Challenges Faced by Early Childhood Professionals: Inclusive Education

This essay delves into the complexities of inclusive education, focusing on the challenges faced by early childhood professionals in implementing contemporary policies and practices. It begins by examining different perspectives on disability and their impact on the effective inclusion of children with additional needs, considering both personal and professional viewpoints. The essay then explores the impact of additional needs on children and their families, including their educational requirements, and analyzes contemporary policies and practices driving changes in early childhood environments, such as the Early Childhood Intervention and the Disability Standards for Education Act. The analysis encompasses key learning areas such as the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Furthermore, the essay highlights the challenges faced by educators, including a lack of adequate training and resources, and the need for a supportive environment. The essay concludes by emphasizing the need for educators to establish student-friendly classrooms and promote acceptance, care, and support for children with special needs. The essay also references the UN Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Early Childhood Australia and Early Childhood Intervention Australia. The essay underscores the importance of understanding and addressing the challenges to create genuine and authentic inclusion.

Running head: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Inclusive education
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
The sphere of education signifies the spread of knowledge and information to the
individuals of the society. In this respect, it needs to be noted that education is available for all
the people living in the community (Oldfield, Humphrey & Hebron, 2017). No discrimination is
made by the field itself which bars one group of the community from receiving such knowledge.
However, there are several instances in existence which shows that education cannot be imbibed
by everyone in the community. Besides the sociological discrimination which is made by the
people with regards to gender, race and color, there are certain biological disabilities which also
prevent individuals from receiving effective education (Szumski, Smogorzewska & Karwowski,
2017). The purpose of this paper is to look in to the aspect of disabilities and how they prevent
the effective inclusion of the children with additional needs in to the field of education. In this
respect, the various policies and the programmes of the twenty first century as developed by the
government of Australia for such children, have also been analyzed within this essay. The essay
has concluded with the understanding that education is necessary for all individuals in all walks
of life.
Different perspectives on disability
In order to understand how a child with special needs can be inducted in the field of
education, there is first the need to explore the different kinds of disabilities that a child suffers
from (Holmqvist, Anderson & Hellström, 2019). One of the most common kind of disability
faced is that of the loco motor disability. For example, there might be children who are unable to
hear properly, thereby suffering from hearing problems (Erdem, 2017). Furthermore, there might
be some who suffer from visual impairments, meaning that they cannot see properly.

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However, the exclusion of the children mainly occurs among those who suffer from
certain kinds of psychological disabilities. For instance, those children who are affected by
cerebral palsy have a reduced mental capacity (Strogilos & Avramidis, 2016). They do not
understand the norms and customs of the society and hence, might not behave in the manner
which is accepted in the community. Furthermore, the children who suffer from other
psychological issues, such as they are unable to express their feelings or are autistic kids, then
they are also in need of special attention from their educators (Cascales-Martínez et al., 2016).
In the light of this, differing perspectives of disabilities can be noted. One of the models
which try to explain the manner in which such disabilities is sought to be mitigated is that of the
charity model. The charity model states that there are people in the society who willingly and
voluntarily try to help the special needs children (Myklebust, 2018). As a result of this, the
governments of various countries have set up a human rights commission. It is the primary
responsibility of such commissions to ensure the well-being of the people.
On the other hand, another perspective on disabilities is provided by the bio-centric
model. This model tries to understand the fact that there are several biological factors which
gives rise to disabilities (LeRoy et al., 2019). Such factors are uncontrollable and needs to be
treated over time in order to resolve them. The bio-centric model harps more on the medical lines
of progression and encourages the children to go for therapy and seek medical aid.
Effective inclusion of a child with additional needs in the educational process
One of the main concern of the special needs children is that they might be excluded from
the field of education. The structure of formal education leads to the intermingling of the
children from various communities and back ground to come together and study in the same

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class room (Markova et al., 2016). However, apprehensions are present with regard to the special
needs children. This is due to the fact that the educators are not equipped with the intelligence
and the care needed to be given to such children to ensure their seamless integration in to the
education process (Turner, 2018). Such children need more care and attention and need to be
taught the subjects in a careful manner and with more time so that they can efficiently imbibe the
knowledge within themselves.
In this regard, for the effective inclusion of the children with special attention, there is a
requirement on the part of the teachers to be experienced in sociological factors and
psychological handling (Daly & Cahill, 2018). They need to know that there are certain
guidelines which needs to be adhered to in order to ensure that such children with special needs
are not troubled in any manner. The primary role of the educators to impart education takes a
secondary role while the role of a caretaker takes the fore front (Brittle, 2020). Thus, there is a
need on the part of the educators to establish a student friendly atmosphere in the class rooms,
ensure that the other children are taught about the importance of acceptance and care and make
the children with special needs feel welcome in the class rooms. Taking care of the mental health
of the children, not only with the special needs but for everyone, is one of the main obligations of
the educators (Kryszewska, 2017).
Contemporary polices for the inclusion of the children with additional needs in the field of
education
The universal characteristic of the field of education has necessitated the global platforms
to form various policies and programmes which would ensure that education is imparted to every
individual in the society. In this respect, the activity of the United Nations Organizations needs
to be analyzed (Myklebust & Myklebust, 2017). The United Nations has the primary

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responsibility of ensuring the well-being of the people living on Earth. The United Nations
Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which was passed in the year 2008 seeks
to ensure that no child would be discriminated against while receiving formal education. Such
discrimination can be with regard to their disabilities also, which might be psychological or
biological in nature (Marhamah, Kurniawati & Mangunsong, 2018). The main motive of the
Convention was to dictate to the world that the children with additional needs are not charity
cases of the world who require constant medical attention and the protection of the society. In
fact, they are in need of additional support from the members of the society while ensuring that
they grow and develop with their help instead of asking for their charity (United Nations, 1948).
Coming to the national government level, it can be seen that the Australian government is
at the fore front of instilling policies and programmes in the society which aim to benefit the
children with additional needs (Banks, Mccoy & Hea, 2017). The government has formulated the
Australian Professional Standards for Teachers which guides the working and socially obligatory
role which they need to perform in their class rooms. In this regard, it needs to be noted that the
teachers are required not only to impart knowledge and information in the class rooms
(Holmqvist, Anderson & Hellström, 2019). They also have the function of reiterating the
customs and norms of the Australian community, ensuring the adherence to the universal rights
by the children and creating a friendly and harmonious nature within the classes. This means that
the students with additional needs should be cared for within the formal educational institutions
by their educators (Szumski, Smogorzewska & Karwowski, 2017).
The Disability Standards for Education Act which was passed in the year 2005 notes
down the various grounds on which discrimination is banned in the context of the students with
special needs (Holmqvist, Anderson & Hellström, 2019). This legislation is important for the

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educators as it provides them with a formal guideline to ensure that inclusive education is
adhered to within their class rooms.
Furthermore, it also needs to be noted that it is not the government of the country only
which speaks for inclusive education; the religious institutions and the private sector also
advocates for an inclusive atmosphere of education (Holmqvist, Anderson & Hellström, 2019).
This signifies the commitment of the Australian government in particular and the entire world in
general, to ensure that the students are given all the opportunity to be educated and build a decent
standard of living for themselves.
One of the significant points to be noted in the context of this paper is that the disabilities
of the young children are being considered. The young children are yet to be matured which
means that their level of intelligence is not as high as observed within an adult. They are yet to
start rationalizing their actions which, in turn means that they cannot differentiate between the
right and the wrong (Eileen & Cowdery, 2014). It is through the help and support provided by
their immediate environment and their teachers that they are able to make sense of the world.
The government of Australia makes a note of this point and has formulated certain
policies and programmes by the name of Early childhood Australia and Early Childhood
Intervention Australia (2012). The Early Childhood Intervention is considered to be a process
which provides a specialized and unique support to the young children who are diagnosed with a
particular disability, even including that of late mental development. In this regard, it is
important to note that the Early Childhood Intervention does not discriminate in the kind of
disability that a person has. Rather, it seeks to include within its umbrella all those young
children and infants who are in need of additional aid and support which would provide them
with the necessary platform to develop themselves (Breen, 2009).

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Furthermore, the Early Childhood Intervention also seeks to provide such aid and support
to the family members of such disabled children. This is important in the sense that the children
spend much of their time in the home environment. They are in direct contact with their family
members who have the significant task of imparting the cultural and societal values to such
children. Since the influence of the parents and other family members on such disabled children
is high, the Early Childhood Intervention ensured that adequate training and support would also
be provided to the family members so that they are made aware of how to better take care of
their children in an efficient manner.
The Early Childhood Intervention notes down seven important principles which would
help to provide a guideline to the educators and the young professionals on how to best tackle
with the disabled children. They have been stated as follows –
1. The young children are found to learn the best when they are surrounded by familiar people.
. All the individual family members, if equipped with the correct resources and the right training,
would be able to take a competent role in the development of the disabled child.
3. The main responsibility of a service provider is to provide support to the family members and
the young professionals.
4. The process of early intervention is different for every family and child based on their
preferences, their cultural beliefs and their learning style.
5. The service plan of the families should be based on their priorities and needs.
6. Such needs and priorities are addressed by the care givers who have the support of the
community.

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7. Such intervention should be based on explicit values.
Key challenges faced by the early childhood professionals in implementing such
contemporary policies
However, a major challenge which is faced in the field of inclusive education is that
many of the educators are not well equipped to tackle the students who are in need of additional
help. There are certain early childhood professionals in the society who have the primary
responsibility of ensuring that such children are properly integrated in the community. However,
even such professionals have to tackle obstacles before they can ensure a seamless integration of
the children in the process of education.
The first challenge faced is that the early childhood professionals needs to guarantee that
the educational institutions of which they are a part, do not engage in any kind of discrimination
(Szumski, Smogorzewska & Karwowski, 2017). The act of discrimination is one which stems
from the spirit of the society and culture itself. The people living in the community are often
apprehensive of the fact that their child might interact with the children with additional needs
and this might hamper their own progress and growth. Such social stigma needs to be mitigated
within the educational institutions (Szumski, Smogorzewska & Karwowski, 2017). An
educational institution has the primary objective of imparting knowledge and information to all
children without any kind of discrimination.
Another major obstacle which is faced by the early childhood professionals is with
regards to the children with additional needs themselves (Holmqvist, Anderson & Hellström,
2019). Such children have a different form of interaction to which they respond to. The early
childhood professionals need to be aware of such forms of communication. Interaction is

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necessary as it helps the early childhood professionals to understand the needs and wants of the
student they are dealing with. In this context, it needs to be understood that the young children
and comparatively less vocal about their aspirations to the young adults (Cascales-Martínez et
al., 2016). They are not aware of the existing differences between them and the other children of
the community and hence, they do not know the areas in which they might require assistance
from the early childhood professionals. As a result, it depends on such early childhood
professionals to ensure that they are able to communicate properly with the concerned young
children and try to understand what they require which might ease their process of learning
(Cascales-Martínez et al., 2016). In this context, the work of the early childhood professionals
proves to be significantly challenging.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it can be observed that the field of education assumes significance because
of the fact that the knowledge which is imparted by the educators, is essential for the students to
tackle the problems faced in their personal sphere. The role of the educators is important,
especially in the context of those students who are in need of special attention and care because
of their disability. Many children are born with certain biological and psychological disabilities
which prevent them from being effectively integrated in to the sphere of education. It depends on
the governing bodies of the concerned regions, the government of the country and the educators
at the individual level to ensure that such children are not excluded from education because of
such disabilities. As a consequence, many policies and programmes have been initiated in the
contemporary world order where the welfare of such students is the paramount objective of the
early childhood professionals. The aim is to eradicate the stigma present in the society with
respect to such children and to work for their improvement in a practical manner. The

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rationalization of the fact that the children are the future of the society is an important
foundational basis of such development of policies and programmes.

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