Facing the challenge of inclusive education in early childhood education
Asih Nur Ismiatun (a), Ayu Rissa Atika (b)
(a)(b)IKIP SILIWANGI BANDUNG
Jalan Terusan Jenderal Sudirman Cimahi 40526. KONTAK. Phone : +62 (22) 665 86 80. Fax : +62 (22) 662 99 13
Abstract
Inclusive education is a real evidence that there is no discrimination in education. The government through regulations has demonstrated support for the implementation of inclusive education at all education levels in Indonesia. That means that inclusive education must also be applied in early childhood education. Therefore, all components involved in early childhood education must be prepared to accept and implement an inclusive education system. Qualitative approach chosen to examine the extent of randomly selected in three provinces (Central Java, East Java and West Java) in implementing inclusive education. Fifteen early childhood education teachers involved in this research. Interviews were conducted with the fifteen teachers. This study identify how teachers understand the implementation of inclusive education, the challenges and obstacles they face in their implementation, and their expectations for better inclusive education. These findings show that all early childhood education understand the importance of inclusive education but not all have accepted children with special needs, limited teacher competency in dealing with children with special needs and the lack skill of making curriculum also a major challenge in implementing inclusive education. The more real government support is needed, such as to hold an inclusive education training to improve teachers competence.
Keywords: inclusive education, inclusive early childhood education
Topic: Access, Participation and Quality of Early Childhood Education