UVic: Experiences of Unbelonging and Ableism in Early Child Care
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A University of Victoria study released in December, 2024, in the Journal of Childhood Studies, Experiences of Unbelonging and Ableism in the Early Learning and Childcare Sector in British Columbia, reports on the experiences of parent of children with disabilities in accessing early learning and childcare (ELCC) programs in British Columbia.
Increasing concerns have been expressed about the inclusion of children with disabilities in the current focus of Canadian governments in increasing families’ access to ELCC. The report findings indicate four interrelated areas of concern:
• Experience of a sense of ‘unbelonging’
• Systemic mechanisms that reinforce a sense of ‘unbelonging’
• Impacts of a sense of ‘unbelonging’ on children, parents and families
• Experiences of inclusion and a sense of belonging
The paper concludes with a discussion of how to address these issues and move towards re-orienting the existing childcare system towards one in which all children can belong.
The study was initiated by Employment and Social Development Canada, who contracted and funded primary author Alison Gerlach to “conduct an exploratory qualitative study in British Columbia (BC) on the experiences of parents raising young children with disabilities in accessing licensed centre-based ELCC programs”.
The report notes: “There is currently no explicit ELCC policy of framework on inclusion in BC, and the infrastructure to support inclusive childcare in BC currently spans multiple ministries. Childcare licensing is administered by the Ministry of Health. Since 2022, childcare is the responsibility of a re-formed Ministry of Education and Child Care, and the … SCD [Supported Child Development] and ASCD [Aboriginal Supported Child Development] programs are administered by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.”
In the research discussed in the report, “belonging” was employed as a conceptual framework. “Belonging has long been identified as a basic human need characterized by embodied, subjective feelings and experiences of genuine acceptance, respect, safety, and comfort that contribute to self-worth, identity, and well-being (Haim-Litevsky et al., 2023; Long & Guo, 2023). As a complex, multidimensional process, belonging develop sprimarily through reciprocal, positive relationships with others (Strnadová et al., 2018). However, experiences of belonging or the opposite, unbelonging, are also determined by broader, multifaceted structural factors, including dominant social and political values, beliefs, and assumptions and institutional policies. In the context of ELCC programs, belonging is structured through policies, curricula, and pedagogical approaches (Pesonen et al., 2023; Puroila et al., 2021).”
The qualitative study interviewed parents directly to capture their experiences of accessing ELCC for their children.
These findings support existing evidence that young children with disabilities in BC (BC Representative for Children and Youth, 2023) and Canada (Irwin & Lero, 2021) are being denied opportunities to experience acceptance, meaningful participation, and belonging in ELCC settings during their critical early years of development and identity formation. Unfortunately, parents’ experiences of children being “refused … regularly” from childcare programs, as described in this research, did not happen randomly or sporadically but appear to be widespread and upheld by “systemic mechanisms that reinforce unbelonging.” In the findings on “not every child has a diagnosis,” medical gatekeeping hindered children’s belonging by restricting access to support services primarily to those with a diagnosis (Irwin & Lero, 2021). Thus, individual children are the primary site of attention and intervention rather than targeting system- and program-level changes.
The authors posit that an individualistic approach to resources and supports is compounded by the BC government’s reliance on childcare operators to interpret and implement inclusion in the absence of any inclusion policy, framework, or mandate (Prentice & White, 2019). As previously mentioned, in the absence of a provincial inclusion policy or framework, SCD and ASCD programs are the primary mechanism for supporting inclusive childcare in BC. As evident in this research, an unintended consequence of an individualized approach is that it reinforces the assumption that all children with disabilities can only participate in a childcare program if they have funding through SCD or ASCD for an extra support person to meet their needs. This policy approach inadvertently absolves ELCC operators and educators from providing inclusive programs, particularly when childcare spaces are scarce and operators have the option to “refuse a child.” An unintended consequence of inclusion being largely left up to the discretionary power of ELCC operators is the structural (re)entrenchment of unbelonging and ableism and the further marginalization of children with disabilities (Puroila et al., 2021).
The report notes: “In BC, a post-basic credential in special needs (inclusive care) and professional development opportunities focused on inclusion remain optional additional to core early childhood education credentials”. The authors share that the comments of parents in interviews provide insights into belonging as a relational process, with “educators who parents perceived as accepting their children as they were, being skilled ‘at building relationships’ and ‘tailoring programs’ in response to children’s individual strengths, interest, preferences, and needs”.
Finally, the report comments that “the strong emotions that the topic of childcare evoked in parents during their interviews for this research and the findings on the emotionally harmful “impacts of unbelonging on children, parents, and families” speak to the embodied, emotive nature of belonging and unbelonging (Haim-Litevsky et al., 2023)”.
In conclusion, the authors state: “This research supports shifts beyond rhetorical aspirations of inclusion and towards systemic changes that advance opportunities for the authentic valuing and belonging of children with disabilities in childcare programs (Puroila et al., 2021).”