@article{0f45a26e2c2044daac6de1b74aab2ce4,
title = "Parents{\textquoteright} perspectives on inclusive practices in early childhood education and care: facilitators and barriers for children with Cerebral Palsy",
abstract = "Children with cerebral palsy frequently experience challenges and barriers to inclusion in early childhood education and care. However, there is limited research exploring the experiences of children with cerebral palsy and their families. Understanding family perspectives on their experience is likely to provide insights for professionals to improve inclusive practices. Using Bronfenbrenner{\textquoteright}s bioecological theory, this study evaluates online survey responses of factors that parents believed facilitated–or created barriers towards–inclusive early childhood education. Ninety-eight parents shared their levels of satisfaction and perspectives regarding the importance of inclusion practices involving their child in Australian settings. Parents reported overall high levels of satisfaction, highlighting the importance of positive educator attitudes, communication between home and settings and partnerships between home, allied health practitioners and early childhood education and care settings. Concerns related to children{\textquoteright}s psychological wellbeing were raised, particularly regarding children{\textquoteright}s experiences and challenges with anxiety including separation anxiety.",
keywords = "cerebral palsy, disability, Early childhood education and care, inclusion, inclusive practices, parental perspective",
author = "Ana Mantilla and Katherine Bussey and Emily Chan and Bibi Gerner and Nicole Rinehart",
note = "Funding Information: Funding for Australian ECEC services is provided by both federal and state and territory governments. In Victoria, non-government organisations deliver ECEC programmes funded by the Department of Education and Training (Victoria) and the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (Federal). These services include kindergarten, long day care family day care and occasional care and they are attended by children prior to commencing full-time schooling at five years of age (Hand et al. ). In 2009, national systematic reforms were introduced to ECEC in recognition of the substantial and positive impacts of high-quality ECEC on children{\textquoteright}s developmental outcomes (Elliott ). These reforms included the development of national regulations governing the licensing of ECEC settings and the introduction of a national Early Years Learning Framework (Department of Education ) to govern professional practice across ECEC. Simultaneously, a separate curriculum framework was introduced in Victoria by the then named Department of Education & Early Childhood Development and the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). This curriculum framework is known as the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework (VEYLDF) (Victorian Department of Education Early Childhood Development & VCAA ) which was revised and updated by DET in 2016. The EYLF and VEYLDF focus on children{\textquoteright}s rights to access and actively participate in quality education that maximises their ability and respects diversity (Victorian Department of Education and Training ; Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations ). The EYLF and VEYLDF definitions of inclusion are close to identical, both considering a wide range of child characteristics, abilities and backgrounds (Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations ; Victorian Department of Education and Training ). The understanding that children{\textquoteright}s development and learning occur through connections with families, communities, culture and place is reflected throughout both frameworks. Therefore, educators are encouraged to support the inclusion of diverse learners, including children with disability, by working in partnership with children, families, communities, other services and agencies so that all children have opportunities to achieve learning outcomes (Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations ; Victorian Department of Education and Training ). However, in practice, the impact of such reforms on ECEC inclusion is unclear. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 TACTYC.",
year = "2022",
doi = "10.1080/09575146.2022.2096571",
language = "English",
journal = "Early Years",
issn = "0957-5146",
publisher = "Taylor & Francis",
}
