Quality education for all: strengthening tools and practices to support disability-inclusive learning environments in early childhood development and education settings in Kenya

This study aims to strengthen existing Schools2030 learning environment assessment tools, so that they provide teachers with greater support in creating inclusive learning environments for children with disabilities and additional learning needs attending public, mainstream pre-primary schools.

Research questions

• How do Schools2030 learning environment tools and guidance support early childhood development and education (ECDE) teachers in identifying and responding to disability-inclusion needs, and how can their support for disability-inclusion in ECDE be further enhanced?
• How do teachers in Kenyan Schools2030 and disability-inclusive ECDE classrooms understand disability-inclusive learning environments, in relation to inclusion more broadly and the specific needs of children they teach?
• What are experiences of Kenyan ECDE teachers in using the enhanced tools and guidance, and how do tools support their adaptation of teaching practices and learning environments for greater disability inclusion? How does this relate to and enhance teacher agency?
• What is needed for wider adoption of Schools2030 learning environment tools and guidance within public sector ECDE in Kenya, in support of broadly inclusive and disability-inclusive learning environments?

This participatory action research aims to strengthen tools and guidance to support early childhood development and education (ECDE) teachers in ensuring disability-inclusive learning environments in Kenya.

Sightsavers and the Kenya Institute of Special Education (KISE) seek to explore how the Schools2030 inclusive learning environment tools and guidance, including the Basic Early Childhood Quality Inventory (BEQI) can be made more disability-inclusive: how disability inclusion can be better integrated in the tools, how they perform in real school settings, and how the tools support teachers in making disability-inclusive adaptations to learning environments and teaching practice. We will also explore the relationship with teacher agency in responding to disability-inclusion needs and assess what is needed for the broader adoption of the tools and guidelines in ECDE settings in Kenya.

The study will use participatory action research (PAR) methodology and will collect data through two participatory action workshops, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, photos and classroom observations. Study participants will include two groups of ECDE teachers with complementary backgrounds and experience: teachers from six Schools2030 ECDE settings in Mombasa County, who bring expertise with inclusive learning environment assessment tools and guidelines, and teachers from six Sightsavers-supported disability-inclusive ECDE settings in Homa Bay County, who bring expertise in creating disability-inclusive learning environments.

The first workshop will draw on findings from secondary analysis of existing learning assessment environment data and teachers’ reflections on the use of the tools; it will also collaboratively identify ways the tools might be enhanced. This will be followed by the pilots of the enhanced tools in Mombasa and Homa Bay, and the second participatory workshop, which will focus on co-creating learnings, recommendations and plans for evidence dissemination and tool uptake. A comprehensive knowledge mobilisation strategy will ensure study findings reach key local, national and international audiences.