Singapore Mainstream Preschool Teachers and the Inclusion of Children with Special Needs in their Classroom

Book excerpt: Inclusive education is an area of growing interest worldwide over the past decade among policy makers, education officers as well as parents. This book tracks the development in the domain of special education in Singapore tracing the provisions made for the inclusion of children with special needs into mainstream schools. While it is observed that there have been actual policies in place to allow this shift in outlook at the primary and secondary level, much more can be done at the preschool level. Children learn the basics of literacy and numeracy as well as life skills at a very young age. Hence, it is important to provide the platform to form the foundation of their habits and attitudes at an early stage. Research has shown that inclusive education benefits children with special needs as they learn from observation and gain a sense of belonging and self-worth through interaction with their typically developing peers. Inclusive education also serves to cultivate acceptance and understanding in typically developing children. Therefore, it is important to ensure that more is done to implement inclusive education at the formative years of children. Some of the challenges faced in implementing inclusion at the preschool level have been identified and suggestions have been made to overcome these challenges. This book intends to create awareness as well as to push for actual changes in the education policies so that inclusive education will be embraced by all and become a reality on a larger scale.