Implementation of quality preschool inclusion using PAR and COP: Breaking down the barriers and perceptions

Preschool programs afford young children an opportunity to engage with peers and have a 'pre' school experience. Although not mandated or required, students who have been identified with special needs prior to entering school have the same rights as students within the K-12 setting. Many important laws have been passed and amended in order to provide individuals with disabilities the rights they deserve. Several of these laws have influenced early childhood special education (ECSE). As a result of these laws, changes within early childhood special education (ECSE) programs began to emerge. Services provision is now being provided within early childhood education (ECE) programs alongside typical developing peers.;The purpose of this study was to document the experiences of preschool teachers working together through Communities of Practices to implement high quality preschool inclusion experiences for both special education and general education preschool students. This study aims to provide an empirical foundation for investigating the experiences that early childhood inclusive educators need to have in order to construct a deep and complex understanding of the knowledge base and skill sets required for providing meaningful educational experiences for children with and without special needs and their families.;To accomplish the research purpose, a qualitative study was employed. Rooted in social cultural theory, teachers participated in professional development through Community of Practices to focus on the implementation and the evaluation of best practices for inclusion in authentic classroom contexts. The purpose of this study was to see how implementation of a collaborative effort between early childhood and early childhood special educators within an inclusive preschool setting could change teacher practices to better prepare all students within the inclusive classroom for kindergarten. Through a blending of scientific and everyday or spontaneous concepts, everyday knowledge was transformed into more abstract and theoretical associations through participation in discourse that connected the practical and scientific planes of educational research. The COP discourse provided the teachers with a systematic and organized set of practices (from a research base) that were embedded in (and stem from) everyday classroom practices as teachers adopted new ways of knowing, ways of seeing, ways of acting, and ways of thinking about inclusive practices. In turn, teachers' enactments of particular practices shaped the evolution of subsequent discourse in the COP, resulting in the construction of new meanings, tools and practices, and identities.;By actively involving teachers in the research study, conclusions were made based on how to best implement high quality preschool inclusion in order to better prepare all students for kindergarten. The findings have implications for how to support teachers as they embark on inclusive preschool experiences, how to navigate barriers that may be in place with regard to mindsets, policy, and administration, and recommended tools for teachers to use when initiating inclusive experiences. A secondary analysis of student growth was completed to support the claim that high quality preschool inclusion is effective for all students. Recommendations for further studies are made and limitations are explained.