Exploring the Preparedness of Teachers to Implement Inclusive Early Childhood Education in Pre-Schools of Gaborone, Botswana

This study sought to explore the preparedness of teachers to implement Inclusive Early Childhood Education in Pre-schools of Gaborone. A qualitative research approach was adopted. The interpretivist paradigm was used. The population of study consisted of pre-schools of Gaborone. These were situated in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. Purposive sampling was used to select pre-schools that had learners who were deemed to have special needs while being taught in the same classrooms as those without learning difficulties. The same sampling technique was applied to select six schools, that is, two from each of the three settings. The reason for choosing schools in different areas was to find out if teaching in such areas had any impact in the preparedness of teachers to implement Inclusive Early Childhood Education. In relation to this, the study sample was made up of twelve participants, six of these were heads of chosen pre-schools while the other six were senior teachers of the same. Semi-structured interview guides were used to collect data from both heads of pre-schools and chosen teachers. Gathered data were analysed thematically. Based on the results of this study it was gathered that most teachers who taught in pre-schools did not have adequate knowledge to offer inclusive early childhood education therefore there were not fully prepared to do so. This exposed a need for the government and other related stakeholders to implement viable training programmes for the affected learners.