Inside Inclusion: A diary of working toward inclusion

One of the most wonderful research projects that I am lucky to be working on at present is the fabulous ‘Changing Hearts and Minds’ (CHAMPs) project with my amazing colleagues from the University of Strathclyde – Dr Zinnia Mevawalla and Jane Caitlin, and from Glasgow City Council – Jackie Fulton and Margaret Harper-Abdullah.

CHAMP is a joint knowledge exchange research project working with early years leaders in Scotland to champion inclusive education and care. It is such a privilege to be part of this exciting, innovative, ongoing project.

We know that there are many barriers to genuine inclusion. Some of these include: persistent misunderstandings of inclusion; Ableism; lack of appropriate and adequate professional development opportunities for leaders; low pay and challenging working conditions; low professional status for early years teachers and educators.

The exciting part is that working together with early years leaders in this project – growing our inclusion CHAMPs! – is having tangible benefits for children, families, educators, teachers and communities.

A key finding from our pilot study shifted participants from conditional inclusion (“we can include children, only if…”), to a more confident, collective, and ongoing view of inclusion (“we are including, and we will keep learning how to do it better”). 

Image description:

A photo of a pin on badge that has the words ‘Changing hearts and minds, CHAMPS’ around a fist representing strength and solidarity.