An Examination Of Chinese Preservice And Inservice Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives On The Importance And Feasibility Of The Implementation Of Key Characteristics Of Quality Inclusion
Keywords
China; Early childhood inclusion; inservice teachers; preservice teachers; quality
Abstract
The Chinese Preschool Inclusion Survey, which is an adaptation of Odom et al. [2004. ‘Preschool inclusion in the United States: A review of research from an ecological systems perspective’. Journalof Research in Special Educational Needs 4 (1): 17–149] a list of the features of quality preschools, was given to 234 preservice teachers and 307 inservice teachers in a large Chinese province so as to examine whether early childhood education (ECE) teachers agree on the key characteristics of high quality inclusion in terms of importance and feasibility. One significant finding of the study is that both preservice and inservice teachers highly ranked the importance of the key characteristics of high quality inclusion in ECE settings, yet both ECE teachers ranked the feasibility of implementing the key characteristics lower. Additionally, two factors that influenced preservice teachers’ perceived importance and feasibility of inclusion were years of study and courses related to special education, and five factors that influenced inservice teachers’ perceived inclusion beliefs were bianzhi, certification, years of teaching, opportunities for professional development and degree. Teacher education reform is called upon to affect change in terms of creating positive beliefs regarding high quality inclusion services and implementation of effective practices in stronger, collaborative support systems for Chinese children with special needs and their families. Implications for policy, professional development, and teacher education reform are provided.
Publication Date
2-1-2017
Publication Title
International Journal of Inclusive Education
Volume
21
Issue
2
Number of Pages
187-204
Document Type
Article
Personal Identifier
scopus
DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2016.1193563
Copyright Status
Unknown
Socpus ID
84976315235 (Scopus)
Source API URL
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84976315235
STARS Citation
Hu, Bi Ying; Wu, Hui Ping; Su, Xue Yun; and Roberts, Sherron Killingsworth, "An Examination Of Chinese Preservice And Inservice Early Childhood Teachers’ Perspectives On The Importance And Feasibility Of The Implementation Of Key Characteristics Of Quality Inclusion" (2017). Scopus Export 2015-2019. 5427.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus2015/5427