Inclusionary practices and early childhood education: a case study

Abstract

The inclusionary practices emerged in the 80’s, based on the movement of social inclusion and proposed a new paradigm for the care of children with special educational needs. The literature indicates a great difficulty concerning to the implementation of projects for inclusionary practices, and there are only few studies in the national literature about the integration of children with special educational needs in day nurseries (Early Childhood Education). The objective of this study was to develop a research, according to teachers’ perspective, about children with special educational needs inserted in day nurseries of the municipal net of the city of Catanduva, state of São Paulo, and also to identify the conception of the day nurseries principals about the school inclusion. This research was performed with the participation of 54 teachers and 15 principals; the teachers filled in the Instrument of Identification of Children with Special Educational Needs and the principals were interviewed. The results based on the teachers’ conceptions showed that 40 children with special educational needs are included in the day nurseries of the city, most of them were boys aged between two to three years old, and 27.5% of them were identified as in a risk situation. This study also revealed a superficial knowledge about inclusionary practices by the day nurseries principals, who prioritized the practical aspects.