Modern Schools for Modern Times

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Spending a day at a kindergarten can be eye-opening for an adult. I’ll tell you why.

The school in question is what we, in the Russian Federation, call an inclusive school – where children with special needs are part of a regular kindergarten and participate in the same activities and programs as others. It works! This school was started in 2011 and does not distinguish between children with special needs and others. Both groups are part of the same class, sit at the same table, and participate in the same activities. Not many places in the world do this.

The inclusive model, while not unique, is still rare. But other than that distinctive nature, what’s so special about it?

It is part of a wider push in Russia to modernize and integrate kindergartens to be more cost and energy efficient, as the demand increases for these services.

The more prevalent type is a regular kindergarten – but even that, I would have been glad to attend as a child. It is bright, organized and new. This one even has a swimming pool! While the inclusive one stands out because of the idea that special children can participate in normal activities, the regular one is all about the architecture and design.

Parents here are active players, and are committed to their kids’ development. This is a good sign, because it is vital that they see the value in these new facilities, where tolerance and a multifaceted environment is supported and promoted.

Russia is building more of these new schools, and the effort couldn’t come any sooner. Currently, the country faces a big deficit in space and services for school-age children. But existing regulations are strict. Some prevent municipalities from innovations in construction and shackle them with outdated requirements.

To combat those hurdles, Russian policy makers are working with World Bank to draw up concrete proposals to enhance early childhood education, increase access to services and ensure the quality of those services. The result, we hope, will be a system that’s more flexible, child-centered and effective.

The trip to these schools in early June was part of an international seminar, “Ready, Steady, Go!: Inspiring Design of Learning Environments for Early Childhood Education and Care.”

Most of us at the seminar agreed on one thing – spaces for children should be open, transparent and spur creativity and movement. Social interaction does not require huge spaces, dozens of rooms and a planned schedule. It requires a free and secure environment, where children are encouraged to discover their interests.

As of 2011, only 61 percent of children in Russia were enrolled in kindergarten. In more developed countries, that number is closer to 90 percent. Russia is working to get there. Some regions are working to create universal systems for preschool age children. Yakutia is an example, where a $200 million investment will help to create a balanced kindergarten system. That includes constructing and reconstructing more than 90 kindergartens to make them modern and cost efficient. It will also help update the curriculum, train teachers and managers.

Moscow is working on the program “Education of the Capital,” where nearly 42,000 openings will be created in new kindergartens in five years. In 2012, Moscow city is planning to build 80 kindergartens.

But counting more success stories will come with more dialogue and work, and my hope is that our workshop was a step towards that goal.

Comments

Inclusive early development

Inclusive early development is nice, but not possible for most parents. Labor regulation doesn't accept this, so it means only families with high income may try this model.

For sure, it depends on the

For sure, it depends on the country's policies and access to basic services to majority of children. Usually countries support families with children with special needs. Highly inclusive societies usually exist in reach countries with long lasting traditions of social support. However, examples of developing countries show that taking the best examples may allow developing countries to catch up quickly. In order to better understand different policies I would recommend looking at OECD Starting Strong II - this publication outlines different country strategies (including labor policies) in services provision and support of families (including families with special needs children). On the parents' side, we know that in Russia, the general move towards inclusion is growing and is becoming beneficial for all children.

inclusive model is a good

inclusive model is a good idea, it's really high demanding for teachers though if they really want to help the development of each child on their own level. more experienced staff and also adequte staffs in the classroom helps this model the best as I see.

It is hard to disagree.

It is hard to disagree. Special training is required for teachers who work with such children. However, as I said, different countries apply different strategies in provision of inclusive education. Some countries, like Russia, create special inclusive centers where trained staff is supporting all children. In contrast, other countries, i.e. Italy (Reggio Emilia) provide specially trained additional staff for boys and girls with special needs in regular kindergartens, making them all inclusive. Needless to say the level and type of support depends on the level of disability.

Children with disabilities

We work in rural Cambodia where the teaching capacity is poor. There is little training for how to teach children with differing needs. We are trying to remove the barriers to education for children with disablilites but it is very difficult when the teachers have little training and resources. Are there any exisitng programmes or resources we can use in these circumstances to model an inclusive classroom?

There is a reference guide

There is a reference guide published by UNESCO some years ago on the topic which may help in better policy design http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000694/069420eo.pdf. On the other end, there are many guidelines on how to create a modern and inclusive classrooms (OECD Center for Effective Learning Environments may be a good reference here).