We’re All in This Together: Approaches to Inclusive Early Childhood Education for Disabled Children in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States, and What We Can Learn From One Another

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Full reference: McAnelly, K., Purdue, K., Hall, L.J., Odom, S.L., & Hall, E. (2025). We’re all in this together: Approaches to inclusive early childhood education for disabled children in Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States, and what we can learn from one another.  NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 27, pp. 1-16.

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ABSTRACT:
Research from Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States continues to explore disabled children’s right to an inclusive early childhood education (ECE). In this article we examine ECE provision, key legislation and policy, and research on inclusion in our two countries. We also look at how initial teacher education and professional learning and development programmes help to strengthen inclusive practice in our respective countries. There is a lot that each country can draw on and learn from the other in relation to supporting disabled children’s inclusion in ECE. Drawing on insights from our cross-country comparisons, we offer recommendations aimed at amplifying disabled children’s rights to inclusive ECE.  

Key words: Disability, inclusion, children’s rights, teacher education, cross-country comparison.

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