INVESTIGATION OF THE TRAINING NEEDS, KNOWLEDGE, AND SKILLS OF PRESCHOOL TEACHERS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

Early childhood is a critical period for learning and development and an opportunity to prevent possible delays and difficulties. Children's participation in preschool education has a significant positive effect on their cognitive, social and emotional development. Therefore, early childhood is vital to ensure access to quality inclusive education for all children and especially for children at risk of socio-economic exclusion, children at risk of development and children in disadvantaged environments. The new human rights approach to inclusive education requires a change of mentality and a different pedagogical approach and support systems should aim to increase the capacity/empowerment of schools to meet the diversity of students’ needs. There is a need to transform the education system, so that all students are welcome and have the opportunity to belong, to participate actively and to learn. In this article, we report a study on the investigation of the training needs, knowledge and skills of preschool teachers in Greece for the implementation of inclusive education. Quantitative data obtained through a questionnaire were supplemented by preschool teacher interviews. The focus was on the investigation of the training needs of preschool teachers in Greece and the analysis of a number of factors and conditions that seem to be effective in inclusive practices. The findings can contribute to the improvement of inclusive practices in preschool education and influence the policy and practice of inclusive education in Greece. Article visualizations