Inclusive and Diverse Early Childhood Education Settings

Learning Outcomes

Competences:

At the end of the module/unit the learner will have acquired the responsibility and autonomy to:

• Enable an understanding of the core elements of a diverse and inclusive ECE and Care setting.
• Learn about various myths related to diverse and inclusive learning and design possible solutions to debunk such myths in ECE and Care settings.
• Prepare and present a learning environment which is culturally responsive and which allows for multicultural education to take place.
• Prepare and present a learning environment which is inclusive and which allows for the engagement of all students, irrespective of their cognitive or physical ability.
• Comprehend better the key characteristics of a culturally responsive setting.
• Reflect on ways how diverse and inclusive settings impact other processes such as social skills acquisition, language acquisition, communication amongst young children, the concept of play, etc.
• Conduct a review of the current practices related to diverse and inclusive learning in ECE and Care in Malta.
• Promote a judgement-free environment.
• Promote a bilingual approach to ECE and Care.
• Reflect about their own role as course participants as well as current or future course participants while dealing with diverse and inclusive settings.
• Promote the moral commitment to abolish any barriers of discrimination (including different abilities, multiculturalism, religious beliefs, gender and sexuality, etc)
• Learn about key elements which instil collaboration with Learning Support Educators within ECE and Care settings for a fully-inclusive experience.
• Provide for ways how all young children and their families can feel safe.
• Carry out tasks, literature searches and desk research about ways how to create a more inclusive and diverse learning environment through the learning experiences that they design for young children.

Knowledge:

At the end of the module/unit, the learner will be able to:

• Formulate an understanding of multicultural education, its proponents and core elements.
• Formulate an understanding of inclusive education, its proponents and its core elements.
• Be familiar with a number of theories and canonical authors related to Diverse and Inclusive education.
• Consolidate knowledge about the effects of multicultural on Maltese society, schooling and the ECE settings.
• Learn about ways how to make ECE and Care settings in Malta more diverse and inclusive through tangible approaches.
• Put forward reasoning how a diverse and inclusive ECE and Care setting is imperative for the holistic development of young children while it prepares them for real-life.
• Outline strategies to support the inclusion of all young children in the activities throughout the day.
• Identify and explain various key strategies to promote a culturally responsive approach to education.
• Develop knowledge about international, European and local documentation (including legislation and policy documentation) which address diverse and inclusive learning.
• Be given opportunities to learn about other ECE and Care settings in Europe and worldwide, as well as ways how such systems practice and embrace diversity and inclusion within their settings.
• Demonstrate an understanding of how various stakeholders within ECE and Care can assist in creating more diverse and inclusive mindsets.
• Explain other skills (e.g. empathy, altruism, acceptance, care for others, etc) which are developed through diverse and inclusive ECE and Care settings.
• Understand that children have individual educational needs and proper observation techniques need to be in place.

Skills:

At the end of the module/unit the learner will have acquired the following skills:

• Be an active promoter of diversity and inclusion within ECE and Care settings.
• Design learning environments which embrace diversity and inclusion effectively and sustainably.
• Make use of various tools, such as dialogue, storytelling and visuals, which may be used in the ECE and Care setting to help young children be more open to diversity and inclusion.
• Reflect on the role of the leaders and practitioners (both themselves as well as ways how to collaborate with the Learning Support Educators) within the ECE and Care setting to make the setting more diverse and inclusive.
• Be able to conduct proper observations and write robust self-reflections which allow them to become more aware of their diverse settings and assess ways how to become more inclusive.
• Actively contribute to the promotion of an inclusive and anti-discriminatory climate in the ECE and Care setting.
• Design flexible pedagogical tools, learning activities and resources which allow for cultural responsiveness.
• Be able to design proper learning experiences which respect the young children’s cultures, social class, gender, traditions, values, and ethnicities.
• Enable all young children to take part in all learning experiences which are aligned with their development.
• Reflect on ways how to make the ECE and Care setting more democratic when applying such a diverse and inclusive approach.
• Be able to discuss the stereotypes related to education in light of diversity and inclusion.

Module-Specific Learner Skills:

At the end of the module/unit the learner will be able to:

• Find ways how to help young learners understand the diverse and inclusive approaches within the ECE and Care setting.
• Foster a positive attitude towards researching multicultural and inclusive education and how these have advanced over the years.
• Discuss various myths and present various arguments to counter-discuss such myths, in relation to diversity, multiculturalism and inclusion.
• Develop people-first and respectful terminology which is used within such discourse (e.g. learner with a statement of needs and not statemented learning, knowing what is the difference between an immigrant and a refugee, etc).

Module-Specific Digital Skills and Competences:

At the end of the module/unit, the learner will be able to:

• Carry out academic research on websites (e.g. Google Scholar) or journals (e.g. EBSCO, Taylor & Francis, SAGE, etc).
• Navigate the internet for policy documents and other documents related to Multicultural, Diverse and Inclusive Learning.
• Navigate through the online learning platform to download and upload assignments, discussion boards, literature, tutorials etc.
• Use basic Microsoft office (or equivalent) applications to write and submit assignments.
• Use different digital tools to make the ECE and Care setting more inclusive and diverse.