Introduction
This is an article by Cathy Mogharreban and Deborah Bruns, which offers comprehensive guideline for preparing for and executing wide-range pre-kindergarten classrooms based on their past and present experiences. This implies that the article offers the planning procedures for the modification from isolated classrooms to an accommodative classroom of children at a pastoral kindergarten in Southern Illinois. The authors are concerned about the overall welfare of all pupils at the formative stages of their education preparation. Although Pre-Kindergarten education is beneficial because it equips young learners with necessary skills to develop their minds, classrooms should accommodate all pupils irrespective of their disability challenges.
The authors conducted a research comprising of study groups to investigate the benefits and emergent challenges of offering a comprehensive early education to young learners. This is a move towards ensuring that the pre-Kindergarten system favours all learners despite their physical, mental or any other disability challenges. Therefore, the article focuses on five vital issues namely partnership and role description, program choices, training, child results, and essential resources. These issues guide the teachers in execution of specialized teaching to affected children. It entails the roles of the teachers, parents and learners in ensuring that the classrooms are conducive for learning. This is because Pre-Kindergarten programs are the suitable stage where inclusion of all groups of children can be attained. Therefore, Pre-K programs shall reinforce public education from the initial phases to advanced phases. Modification of classrooms at the Pre-K stage is suitable because it is implemented by highly qualified teachers, there are ready structures that exist at ECSE programs and most of the kindergarten classrooms allow for synchronized and unified systems.
However, other challenges are also evident in implementation of the issues addressed by Mogharreban and Bruns. For instance, different states in the US offer different kindergarten programs that might affect the performance of a child transferred from one state to the other. This means that transition from out-dated Pre-K concepts to comprehensive classrooms needs support, time resource, experience and dedication from concerned quarters.
This will also require development of suitable guidelines based on a child’s individualized education work (IEP) and execution of behaviour organization policies, and guarantee ideal child outcomes. The research conducted in Illinois, the teachers were not comfortable with the children’s aides who claimed disconformity in working with the ECSE children. This brought about the challenge of role identification in implementing change of a traditional classroom to an inclusive classroom. The teachers were, therefore, required to provide suitable roles and responsibilities of every person in the program. This was essential because it facilitated open dialogue about classroom and a child’s unique needs.
Conclusion
The article is a vital piece that offers favourable frameworks for ensuring that pre-kindergarten programs incorporate all children. The authors suggest that there should be drastic transformation of structures such as classrooms and teachers’ knowledge in ensuring that there is a smooth transition. They provided crucial issues that might hinder the transition process as well as recommendations to tackle the issues. For instance, all parties involved in the program should observe independent roles and responsibilities to avoid blames. The authors noted that the new system would be beneficial because it would be implemented by highly qualified teachers, as well as existence of ready-made structures at ECSE programs and most of the kindergarten classrooms would allow for synchronized and unified systems. This article impacts the field of education because it provides the framework that will remove discrimination at the early childhood education.
