra- tion and difficulty, and provide staff’s own comments about their experiences. Child care staff told us quite directly that their experiences on the front line, perhaps more

7.

than any other factor, are respon- sible for changes in their commit- ment to inclusion, their willingness to accept a broader range of chil- dren in the program or to be more cautious, and their feelings of com- fort and confidence in working with children with special needs. To- ward the end of this chapter we explore the extent to which staff’s training, experience in the field, and length of experience working with children with special needs appear to be related to their cur- rent attitudes toward inclusion, their sense of competence or effi- cacy in working with children with special needs, and their stated pref- erences for additional information and training.

This chapter weaves together infor- mation about the past and present in staff’s lives, recognizing that prior education, specialized train- ing, and length of experience in the field are assets that staff bring to their experiences with inclusion. Specific experiences in their work with children with special needs further shape staff’s attitudes and expectations and provide opportu- nities for new learning. At the same time, we recognize that staff’s ex- periences are affected by the con- texts in which those experiences occur — including the specific con- text of the centre in which they work, and the broader policy and community contexts that affect the resources available to centres and their staff.

7.2 STAFF CHARACTERISTICS