Croatian teachers’ perceptions of available support and barriers to preschool inclusion of SEN children

Skočić Mihić, Sanja (author), Butković, Matea (author), Sekušak-Galešev, Snježana (author)

In line with inclusive legislation, quality in inclusive early childhood education and care institutions refers to the available support and resources in order to provide a suitable environment for diverse children. The aims of this study are to determine (1) differences in teachers’ perceptions of the level of available and necessary support for preschool inclusion, and (2) the correlation between the perceptions of support and teachers’ sociodemographic data, attitude towards inclusive education and perceived competencies for inclusive teaching. A representative sample of 476 Croatian preschool teachers employed in 28 early childhood education and care institutions in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County participated in the research. The Supports Scale for Preschool Inclusion was used to establish teachers’ perceptions of the necessary factors and available support for successful inclusion. Teachers indicated a lower level of available support for successful inclusion than required, while their perceptions of available support depended on their higher level of positive attitudes and perceived competencies for inclu-sive teaching. The perception of a higher level of perceived competencies for inclusive teaching and a more positive attitude resulted in a higher level of perceived available support, which supports previous findings underscoring teachers’ professional development for inclusive teaching as a baseline for ensuring high-quality inclusive early childhood education and care that supports the development of all children.

• Language: English
• Keywords: inclusive education, barriers, preschool education, support, teachers
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: PEF - Faculty of Education
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 235–260
• Numbering: Vol. 16, no. 3
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-189678
• UDC: 373.2:376
• ISSN on article: 2232-2647
• DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.1881
• COBISS.SI-ID: 224207875
• Publication date in RUL: 12.10.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal = revija Centra za študij edukacijskih strategij
• Publisher: Pedagoška fakulteta, Univerza v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-2647
• COBISS.SI-ID: 254029824

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Zaznave hrvaških vzgojiteljev o razpoložljivi podpori in ovirah pri inkluziji predšolskih otrok s posebnimi izobraževalnimi potrebami

Abstract

Skladno z inkluzivno zakonodajo se kakovost v inkluzivnih ustanovah predšolske vzgoje, izobraževanja in varstva nanaša na razpoložljivo podporo in vire za zagotavljanje primernega okolja za različne otroke. Cilji te študije so ugotoviti: 1) razlike v zaznavah vzgojiteljev glede ravni razpoložljive in potrebne podpore za predšolsko inkluzijo; 2) povezavo med zaznavami podpore in sociodemografskimi podatki vzgojiteljev, njihovim odnosom do inkluzivne vzgoje in zaznanimi kompetencami za inkluzivno poučevanje. V raziskavo smo vključili reprezentativni vzorec 476 hrvaških vzgojiteljev predšolskih otrok, zaposlenih v 28 ustanovah za predšolsko vzgojo, izobraževanje in varstvo v regiji Primorje - Gorski kotar. Za ugotavljanje zaznav vzgojiteljev o potrebnih dejavnikih in razpoložljivi podpori za uspešno inkluzijo je bila uporabljena »Lestvica podpore za predšolsko inkluzijo« (The Supports Scale for Preschool Inclusion). Vzgojitelji so navedli nižjo raven razpoložljive podpore za uspešno inkluzijo, kot je potrebna, medtem ko so bile njihove zaznave razpoložljive podpore odvisne od njihove višje ravni pozitivnega odnosa do in zaznanih kompetenc za inkluzivno poučevanje. Zaznavanje višje ravni zaznanih kompetenc za inkluzivno poučevanje in bolj pozitiven odnos sta povzročila višjo raven zaznane razpoložljive podpore, kar potrjuje prejšnje ugotovitve, ki poudarjajo, da je strokovni razvoj vzgojiteljev za inkluzivno poučevanje izhodišče za zagotavljanje visokokakovostne inkluzivne predšolske vzgoje, izobraževanja in varstva, ki podpira razvoj vseh otrok.

• Keywords: inkluzivno izobraževanje, ovire, predšolska vzgoja in izobraževanje, podpora, vzgojitelji, vzgoja in izobraževanje oseb s posebnimi potrebami, predšolska vzgoja