Gæði menntunar ungra barna eru ofarlega á baugi hjá stefnumótendum og hafa nýverið
orðið forgangsmál hjá mörgum alþjóðlegum og evrópskum stofnunum. Vísbendingar
eru um að almennt hafi ekki tekist að þróa áherslur í skólastarfi á Íslandi sem henta
margbreytilegum barnahópi og að of mikil áhersla hafi verið lögð á greiningar sem
forsendu fyrir stuðningi við börn með sérþarfir. Í þessu verkefni var miðað að því
að koma auga á, greina og stuðla að gæðamenntun ungra barna án aðgreiningar.
Lykilspurningin sem leitað var svara við var: Hver eru aðaleinkenni námsumhverfis
ungra barna í leikskóla margbreytileikans? Byggir verkefnið á hugtakinu skóli
margbreytileikans sem vísar til margbreytileika menningar, kynhegðunar, tungu og
trúar og beinir athyglinni að fjölbreytni nemenda og skóla í stað þess að aðgreina
nám, kennslu, skóla eða nemendur. Verkefnið var unnið á vegum Evrópumiðstöðvar
um nám án aðgreiningar og sérþarfir á árunum 2015 til 2017. Þátttakendur voru 62
sérfræðingar frá 28 Evrópulöndum sem hittust reglulega, söfnuðu gögnum, greindu
þau og heimsóttu valda leikskóla í átta Evrópulöndum. Niðurstöður verkefnisins gefa
vísbendingar um hvernig þróa má farsælt leikskólastarf. Þar má nefna gott aðgengi að
leikskóla fyrir öll börn, sérstaklega viðkvæma hópa, svo sem börn með fötlun, börn
sem búa við fátækt og börn af erlendum uppruna; vel menntað starfsfólk; aðgengi
að símenntun; faglega stjórnun; stuðning við hæfi fyrir stjórnendur; að fjölskyldur
séu virkir samstarfsaðilar; heildstæða, sveigjanlega og barnmiðaða námskrá; reglulegt
mat á námi barna og leikskólastarfi; og opinbera fjármögnun til að tryggja gott
aðgengi allra barna að leikskólanum. Afrakstur verkefnisins er annars vegar líkan
sem þróað var um vistkerfi leikskóla margbreytileikans. Hins vegar eru leiðbeiningar
með spurningum um námsumhverfi leikskóla margbreytileikans sem nýta má til að
skoða og ígrunda hvort umhverfi leikskólans taki mið af margbreytilegum barnahópi.
Niðurstöður verkefnisins geta nýst stefnumótendum, rannsakendum og starfsfólki
leikskóla til að auka gæði leikskólastarfs fyrir öll börn.
Quality in early childhood education is a prominent concern for policymakers and
has recently become a priority for many international and European organisations.
Given these international concerns, the European Agency undertook a three-year
project (2015–2017) entitled Inclusive Early Childhood Education (IECE). It aimed
to identify, analyse and subsequently promote the main characteristics of quality
inclusive early childhood education for all children from three years of age to the
start of primary education. This provided an opportunity to examine more closely
how, within an inclusive perspective, IECE provisions across Europe are addressing
the quality principles already identified by the European Commission (2014) and the
OECD (2015). There are indications, among other things, that it has generally not
been possible to develop activities in preschools in Iceland that suit a diverse group of
children and that too much emphasis has been placed on diagnoses as a prerequisite
for support for children with special needs. In this project, the aim was to identify,
analyse and promote the main quality of inclusive education for young children. The
key question asked was: What are the main characteristics in the learning environment
for young children in a preschool of diversity? The project builds on the concept of a
school of diversity that refers to a diverse culture, behaviour, language and religion,
and focuses on the diversity of students and schools, rather than segregating learning,
teaching, schools or students. The project was grounded in the relevant research
and policy literature, data collected through observations of example IECE settings
(altogether nine cases) in eight European countries, descriptions of examples from
practitioners across Europe, and questionnaires on national developments in IECE
in all European Agency member countries. Sixty-two IECE country experts from
across Europe contributed to the project. They participated in data collection and
analysis, in observations and discussions during the case study visits to different
countries, and in other project meetings. These led to the project’s final insights and
contributions to IECE. The analysis of the project data strongly suggests that, from
an inclusion perspective, the most important outcome of quality provision is to enable
all children to actively participate in IECE. In this way, all children – including
those vulnerable to exclusion – are equally valued, supported and enabled to progress
along with their peers. The findings of the project give various indications on how
to develop inclusive preschool work and what needs to be considered. First, there is
good access to preschool for all children, especially vulnerable groups, such as children
with disabilities, children living in poverty and children of foreign origin. Emphasis
is on well-educated staff who have good access to lifelong learning. Professional
management is important and that managers receive appropriate support. In addition,
there is a strong emphasis on positive relationships with the family and it is viewed as
an active partner. The preschool curriculum is flexible and child-oriented, and the
children’s education and preschool activities are evaluated on a regular basis. Finally,
preschool public funding is important to ensure good access for all children. The
findings of the project were applied in two ways: A model of a preschool ecosystem
of diversity was developed which identifies the factors considered to contribute to
an environment that supports the preschool children’s diversity. Secondly, guidelines
with questions about the learning environment in the preschool of diversity were
developed, which preschool teachers and other staff can use to examine and reflect on
whether the environment of the preschool, both subjective and objective, takes into
account the diversity of the children in the group. The findings of the project can be
used by policymakers, researchers and administrators, teachers and preschool staff in
their efforts to increase the quality of preschool activities for all children.
