Inclusive Early Childhood Education: Contribution from a European Study

Abstract

This article presents the European research project “Inclusive Early Childhood Education” (IECE), which was promoted by the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, from 2015 to 2017. Sixty-four inclusive early years education experts from across Europe contributed to the project.
The aim of the project was to explore the main characteristics of high quality inclusive early years education for children from two years of age to the start of primary school.
According to recent international and national research, the years from birth to starting school are considered crucial to children’s intellectual, social and emotional development. Furthermore, highquality inclusive early years education is considered an opportunity for children with disabilities, learning disorders and social-cultural disadvantages.