Inclusive ECCD: - Consultative Group on Early Childhood Care and ...

CASE STUDIES
sess children and plan programmes. So while it
would never be possible for all children to benefit
from kindergarten a significant number could,
and the development of primary integration
would then be speeded up.
Pre-schools do not, as a rule, fail children and
make them repeat grades, and so the introduction
of a play-based curriculum and active teaching
did not immediately highlight children with
learning problems. Nor is pre-school compulsory;
so the fact some children were missing was never
an issue. Nevertheless, the growth in thinking
about the development of the child and an attention
to the whole child helped pre-school teachers
become aware of differences in children. The
changes brought about were far reaching. Furthermore,
once integration had started in the primary
school sector, it became very clear what the
preschool could offer children with disabilities.
The elements of the pre-school improvement
include the following:
■ the study and understanding of development
of Lao children across four aspects— physical
development, mental, emotional and social.
This is not a once and for all external
study, but an active engagement of teachers
and teacher trainers. In 1995 the kindergarten
sector produced the first Lao book on
child development and assessment which
was based on this growing body of knowledge.
This is the first time it has been possible
to clearly see which children might be
lagging behind and therefore need additional
help. This work continues with growing
understanding of the cultural differences
within the population;
■ planning, recording, and assessment procedures
based on child development;
■ play and activities as a basis for the preschool
programme;
■ use of all the senses to reach children—concrete
things for children to touch, smell, explore,
sense, and feel so that the balance
between the modalities is changed from the
over-dependence on listening to a more balanced
approach;
■ variety of group size, particularly the use of
‘circle’ (small group) sessions;
■ attention to the environment so that the
school is both safe for children and attractive—this
includes decorating the classroom,
the use of interest corners, and the
use of play corners;
■ very flexible use of the indoor and outdoor
space—children use tables for some activities,
sit on the floor for others, work or play
under a tree, etc.;
■ the build-up of teaching aids and play equipment
made by teachers from available materials—both
natural (of which there is an
abundance) and junk, which is now becoming
more available in cities and small towns;
■ much greater use of the oral culture which
surrounds the children—stories, poems,
songs, and dances;
■ building strong interactive relationships
with children by ensuring that teachers and
children are in close contact. As the teacher
moves away from the blackboard at the
front of the room to engage in the activities
she has set up in different areas of the room,
interaction increases;
■ seeking the highest involvement of children
possible so that children are busy and active;
■ creating new types of sharing partnerships
with the families so that their role is not just
to deliver children to school and provide a
little extra money, but that they are engaged
with the teachers and in the learning and
development of their children;
■ strengthening the management of school so
that it can, from small beginnings, develop
and improve the education and care of the
children.
These changes were first introduced by the
demonstration kindergarten attached to the
teacher training institute. It enabled the new preservice
training to include practical skills training
for the students, as well as to provide administrators
and teacher trainers with an experimental situation
from which to devise the programme and
the in-service training that would be needed. This
in-service training continues through regional
and provincial centres, actively encouraging and
supporting new young teachers to pass on their
knowledge from the courses and by using teacher
trainers and head teachers to support and monitor
change, produce training material, train regional
trainers, and help in the setting up of administrative
systems.
This has been accomplished with relatively
modest budgets. Since 1990 costs have included
facilitating learning from the outside through
study tours and visits of MoE administrators,
teacher trainers, and head teachers for the team;
enabling access to written material and research
including translation costs; the funding of an external
adviser for two years to support the team’s
learning and planning; funding the production of
new study materials for teachers and students and
the funding of short in-service training courses at
various levels. Working in this way, Lao educa-
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