The Challenges of Achieving Inclusion in Early Learning

by Mandy Lau Founder of Reach & Match®

Mandy is an award-winning designer, social entrepreneur and advocate for disability and inclusion, who specialises in social innovation and empowering people through her inclusive tools. Mandy is also a Singularity University Impact Fellow based NASA Research Park in 2016 and Unleash SDG Global Talent 2017, and her vision is to amplify inclusion in education through research and development, technology and collaboration.

Creating an effective inclusive classroom can be challenging and complicated. Simply putting children with and without disabilities together does not mean inclusion. Inclusive education requires good understanding and ongoing advocacy, support and commitment.

Every student has unique characteristics, abilities and learning needs, hence students with special needs have different barriers to learning and participating in classes. An effective education system should be designed to take into account these needs. A diverse group of students may have learning difficulties for a wide range of reasons, such as sensory or physical disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, and emotional and behavioural challenges.

TOGETHER WE LEARN BETTER: THE IMPORTANCE OF DIVERSITY

Effective implementation of inclusion has demonstrated academic and social benefits for both students with and without special needs. The findings show that everyone involved in inclusive education can benefit from the learning experience.

There are many positive effects of inclusions where both students with and without special needs benefit. Children with disabilities show improvement in areas of communication and social skills, positive peer interactions and educational outcomes. Inclusion offers students with special needs the best opportunities to fully achieve their academic potential. Research has also shown that positive effects on children without disabilities include positive attitudes and perspectives toward their peers with disabilities.

An inclusive learning environment is important for preparing young students to live in a diverse world. Educators should develop a meaningful and supportive environment for students with disabilities and their peers to participate in an equal way.

Image: Teacher and children are playing the Reach & Match games

PLAY SUPPORTS CHILDREN TO LEARN INCLUSION

Working with children with vision impairment and additional needs, I shared joy and excitement with the most curious and innocent children. We do not need to teach children to play because children are naturally motivated to play. However, through play, we are able to teach children about inclusion. Children learn through play. Play provides opportunities for children to explore, and learn the difference between themselves and others.

WHAT IS REACH & MATCH®?

Reach & Match was developed by my Master’s research for children with sensory impairment and multiple needs to develop braille and print early literacy and social skills through tactile strategies and play-based activities. Research into braille literacy, early intervention and inclusion in education informed the design of the Reach & Match learning kit and was developed with a range of educators and specialises utilising a user-centric methodology and co-design approach.

Reach & Match is a multi-award winning holistic learning supports early childhood learning outcomes and the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream Early Childhood Education services and preschools.

Reach & Match program is an innovative, inclusive play-based learning program for children of all abilities. It enables children with disabilities to play and learn alongside their peers and build the foundational physical, cognitive, language and social-emotional skills that support their wellbeing and learning journey.

Image: Reach & Match Learning Kit

BRAILLE, SENSORY ELEMENTS AND SENSORY FEATURES

The Reach & Match Kit consists of four large double-sided sensory play mats, 26 braille and print alphabet double-sided sensory tiles containing four sounds, a cushion and portable bag. The play mats can create 2D and 3D configurations that provide distinct ways for individual and group learning through play.

Over thirty play-based individual and group learning activities that focus on seven core foundational learning outcomes: Braille and print literacy, cognitive skills, sensory integration, sense of satisfaction, language enrichment, body movement and social interaction. The education activities are adaptable and easily integrated to support national curricula learning outcomes.

Image: Reach & Match alphabet tile has both print and braille letter

APPLICATIONS IN SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES AND COMMUNITIES

In developed countries, such as Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and Hong Kong, the Reach & Match program has a wide reach and is currently being implemented by educators, mobility instructors, physiotherapists, speech pathologists and teachers in a wide variety of educational settings, including preschools, specialist schools, community libraries and targeted early intervention programs.

Reach & Match has also expanded its reach to support Education in Emergencies (EiE) in developing countries and countries affected throughout Asia and the Pacific. Reach & Match has been implemented in partnership with Save the Children, Plan International and UNICEF to support children with disadvantageous in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. Our evaluations found improvements in children’s participation, learning outcomes, attendance rates and emotional wellbeing, with parents and teachers reporting that the integration of Reach & Match activities provided the children with a sense of normalcy and helped them to process what they had experienced.

Children participating in a Reach & Match activity focused on building social interactions amongst classmates with special needs.

Reach & Match was deliberately designed in a way that welcomes all children to play. It’s colourful, tactile and friendly, and simultaneously bridges the gap between children with different needs. It is also flexible and versatile to create different activities that benefit children with a wide range of learning needs and abilities.

The design helps to raise public awareness of inclusive education for disadvantaged groups. Parents and teachers need to make a deliberate effort to offer young blind children with positive early experience of braille. Blind children should have the opportunities to develop the incentive to learn braille literacy, like their sighted peers.

Reach & Match’s impact of inclusion on children with and without special needs has been tremendous. It teaches mutual respect and understanding and raises awareness of different forms of languages. For example, sighted children ask questions about “What is braille?” “Why do some students need to learn braille?” The learning experience generates opportunities for sighted students to appreciate and learn braille literacy. It also highly encourages children with low vision to learn braille at a young age. Also, there are games that require hearing skills and tactile skills, such as matching and sorting games, where all students are required to be blindfolded. It is pretty often that blind students win the listening games. (Each shape of tiles has the same sound when you shake) It really gives a new perspective on the sighted students and provides them with a lot of learning opportunities beyond their reliance on their vision only.

MORE INFORMATION

Reach & Match, an Australian social business is spreading a movement of social inclusion from early childhood. Reach & Match Program is endorsed by the Australian Government DFAT. To explore a partnership, go to: https://www.reachandmatch.com